Japan Daniel Gerhard · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
484 metres, to scale.
A slice through Hozu Gorge 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.
484m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
12.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
36°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
32m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 31 °C on the floor, against 27 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from April to May and in October. The rim freezes at night from January to February. The wettest months are in July and in September.
- 7°3°Jan
- 8°4°Feb
- 12°8°Mar
- 18°14°Apr
- 23°19°May
- 26°22°Jun
- 30°26°Jul
- 31°27°Aug
- 27°23°Sep
- 22°18°Oct
- 16°12°Nov
- 10°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.
Gorge in Kyoto, Japan
Hozu Gorge is a canyon in Japan, cut by the Hozu River. The relief model measures 484 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 612 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 12 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Hozukyō Prefectural Natural Park.
Getting there.
- Arashiyamanearest town · 3.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 330 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- 頂上展望台nearest viewpoint · 0.3 km from the floor
- Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 33 km in a straight lineCar hire at KIX airport (Osaka)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From April to May 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 Hozu River runs highest from March to October.
The Hozu River carries about 21 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to October.
- 20 m³/sJan
- 20 m³/sFeb
- 22 m³/sMar
- 22 m³/sApr
- 22 m³/sMay
- 23 m³/sJun
- 24 m³/sJul
- 22 m³/sAug
- 24 m³/sSep
- 24 m³/sOct
- 21 m³/sNov
- 21 m³/sDec
From about 20 m³/s in the lowest month to 24 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 751 km².
The Hozu River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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.
- 35viewpoints within 5 km菖蒲ヶ丘展望台, 保津峡展望台, 頂上展望台 and 32 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 km京都一周トレイル西山コース 1:5-2, 京都一周トレイル北山コース 90:94 西山コース 1
- 29footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km清滝橋（青竜橋） and 28 more
- 3named waterfalls within 4 km空也瀧, 霊亀ノ滝, 戸無瀬の滝
- 65car parks within 3 km
- 374information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 5bus stops within 2 km
- 48hotels and guesthouses within 8 km然林房, 宇多野ユースホテル, サンロイヤル and 45 more
- 146restaurants 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
- caves within 3 km
- campsites within 8 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
- Arashiyama3.3 km in a straight line
- Kameoka6.1 km in a straight line
- Mukō8.6 km in a straight line
- Kyoto10 km in a straight line
- Kamigyō-ku10 km in a straight line
- Kōtari13 km in a straight line
- Oyamazaki15 km in a straight line
- Minase16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Hozu Gorge.
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.
Riveryas4 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas2 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas28 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 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 30 | 31 | 27 | 22 | 16 | 10 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -3 | -1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 3 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 97 | 92 | 114 | 119 | 140 | 178 | 210 | 149 | 192 | 161 | 96 | 108 |
| Rainy days | 18 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 18 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.2 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 2.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 12 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 3 | -4 | 97 | 2.2 |
| Feb | 8 | 4 | -3 | 92 | 2.8 |
| Mar | 12 | 8 | -1 | 114 | 4.3 |
| Apr | 18 | 14 | 4 | 119 | 5.4 |
| May | 23 | 19 | 9 | 140 | 5.8 |
| Jun | 26 | 22 | 14 | 178 | 4.7 |
| Jul | 30 | 26 | 19 | 210 | 4.7 |
| Aug | 31 | 27 | 19 | 149 | 6.2 |
| Sep | 27 | 23 | 16 | 192 | 4.6 |
| Oct | 22 | 18 | 9 | 161 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 16 | 12 | 3 | 96 | 3.4 |
| Dec | 10 | 6 | -2 | 108 | 2.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (32 m) and the rim (644 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 | 102% | 89% | 93% | 131% | 91% | 135% | 211% | 36% | 104% | 135% | 59% | 79% |
| 2021 | 123% | 87% | 138% | 138% | 165% | 77% | 127% | 241% | 104% | 39% | 97% | 143% |
| 2022 | 60% | 65% | 87% | 101% | 77% | 65% | 116% | 140% | 113% | 65% | 104% | 55% |
| 2023 | 85% | 55% | 82% | 168% | 229% | 247% | 69% | 168% | 59% | 57% | 112% | 52% |
| 2024 | 87% | 130% | 172% | 140% | 151% | 157% | 112% | 179% | 58% | 148% | 169% | 58% |
| 2025 | 55% | 72% | 98% | 83% | 187% | 156% | 81% | 104% | 100% | 135% | 67% | 111% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Hozu Gorge
Japan
- 484 mDepth
- 12 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q10887680) · 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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