France Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
402 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges de l'Allier where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Big Ben · 96 m · Eiffel Tower · 330 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
402m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
5.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
30°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
650m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 26 °C on the floor, against 23 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in September. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are in October.
- 5°2°Jan
- 6°3°Feb
- 10°7°Mar
- 14°11°Apr
- 18°15°May
- 23°20°Jun
- 26°23°Jul
- 26°23°Aug
- 21°18°Sep
- 16°13°Oct
- 10°7°Nov
- 6°3°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in France
Gorges de l'Allier is a gorge in France, cut by the Allier river. The relief model measures 402 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 5.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Sauguesnearest town · 14 km in a straight line
- Parking 670 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.8 km from the floor
- Aurillac airport (AUR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 100 km in a straight lineCar hire at CFE airport (Clermont-Ferrand)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Allier runs highest from April to May and from October to November.
The Allier carries about 14 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to May and from October to November.
- 9.4 m³/sJan
- 6.4 m³/sFeb
- 11 m³/sMar
- 18 m³/sApr
- 20 m³/sMay
- 12 m³/sJun
- 4.9 m³/sJul
- 3.3 m³/sAug
- 5.6 m³/sSep
- 16 m³/sOct
- 21 m³/sNov
- 12 m³/sDec
From about 3.3 m³/s in the lowest month to 21 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 945 km².
Follow the Allier from source to mouth on Riveryas
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
3 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 12 × 12 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1viewpoints within 5 km
- 4marked hiking routes within 4 kmLes bords de l'Allier, De Monistrol-d'Allier à Pont d'Alleyras, De Pont d'Alleyras à Saint-Haon and 1 more
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmCascade d'Alleyras
- 3car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmCamping Les Eaux Vives, Camping municipal, Camping municipal Au Fil de l'Eau and 3 more
- 9hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGite La Source, Auberge de la Vallée, Le Haut Allier and 6 more
- 4restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Saugues14 km in a straight line
- Bains14 km in a straight line
- Solignac-sur-Loire17 km in a straight line
- Cussac-sur-Loire18 km in a straight line
- Vals-près-le-Puy21 km in a straight line
- Coubon21 km in a straight line
- Espaly-Saint-Marcel22 km in a straight line
- Langogne22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges de l'Allier.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas17 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Afternoon · rim | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 3 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -4 | -2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 0 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 42 | 50 | 70 | 83 | 69 | 64 | 66 | 64 | 89 | 85 | 60 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.8 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 14 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 5 | 2 | -4 | 53 | 2.8 |
| Feb | 6 | 3 | -4 | 42 | 4.2 |
| Mar | 10 | 7 | -2 | 50 | 5.5 |
| Apr | 14 | 11 | 1 | 70 | 6.2 |
| May | 18 | 15 | 5 | 83 | 6.8 |
| Jun | 23 | 20 | 9 | 69 | 8.5 |
| Jul | 26 | 23 | 11 | 64 | 9.0 |
| Aug | 26 | 23 | 10 | 66 | 8.1 |
| Sep | 21 | 18 | 7 | 64 | 6.9 |
| Oct | 16 | 13 | 4 | 89 | 4.8 |
| Nov | 10 | 7 | 0 | 85 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 6 | 3 | -3 | 60 | 2.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (650 m) and the rim (1,068 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 49% | 56% | 70% | 69% | 87% | 196% | 30% | 68% | 110% | 97% | 39% | 156% |
| 2021 | 105% | 86% | 42% | 78% | 125% | 116% | 139% | 44% | 132% | 77% | 49% | 110% |
| 2022 | 60% | 54% | 49% | 56% | 38% | 133% | 15% | 135% | 110% | 42% | 88% | 122% |
| 2023 | 62% | 32% | 121% | 70% | 100% | 167% | 32% | 49% | 83% | 104% | 111% | 105% |
| 2024 | 70% | 143% | 269% | 103% | 163% | 131% | 117% | 70% | 195% | 127% | 50% | 84% |
| 2025 | 82% | 62% | 94% | 65% | 41% | 38% | 47% | 51% | 57% | 49% | 61% | 113% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gorges de l'Allier
France
- 402 mDepth
- 5.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 30°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3110991) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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