Australia DaHuzyBru · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
246 metres, to scale.
A slice through Ormiston 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: Great Pyramid · 139 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.
246m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
13.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
22°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
648m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In January the afternoon reaches 38 °C on the floor, against 36 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to July. The floor passes 35 °C from November to February: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from December to January.
- 38°36°Jan
- 37°35°Feb
- 34°32°Mar
- 30°28°Apr
- 24°22°May
- 20°18°Jun
- 21°19°Jul
- 24°22°Aug
- 30°28°Sep
- 34°32°Oct
- 36°34°Nov
- 37°35°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.
Gorge in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia
Ormiston Gorge is a gorge in Australia, cut by the Ormiston Creek. The relief model measures 246 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 336 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park.
Getting there.
- Parking 2,460 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.5 km from the floor
- Alice Springs Airport (ASP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 120 km in a straight lineCar hire at ASP airport (Alice Springs)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to Julybest 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 Ormiston Creek runs highest from December to March.
The Ormiston Creek carries about 1.0 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from December to March. It is lowest in June and from August to October.
- 2.7 m³/sJan
- 2.3 m³/sFeb
- 2.4 m³/sMar
- 1.0 m³/sApr
- 0.7 m³/sMay
- 0.4 m³/sJun
- 0.7 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.0 m³/sSep
- 0.4 m³/sOct
- 1.2 m³/sNov
- 2.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.04 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.7 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 452 km².
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 kmGhost Gum Lookout and 3 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 4 kmLarapinta Trail Section 9, Larapinta Trail Section 10
- 2car parks within 3 km
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 16campsites within 8 kmGlen Helen Homestead Lodge Campground, Ormiston Gorge Campground - Tjuta NP, Ormiston Gorge and 13 more
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmGlen Helen Homestead Lodge
- 1restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges 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 Ormiston 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.
Peakyas2 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 | 38 | 37 | 34 | 30 | 24 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 30 | 34 | 36 | 37 |
| Afternoon · rim | 36 | 35 | 32 | 28 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 28 | 32 | 34 | 35 |
| Night · rim | 21 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 20 |
| Rain (mm) | 46 | 36 | 38 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 33 | 46 |
| Rainy days | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 10.6 | 10.6 | 10.1 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.7 | 10.9 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 10.8 | 10.0 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 36 | 21 | 46 | 10.6 |
| Feb | 37 | 35 | 20 | 36 | 10.6 |
| Mar | 34 | 32 | 17 | 38 | 10.1 |
| Apr | 30 | 28 | 13 | 10 | 10.3 |
| May | 24 | 22 | 8 | 15 | 9.3 |
| Jun | 20 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 9.2 |
| Jul | 21 | 19 | 3 | 16 | 9.7 |
| Aug | 24 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 10.9 |
| Sep | 30 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 11.0 |
| Oct | 34 | 32 | 14 | 21 | 11.2 |
| Nov | 36 | 34 | 18 | 33 | 10.8 |
| Dec | 37 | 35 | 20 | 46 | 10.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (648 m) and the rim (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 | 49% | 6% | 68% | 63% | 2% | 0% | 2% | — | 0% | 62% | 61% | 234% |
| 2021 | 39% | 68% | 137% | 3% | 4% | 65% | 0% | — | 248% | 134% | 251% | 38% |
| 2022 | 273% | 114% | 1% | 6% | 4% | 65% | 0% | — | 152% | 118% | 80% | 139% |
| 2023 | 282% | 8% | 48% | 220% | 6% | 284% | 134% | — | 0% | 0% | 231% | 1% |
| 2024 | 55% | 56% | 330% | 0% | 139% | 103% | 2% | — | 192% | 11% | 61% | 92% |
| 2025 | 6% | 10% | 60% | 189% | 243% | 0% | 20% | — | 160% | 72% | 146% | 4% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Ormiston Gorge
Australia
- 246 mDepth
- 13 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 22°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q21887598) · 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?
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