United States Canyon
Grandstaff Canyon
209 m of rock, cut by the Colorado River.
Tom Pratt · CC BY 2.0
The cut
209 metres, to scale.
A slice through Grandstaff Canyon 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
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.
209m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
1.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
36°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,204m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 37 °C. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The floor passes 35 °C in July: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to February.
- 7°6°Jan
- 10°8°Feb
- 16°14°Mar
- 21°19°Apr
- 27°25°May
- 35°33°Jun
- 37°36°Jul
- 35°33°Aug
- 30°28°Sep
- 22°20°Oct
- 14°12°Nov
- 7°6°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 Grand County, Utah, United States
Grandstaff Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Colorado River. The relief model measures 209 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 1.2 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Moabnearest town · 4.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 610 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Panorama Viewpointnearest viewpoint · 0.3 km from the floor
- Canyonlands Regional Airport (CNY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 25 km in a straight lineCar hire at CNY airport (Moab)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In April and in 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 Colorado River runs highest from March to May.
The Colorado River carries about 263 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May.
- 167 m³/sJan
- 381 m³/sFeb
- 693 m³/sMar
- 708 m³/sApr
- 541 m³/sMay
- 209 m³/sJun
- 86 m³/sJul
- 74 m³/sAug
- 205 m³/sSep
- 311 m³/sOct
- 240 m³/sNov
- 112 m³/sDec
From about 74 m³/s in the lowest month to 708 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 63,055 km².
Follow the Colorado River 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
1.2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.0 × 5.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 16viewpoints within 5 kmView on Morning Glory Bridge, Portal Viewpoint, Portal Overlook and 13 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmADT - Utah - R - Seg 1, ADT - Utah - R - Seg 2
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmMedieval Chamber
- 20car parks within 3 km
- 11information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 33campsites within 8 kmMoonflower Camping Area, Kane Springs Campground, Up the Creek Campground and 30 more
- 51hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmSilver Sage Inn, Number One Moab Springs Ranch, Kokopelli Inn and 48 more
- 33restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 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
- Moab4.1 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Grandstaff Canyon.
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.
Peakyas10 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 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 21 | 27 | 35 | 37 | 35 | 30 | 22 | 14 | 7 |
| Afternoon · rim | 6 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 25 | 33 | 36 | 33 | 28 | 20 | 12 | 6 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 19 | 14 | 6 | 0 | -4 |
| Rain (mm) | 23 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 12 | 31 | 31 | 34 | 31 | 21 | 27 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.5 | 7.2 | 9.3 | 10.8 | 12.1 | 13.7 | 12.1 | 11.0 | 10.4 | 9.1 | 7.6 | 6.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 15 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 6 | -4 | 23 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 10 | 8 | -3 | 23 | 7.2 |
| Mar | 16 | 14 | 1 | 24 | 9.3 |
| Apr | 21 | 19 | 4 | 22 | 10.8 |
| May | 27 | 25 | 10 | 23 | 12.1 |
| Jun | 35 | 33 | 16 | 12 | 13.7 |
| Jul | 37 | 36 | 20 | 31 | 12.1 |
| Aug | 35 | 33 | 19 | 31 | 11.0 |
| Sep | 30 | 28 | 14 | 34 | 10.4 |
| Oct | 22 | 20 | 6 | 31 | 9.1 |
| Nov | 14 | 12 | 0 | 21 | 7.6 |
| Dec | 7 | 6 | -4 | 27 | 6.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,204 m) and the rim (1,432 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 | 62% | 27% | 181% | 23% | 20% | 167% | 55% | 14% | 42% | 39% | 54% | 73% |
| 2021 | 103% | 85% | 117% | 52% | 58% | 236% | 131% | 145% | 105% | 150% | 10% | 192% |
| 2022 | 10% | 73% | 100% | 42% | 22% | 110% | 115% | 145% | 112% | 168% | 101% | 167% |
| 2023 | 225% | 102% | 247% | 73% | 60% | 95% | 20% | 124% | 38% | 46% | 101% | 79% |
| 2024 | 93% | 115% | 202% | 59% | 73% | 313% | 30% | 214% | 30% | 112% | 181% | 11% |
| 2025 | 7% | 72% | 55% | 88% | 78% | 123% | 23% | 55% | 88% | 221% | 137% | 42% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Grandstaff Canyon
United States
- 209 mDepth
- 1.2 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q14711846) · 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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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here