Canada / United States Canyon

Niagara Gorge

96 m of rock, cut by the Niagara River.

The cut

96 metres, to scale.

A slice through Niagara 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: Tower of Pisa · 56 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.

96m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

1.2km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

18°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

84m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

Afternoons, up top and down below.

In July the afternoon reaches 27 °C. The best months to hike are from May to June and in September. The rim freezes at night from December to March.

rim · 186 mfloor · 84 m

0°-1°Jan
0°0°Feb
5°4°Mar
11°10°Apr
18°17°May
23°23°Jun
27°26°Jul
26°26°Aug
23°22°Sep
15°15°Oct
9°8°Nov
3°2°Dec

Hike: May–Jun, SepFrost on the rim: Dec–Mar

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 of the Niagara River on the boundary of Canada and the United States

Niagara Gorge is a canyon in Canada, cut by the Niagara River. The relief model measures 96 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 1.2 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Niagara Fallsnearest town · 2.3 km in a straight line
Parking 400 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.3 km from the floor
Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 10 km in a straight lineCar hire at IAG airport (Niagara Falls)Discover Cars · sponsored link
From May to June and in Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at IAG airport (Niagara Falls)Discover CarsSee prices

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 Niagara River runs highest from March to July and from November to January.

The Niagara River carries about 8,716 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to July and from November to January.

8,558 m³/sJan
8,298 m³/sFeb
8,574 m³/sMar
9,505 m³/sApr
9,879 m³/sMay
9,592 m³/sJun
9,101 m³/sJul
8,157 m³/sAug
7,880 m³/sSep
8,492 m³/sOct
8,637 m³/sNov
8,567 m³/sDec

From about 7,880 m³/s in the lowest month to 9,879 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 682,238 km².

Follow the Niagara 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.

Around the canyon.

62viewpoints within 5 kmSkylon Tower, Terrapin Point, lookout of falls and 59 more
3marked hiking routes within 4 kmBruce Trail - Niagara section, Olympic Torch Run Legacy Trail, Laura Secord Legacy Trail
9climbing crags within 3 kmX Boulder, Beware and Run Boulders, Central and 6 more
23footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmNiagara Falls Lions Legacy Pathway, Whirlpool Trail and 21 more
3rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmMarine Railway
4caves within 3 km
383car parks within 3 km
20information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
40bus stops within 2 km
5campsites within 8 kmYogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp and Resort, Campark Resorts Camping, Scotts Tent & Trailer Park and 2 more
207hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHI Niagara Falls, Cozy Inn B&B, Super 8 and 204 more
166restaurants and cafés within 4 km

via ferrata routes within 4 km
swimming spots within 3 km
named waterfalls 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

Niagara Falls2.3 km in a straight line
Niagara Falls3.1 km in a straight line
Lewiston6.4 km in a straight line
Chippawa7.3 km in a straight line
Thorold10 km in a straight line
Virgil12 km in a straight line
Grand Island13 km in a straight line
St. Catharines15 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Niagara 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.

Riveryas3 rivers in the canyon

Niagara River53 km · 5.8 m³/sGananoque RiverSaint Pierre River

Peakyas2 mountains within 15 km

Sanitorium Hill · 14 kmPalatine Hill · 14 km

Coastya1 beaches within 15 km

Mississauga Beachsea up to 22 °C · 15 km

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	0	0	5	11	18	23	27	26	23	15	9	3
Afternoon · rim	-1	0	4	10	17	23	26	26	22	15	8	2
Night · rim	-6	-6	-3	2	8	14	18	18	15	8	2	-2
Rain (mm)	59	51	58	75	81	80	86	71	81	89	70	70
Rainy days	14	11	12	14	14	15	16	15	14	15	14	15
Sun hours/day	2.5	3.3	4.9	6.0	7.3	8.4	8.5	7.8	6.7	3.9	2.8	2.0
Snow on the ground (cm)	17	16	13	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	16

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	0	-1	-6	59	2.5
Feb	0	0	-6	51	3.3
Mar	5	4	-3	58	4.9
Apr	11	10	2	75	6.0
May	18	17	8	81	7.3
Jun	23	23	14	80	8.4
Jul	27	26	18	86	8.5
Aug	26	26	18	71	7.8
Sep	23	22	15	81	6.7
Oct	15	15	8	89	3.9
Nov	9	8	2	70	2.8
Dec	3	2	-2	70	2.0

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (84 m) and the rim (186 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Niagara Gorge at Niagara Glen — The Cosmonaut · CC BY-SA 2.5 ca

Niagara Gorge at Niagara Glen1 — The Cosmonaut · CC BY-SA 2.5 ca

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	132%	89%	85%	61%	63%	54%	75%	67%	43%	69%	69%	72%
2021	52%	56%	39%	56%	34%	64%	119%	71%	99%	99%	58%	63%
2022	71%	120%	68%	72%	69%	61%	70%	79%	76%	48%	101%	88%
2023	115%	96%	114%	106%	37%	83%	131%	111%	35%	78%	66%	100%
2024	139%	44%	76%	122%	66%	82%	86%	83%	61%	41%	71%	98%
2025	50%	77%	61%	74%	83%	61%	48%	61%	35%	96%	62%	91%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Niagara Gorge

Canada

96 mDepth
1.2 kmRim to rim
—Length
18°Steepest wall

Cumberland Narrows

United States · 389 km

360 mDepth
12 kmRim to rim
—Length
28°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q3111018) · 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 Cascadyas

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

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	0	-1	-6	59	2.5
Feb	0	0	-6	51	3.3
Mar	5	4	-3	58	4.9
Apr	11	10	2	75	6.0
May	18	17	8	81	7.3
Jun	23	23	14	80	8.4
Jul	27	26	18	86	8.5
Aug	26	26	18	71	7.8
Sep	23	22	15	81	6.7
Oct	15	15	8	89	3.9
Nov	9	8	2	70	2.8
Dec	3	2	-2	70	2.0

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	0	-1	-6	59	2.5
Feb	0	0	-6	51	3.3
Mar	5	4	-3	58	4.9
Apr	11	10	2	75	6.0
May	18	17	8	81	7.3
Jun	23	23	14	80	8.4
Jul	27	26	18	86	8.5
Aug	26	26	18	71	7.8
Sep	23	22	15	81	6.7
Oct	15	15	8	89	3.9
Nov	9	8	2	70	2.8
Dec	3	2	-2	70	2.0

96 metres, to scale.

Afternoons, up top and down below.

Getting there.

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

The Niagara River runs highest from March to July and from November to January.

From the sky.

Around the canyon.

Towns nearby

What else is around Niagara Gorge.

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

Seen from the trail.

Wet years, dry years.

Compare with the neighbours.

Niagara Gorge

Cumberland Narrows

Where these figures come from

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	0	-1	-6	59	2.5
Feb	0	0	-6	51	3.3
Mar	5	4	-3	58	4.9
Apr	11	10	2	75	6.0
May	18	17	8	81	7.3
Jun	23	23	14	80	8.4
Jul	27	26	18	86	8.5
Aug	26	26	18	71	7.8
Sep	23	22	15	81	6.7
Oct	15	15	8	89	3.9
Nov	9	8	2	70	2.8
Dec	3	2	-2	70	2.0