Spain Isidre blanc · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
549 metres, to scale.
A slice through Grau d'Oliana 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.
549m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
10.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
33°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
427m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 32 °C on the floor, against 28 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are in October.
- 11°6°Jan
- 12°8°Feb
- 16°12°Mar
- 20°15°Apr
- 24°20°May
- 30°25°Jun
- 32°28°Jul
- 32°27°Aug
- 27°22°Sep
- 22°17°Oct
- 15°11°Nov
- 11°7°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.
Grau d'Oliana is a canyon in Spain, cut by the el Segre river. The relief model measures 549 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 654 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 10 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Oliananearest town · 2.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,300 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Mirador del Roc de Rombaunearest viewpoint · 2.0 km from the floor
- Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgel Airport (LEU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 29 km in a straight lineCar hire at REU airport (Reus)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 el Segre runs highest from March to May and from October to November.
The el Segre carries about 22 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May and from October to November. It is lowest in August.
- 21 m³/sJan
- 20 m³/sFeb
- 31 m³/sMar
- 40 m³/sApr
- 36 m³/sMay
- 19 m³/sJun
- 7.3 m³/sJul
- 5.1 m³/sAug
- 14 m³/sSep
- 28 m³/sOct
- 35 m³/sNov
- 22 m³/sDec
From about 5.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 40 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,711 km².
Follow the Segre 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), 23 × 23 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 14viewpoints within 5 kmMirador del Roc de Rombau and 13 more
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmSender Històric: Catalunya, Ruta del Corb, Fonts d'Oliana and 2 more
- 5via ferrata routes within 4 kmVia ferrada Serra de les Canals, Via ferrada Regina and 3 more
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmOliana
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 6caves within 3 km
- 10car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 4bus stops within 2 km
- 5campsites within 8 kmCàmping La Comella, Càmping Oliana, Càmping Valldan and 2 more
- 5hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmCal Petit, Hotel Can Boix, La Torre d'Ogern and 2 more
- 6restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 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
- Oliana2.8 km in a straight line
- Coll de Nargó9.7 km in a straight line
- Tiurana13 km in a straight line
- Abella de la Conca18 km in a straight line
- Ponts21 km in a straight line
- Solsona21 km in a straight line
- Olius24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Grau d'Oliana.
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.
Peakyas131 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 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 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 27 | 22 | 15 | 11 |
| Afternoon · rim | 6 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Night · rim | -3 | -3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 1 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 39 | 32 | 45 | 57 | 55 | 36 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 61 | 54 | 33 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.6 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 11 | 6 | -3 | 39 | 4.6 |
| Feb | 12 | 8 | -3 | 32 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 16 | 12 | 0 | 45 | 6.2 |
| Apr | 20 | 15 | 3 | 57 | 6.4 |
| May | 24 | 20 | 7 | 55 | 7.4 |
| Jun | 30 | 25 | 12 | 36 | 9.1 |
| Jul | 32 | 28 | 14 | 32 | 9.9 |
| Aug | 32 | 27 | 14 | 36 | 9.1 |
| Sep | 27 | 22 | 10 | 48 | 7.8 |
| Oct | 22 | 17 | 6 | 61 | 6.2 |
| Nov | 15 | 11 | 1 | 54 | 4.9 |
| Dec | 11 | 7 | -2 | 33 | 4.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (427 m) and the rim (1,081 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 | 261% | 9% | 147% | 213% | 134% | 259% | 180% | 160% | 122% | 107% | 219% | 266% |
| 2021 | 128% | 130% | 30% | 98% | 83% | 180% | 70% | 63% | 103% | 70% | 148% | 52% |
| 2022 | 20% | 31% | 168% | 79% | 56% | 57% | 80% | 133% | 117% | 67% | 56% | 113% |
| 2023 | 61% | 102% | 12% | 26% | 80% | 250% | 63% | 94% | 65% | 82% | 41% | 45% |
| 2024 | 61% | 90% | 204% | 171% | 121% | 237% | 126% | 74% | 270% | 225% | 73% | 58% |
| 2025 | 38% | 67% | 371% | 103% | 105% | 45% | 219% | 166% | 188% | 46% | 104% | 259% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Grau d'Oliana
Spain
- 549 mDepth
- 10 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 33°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11924666) · 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here