France Plelan · CC0
The cut
104 metres, to scale.
A slice through Le Boël 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: a two-storey house · 9.0 m · Statue of Liberty · 93 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.
104m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
6.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
10°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
10m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C. The best months to hike are from May to June and from August to September. The wettest months are from November to December.
- 9°8°Jan
- 10°9°Feb
- 13°12°Mar
- 16°15°Apr
- 19°18°May
- 23°22°Jun
- 25°24°Jul
- 24°24°Aug
- 22°21°Sep
- 17°17°Oct
- 12°12°Nov
- 9°8°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.
Place in Ille-et-Vilaine, France
Le Boël is a water gap in France, cut by the La Vilaine river. The relief model measures 104 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 6.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Laillénearest town · 3.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 650 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.6 km from the floor
- Rennes-Saint-Jacques Airport (RNS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 9 km in a straight lineCar hire at RNS airport (Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, Ille-et-Vilaine)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to June and from August to 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 La Vilaine runs highest from November to February.
The La Vilaine carries about 50 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to February.
- 90 m³/sJan
- 73 m³/sFeb
- 63 m³/sMar
- 42 m³/sApr
- 34 m³/sMay
- 22 m³/sJun
- 15 m³/sJul
- 13 m³/sAug
- 13 m³/sSep
- 50 m³/sOct
- 79 m³/sNov
- 97 m³/sDec
From about 13 m³/s in the lowest month to 97 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 3,261 km².
Follow the Vilaine 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
4 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 6viewpoints within 5 km
- 15marked hiking routes within 4 kmRennes - Saint-Malo-de-Phily, La Provostais, Le tour de Guichen and 12 more
- 2climbing crags within 3 kmLe Boël, secteur "Le Moulin", Site d'escalade du Boël : secteur Moulin
- 8footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmCale de Pont-Réan
- 99car parks within 3 km
- 29information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 21bus stops within 2 km
- 4campsites within 8 kmAire de services Crevin, Camping des Deux Moulins, Aire de camping-car de Pont-Réan and 1 more
- 10hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHôtel Ker Lann, Gîte de France, Le Commerce and 7 more
- 29restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves 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
- Laillé3.1 km in a straight line
- Bruz3.7 km in a straight line
- Guichen4.0 km in a straight line
- Orgères6.5 km in a straight line
- Chartres-de-Bretagne6.5 km in a straight line
- Goven7.0 km in a straight line
- Bourg-des-Comptes7.0 km in a straight line
- Chavagne7.3 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Le Boël.
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.
Figures 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 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 8 |
| Night · rim | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 58 | 57 | 46 | 58 | 50 | 48 | 47 | 42 | 75 | 77 | 80 |
| Rainy days | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.0 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 6.4 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 8 | 2 | 69 | 2.0 |
| Feb | 10 | 9 | 1 | 58 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 13 | 12 | 3 | 57 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 16 | 15 | 5 | 46 | 6.7 |
| May | 19 | 18 | 8 | 58 | 7.2 |
| Jun | 23 | 22 | 11 | 50 | 7.7 |
| Jul | 25 | 24 | 13 | 48 | 7.8 |
| Aug | 24 | 24 | 13 | 47 | 7.0 |
| Sep | 22 | 21 | 10 | 42 | 6.4 |
| Oct | 17 | 17 | 8 | 75 | 3.8 |
| Nov | 12 | 12 | 5 | 77 | 2.5 |
| Dec | 9 | 8 | 2 | 80 | 1.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (10 m) and the rim (122 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 | 100% | 161% | 99% | 115% | 64% | 173% | 26% | 118% | 119% | 174% | 42% | 177% |
| 2021 | 101% | 75% | 32% | 49% | 105% | 195% | 129% | 68% | 83% | 116% | 42% | 90% |
| 2022 | 65% | 47% | 52% | 73% | 43% | 130% | 10% | 89% | 122% | 66% | 126% | 105% |
| 2023 | 95% | 21% | 140% | 102% | 51% | 62% | 128% | 94% | 168% | 124% | 125% | 79% |
| 2024 | 105% | 134% | 110% | 122% | 135% | 152% | 114% | 71% | 183% | 124% | 73% | 39% |
| 2025 | 184% | 52% | 28% | 57% | 32% | 43% | 86% | 28% | 67% | 52% | 44% | 51% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Le Boël
France
- 104 mDepth
- 6.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 10°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3220610) · 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