France Emmanuel Borlet · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
551 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gorges du Nan 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: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
551m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
21.7km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
24°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
174m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
7 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 29 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and from September to October. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are in November.
- 9°2°Jan
- 10°3°Feb
- 14°7°Mar
- 18°11°Apr
- 22°15°May
- 26°19°Jun
- 29°22°Jul
- 29°21°Aug
- 24°17°Sep
- 20°13°Oct
- 14°6°Nov
- 10°2°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 du Nan is a canyon in France, cut by the L'Isère river. The relief model measures 551 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,109 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 22 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Vinaynearest town · 4.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,890 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.2 km from the floor
- Grenoble Alpes Isère Airport (GNB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 22 km in a straight lineCar hire at GNB airport (Grenoble)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May and from September to Octoberbest 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 L'Isère runs highest from November to June.
The L'Isère carries about 159 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to June.
- 314 m³/sJan
- 277 m³/sFeb
- 306 m³/sMar
- 304 m³/sApr
- 342 m³/sMay
- 250 m³/sJun
- 146 m³/sJul
- 54 m³/sAug
- 77 m³/sSep
- 177 m³/sOct
- 290 m³/sNov
- 312 m³/sDec
From about 54 m³/s in the lowest month to 342 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 10,158 km².
Follow the Isère 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
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 12viewpoints within 5 kmTable d'orientation, Vue sur le vercors, La Lunette and 9 more
- 78marked hiking routes within 4 kmTour du Vercors à pied and 77 more
- 6footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPont de Trellins and 5 more
- 2named waterfalls within 4 kmCascade du Ruissant, Cascade de la Gerlette
- 1caves within 3 km
- 30car parks within 3 km
- 31information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 12bus stops within 2 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmCamping du Château, Aire de Linage, Camping à la Ferme de Bresilias and 3 more
- 9hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHôtel Coeur des Montagnes, Au Vieux Four, Auberge Les Galopins and 6 more
- 4restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 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
- Vinay4.1 km in a straight line
- Saint-Sauveur5.1 km in a straight line
- Saint-Vérand6.2 km in a straight line
- Saint-Marcellin7.9 km in a straight line
- Saint-Romans9.6 km in a straight line
- Méaudre10 km in a straight line
- Autrans10 km in a straight line
- Chatte11 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gorges du Nan.
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.
Peakyas4 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 10 |
| Afternoon · rim | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -6 | -6 | -4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 2 | -2 | -5 |
| Rain (mm) | 70 | 57 | 68 | 65 | 88 | 65 | 56 | 58 | 67 | 85 | 100 | 77 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.7 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 8.6 | 7.0 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 2.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 15 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 2 | -6 | 70 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 10 | 3 | -6 | 57 | 4.0 |
| Mar | 14 | 7 | -4 | 68 | 5.8 |
| Apr | 18 | 11 | 0 | 65 | 6.9 |
| May | 22 | 15 | 4 | 88 | 7.4 |
| Jun | 26 | 19 | 8 | 65 | 9.4 |
| Jul | 29 | 22 | 10 | 56 | 9.8 |
| Aug | 29 | 21 | 9 | 58 | 8.6 |
| Sep | 24 | 17 | 6 | 67 | 7.0 |
| Oct | 20 | 13 | 2 | 85 | 4.7 |
| Nov | 14 | 6 | -2 | 100 | 2.9 |
| Dec | 10 | 2 | -5 | 77 | 2.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (174 m) and the rim (1,282 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
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 | 52% | 90% | 97% | 68% | 90% | 151% | 28% | 119% | 117% | 142% | 35% | 163% |
| 2021 | 150% | 79% | 49% | 122% | 144% | 115% | 172% | 88% | 108% | 117% | 74% | 162% |
| 2022 | 37% | 71% | 30% | 85% | 36% | 101% | 19% | 79% | 160% | 53% | 145% | 154% |
| 2023 | 46% | 16% | 109% | 87% | 92% | 186% | 46% | 75% | 76% | 168% | 119% | 155% |
| 2024 | 108% | 104% | 199% | 104% | 157% | 159% | 104% | 48% | 193% | 141% | 44% | 104% |
| 2025 | 116% | 39% | 57% | 78% | 50% | 46% | 68% | 62% | 105% | 86% | 69% | 40% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gorges du Nan
France
- 551 mDepth
- 22 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 24°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q48752081) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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