United States Canyon World Heritage
Lyell Canyon
728 m of rock, cut by the Lyell Fork.
Kaitymh ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
728 metres, to scale.
A slice through Lyell 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 · 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.
728m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
40°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
2,639m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
6 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 24 °C on the floor, against 18 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to August. The rim freezes at night from September to May. The wettest months are from December to March.
- 0°-6°Jan
- 0°-6°Feb
- 2°-3°Mar
- 6°0°Apr
- 12°7°May
- 19°14°Jun
- 24°18°Jul
- 23°17°Aug
- 19°13°Sep
- 12°7°Oct
- 5°0°Nov
- 0°-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.
Lyell Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Lyell Fork river. The relief model measures 728 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 860 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Yosemite Wilderness. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Parking 970 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the floor
- Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 48 km in a straight lineCar hire at FAT airport (Fresno)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to Augustbest 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 Lyell Fork runs highest from March to April.
The Lyell Fork carries about 0.87 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to April, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from July to November.
- 0.8 m³/sJan
- 1.1 m³/sFeb
- 1.3 m³/sMar
- 1.5 m³/sApr
- 1.1 m³/sMay
- 0.6 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.2 m³/sSep
- 0.3 m³/sOct
- 0.5 m³/sNov
- 0.8 m³/sDec
From about 0.22 m³/s in the lowest month to 1.5 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 108 km².
The Tuolumne 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.
- 4viewpoints within 5 kmLembert Dome, Disappearing Meadows and 2 more
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmPCT - California Section H, John Muir Trail, High Sierra Camp Loop and 2 more
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPacific Crest Trail, John Muir Trail
- 8car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmVogelsang Backpacker Camp, Tioga Lake Campground, Vogelsang High Sierra Camp and 3 more
- 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmTuolumne Meadows Lodge, Tioga Pass Resort
- 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
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Lyell 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.
Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas55 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas4 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 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 0 |
| Afternoon · rim | -6 | -6 | -3 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 7 | 0 | -6 |
| Night · rim | -16 | -16 | -14 | -11 | -7 | -2 | 3 | 2 | -2 | -8 | -12 | -16 |
| Rain (mm) | 103 | 101 | 90 | 56 | 37 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 38 | 61 | 118 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 9.5 | 11.1 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 12.7 | 11.3 | 9.5 | 7.2 | 5.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 44 | 45 | 40 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 26 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | -6 | -16 | 103 | 6.5 |
| Feb | 0 | -6 | -16 | 101 | 6.9 |
| Mar | 2 | -3 | -14 | 90 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 6 | 0 | -11 | 56 | 9.5 |
| May | 12 | 7 | -7 | 37 | 11.1 |
| Jun | 19 | 14 | -2 | 11 | 13.6 |
| Jul | 24 | 18 | 3 | 14 | 13.1 |
| Aug | 23 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 12.7 |
| Sep | 19 | 13 | -2 | 9 | 11.3 |
| Oct | 12 | 7 | -8 | 38 | 9.5 |
| Nov | 5 | 0 | -12 | 61 | 7.2 |
| Dec | 0 | -6 | -16 | 118 | 5.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (2,639 m) and the rim (3,499 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 | 23% | 3% | 89% | 156% | 83% | 129% | 46% | 73% | 10% | 0% | 58% | 48% |
| 2021 | 132% | 32% | 60% | 22% | 44% | 137% | 270% | 24% | 24% | 333% | 27% | 200% |
| 2022 | 0% | 5% | 24% | 61% | 7% | 47% | 49% | 303% | 293% | 9% | 133% | 261% |
| 2023 | 265% | 146% | 314% | 5% | 102% | 263% | 9% | 420% | 248% | 15% | 63% | 27% |
| 2024 | 90% | 175% | 182% | 70% | 63% | 76% | 201% | 151% | 190% | 36% | 124% | 54% |
| 2025 | 21% | 178% | 121% | 52% | 20% | 66% | 42% | 446% | 424% | 156% | 139% | 117% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Lyell Canyon
United States
- 728 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 40°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
United States · 27 km
- 1,265 mDepth
- 6.9 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 48°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q18154852) · 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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