United States The Old Pueblo · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
489 metres, to scale.
A slice through Molino 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.
489m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.1km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
36°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
866m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In June the afternoon reaches 38 °C on the floor, against 35 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from February to March and in November. The floor passes 35 °C from June to August: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from July to August.
- 17°13°Jan
- 18°15°Feb
- 23°19°Mar
- 27°24°Apr
- 33°29°May
- 38°35°Jun
- 37°33°Jul
- 36°32°Aug
- 34°30°Sep
- 29°25°Oct
- 22°18°Nov
- 16°12°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.
Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson, Arizona
Molino Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Molino Canyon river. The relief model measures 489 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 585 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 8.1 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Tanque Verdenearest town · 9.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 670 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Babad Do'ag Viewpointnearest viewpoint · 0.7 km from the floor
- Tucson International Airport (TUS)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 32 km in a straight lineCar hire at TUS airport (Tucson)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From February to March and in Novemberbest 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.
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), 18 × 18 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmSeven Cateracts Vista, Thimble Mountain Vista, Windy Point and 3 more
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmArizona Trail, Sky Islands Traverse, Bug Springs Trail and 2 more
- 1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 13car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 6campsites within 8 kmSouth Rim Campgrounds, Upper Rim Campgrounds, General Hitchcock Campground and 3 more
- 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
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 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).
Towns nearby
- Tanque Verde9.1 km in a straight line
- Catalina Foothills21 km in a straight line
- Tucson24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Molino 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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas24 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 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 33 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 34 | 29 | 22 | 16 |
| Afternoon · rim | 13 | 15 | 19 | 24 | 29 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 18 | 12 |
| Night · rim | -1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 10 | 4 | -1 |
| Rain (mm) | 28 | 25 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 65 | 54 | 34 | 16 | 16 | 28 |
| Rainy days | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.9 | 8.7 | 10.4 | 12.2 | 13.3 | 13.4 | 10.2 | 9.9 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 8.7 | 7.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17 | 13 | -1 | 28 | 7.9 |
| Feb | 18 | 15 | 0 | 25 | 8.7 |
| Mar | 23 | 19 | 4 | 16 | 10.4 |
| Apr | 27 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 12.2 |
| May | 33 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 13.3 |
| Jun | 38 | 35 | 18 | 8 | 13.4 |
| Jul | 37 | 33 | 20 | 65 | 10.2 |
| Aug | 36 | 32 | 19 | 54 | 9.9 |
| Sep | 34 | 30 | 16 | 34 | 9.8 |
| Oct | 29 | 25 | 10 | 16 | 9.9 |
| Nov | 22 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 8.7 |
| Dec | 16 | 12 | -1 | 28 | 7.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (866 m) and the rim (1,451 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 | 66% | 124% | 230% | 21% | — | 16% | 39% | 45% | 12% | 12% | 33% | 39% |
| 2021 | 88% | 3% | 78% | 50% | — | 52% | 249% | 199% | 104% | 50% | 7% | 186% |
| 2022 | 40% | 25% | 66% | 0% | — | 312% | 160% | 246% | 112% | 220% | 24% | 213% |
| 2023 | 220% | 109% | 141% | 0% | — | 0% | 41% | 64% | 59% | 46% | 75% | 131% |
| 2024 | 142% | 220% | 278% | 100% | — | 280% | 79% | 97% | 34% | 6% | 100% | 0% |
| 2025 | 12% | 9% | 132% | 14% | — | 176% | 200% | 189% | 145% | 322% | 211% | 27% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Molino Canyon
United States
- 489 mDepth
- 8.1 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q18749102) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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
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lakes
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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