Canada User:VashiDonsk · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,545 metres, to scale.
A slice through Mistaya 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
1,545m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
49°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,379m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 19 °C on the floor, against 9 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from July to August. The rim freezes at night from September to June. The wettest months are in June.
- -4°-15°Jan
- -4°-14°Feb
- 0°-11°Mar
- 3°-7°Apr
- 9°-1°May
- 15°5°Jun
- 19°9°Jul
- 18°8°Aug
- 13°3°Sep
- 5°-5°Oct
- -2°-12°Nov
- -6°-16°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.
Valley in Alberta, Canada
Mistaya Canyon is a canyon in Canada, cut by the Mistaya River. The relief model measures 1,545 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,160 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.0 km from the floor
- Calgary International Airport (YYC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 209 km in a straight lineCar hire at YYC airport (Calgary)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From July 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 Mistaya River runs highest from May to June.
The Mistaya River carries about 6.1 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from September to March.
- 1.5 m³/sJan
- 1.1 m³/sFeb
- 3.2 m³/sMar
- 6.6 m³/sApr
- 18 m³/sMay
- 19 m³/sJun
- 12 m³/sJul
- 6.4 m³/sAug
- 4.1 m³/sSep
- 4.6 m³/sOct
- 3.3 m³/sNov
- 1.3 m³/sDec
From about 1.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 19 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 309 km².
Follow the North Saskatchewan 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
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.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmMistaya Canyon, Viewpoint North Saskatchwan River, Viewpoing and 3 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmGDT ekc, GDT eiv
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 15car parks within 3 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmThompson Creek Campground
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmThe Crossing Resort and 14 more
- 2restaurants 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
- named waterfalls within 4 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Mistaya 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.
Riveryas7 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas14 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 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 | -4 | -4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 5 | -2 | -6 |
| Afternoon · rim | -15 | -14 | -11 | -7 | -1 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | -5 | -12 | -16 |
| Night · rim | -23 | -24 | -21 | -16 | -9 | -4 | -1 | -2 | -6 | -13 | -20 | -24 |
| Rain (mm) | 70 | 54 | 83 | 64 | 78 | 111 | 90 | 70 | 78 | 83 | 86 | 63 |
| Rainy days | 18 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 17 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.3 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 7.4 | 5.5 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 76 | 91 | 101 | 92 | 37 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 38 | 61 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -4 | -15 | -23 | 70 | 2.3 |
| Feb | -4 | -14 | -24 | 54 | 4.0 |
| Mar | 0 | -11 | -21 | 83 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 3 | -7 | -16 | 64 | 5.8 |
| May | 9 | -1 | -9 | 78 | 6.7 |
| Jun | 15 | 5 | -4 | 111 | 6.5 |
| Jul | 19 | 9 | -1 | 90 | 8.0 |
| Aug | 18 | 8 | -2 | 70 | 7.4 |
| Sep | 13 | 3 | -6 | 78 | 5.5 |
| Oct | 5 | -5 | -13 | 83 | 3.7 |
| Nov | -2 | -12 | -20 | 86 | 2.0 |
| Dec | -6 | -16 | -24 | 63 | 2.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,379 m) and the rim (2,984 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 | 154% | 137% | 102% | 90% | 113% | 114% | 126% | 81% | 71% | 144% | 116% | 121% |
| 2021 | 104% | 145% | 78% | 72% | 104% | 83% | 40% | 147% | 95% | 81% | 179% | 164% |
| 2022 | 126% | 109% | 85% | 93% | 89% | 138% | 63% | 132% | 41% | 58% | 85% | 110% |
| 2023 | 68% | 173% | 51% | 102% | 108% | 129% | 103% | 139% | 71% | 68% | 65% | 126% |
| 2024 | 102% | 170% | 77% | 123% | 136% | 100% | 55% | 178% | 85% | 141% | 97% | 131% |
| 2025 | 61% | 84% | 162% | 85% | 114% | 110% | 160% | 114% | 56% | 83% | 112% | 309% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Mistaya Canyon
Canada
- 1,545 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 49°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q2330416) · 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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