Japan Yamaguchi Yoshiaki from Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0
The cut
317 metres, to scale.
A slice through Ryūjin kyō 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.
317m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
4.8km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
17°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
87m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 28 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The wettest months are in July and from September to October.
- 7°4°Jan
- 8°5°Feb
- 12°9°Mar
- 16°14°Apr
- 20°18°May
- 23°21°Jun
- 27°24°Jul
- 28°26°Aug
- 25°22°Sep
- 20°18°Oct
- 15°12°Nov
- 10°7°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 Japan
Ryūjin kyō is a canyon in Japan. The relief model measures 317 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 391 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 4.8 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Daigonearest town · 14 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,060 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- 竜神大吊り橋nearest viewpoint · 2.2 km from the floor
- Ibaraki Airport (IBR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire at NRT airport (Narita)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in Octoberbest 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
3 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 10 × 10 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km竜神大吊り橋, 休場展望台
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km渕見橋, 竜神大吊橋, 亀ヶ渕橋
- 3car parks within 3 km
- 14bus stops within 2 km
- 1campsites within 8 km上小川キャンプ場
- 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 km大菅温泉元湯旅館, 里美屋温泉旅館
- marked hiking routes 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 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
- Daigo14 km in a straight line
- Hitachiomiya14 km in a straight line
- Ōmiya16 km in a straight line
- Hitachi-ota16 km in a straight line
- Hitachi19 km in a straight line
- Higashidate20 km in a straight line
- Takahagi22 km in a straight line
- Ishitsuka24 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Ryūjin kyō.
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.
Peakyas14 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 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 28 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 |
| Afternoon · rim | 4 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 7 |
| Night · rim | -2 | -2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 1 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 54 | 96 | 119 | 133 | 151 | 176 | 144 | 184 | 203 | 89 | 66 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 11 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | 4 | -2 | 63 | 5.9 |
| Feb | 8 | 5 | -2 | 54 | 5.8 |
| Mar | 12 | 9 | 1 | 96 | 6.0 |
| Apr | 16 | 14 | 5 | 119 | 6.1 |
| May | 20 | 18 | 10 | 133 | 6.0 |
| Jun | 23 | 21 | 14 | 151 | 4.8 |
| Jul | 27 | 24 | 18 | 176 | 4.8 |
| Aug | 28 | 26 | 20 | 144 | 5.9 |
| Sep | 25 | 22 | 17 | 184 | 4.7 |
| Oct | 20 | 18 | 11 | 203 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 15 | 12 | 6 | 89 | 4.7 |
| Dec | 10 | 7 | 1 | 66 | 5.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (87 m) and the rim (478 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 | 177% | 62% | 124% | 150% | 100% | 137% | 169% | 38% | 86% | 75% | 26% | 27% |
| 2021 | 67% | 123% | 170% | 122% | 86% | 95% | 157% | 232% | 84% | 90% | 91% | 194% |
| 2022 | 34% | 118% | 89% | 140% | 122% | 67% | 94% | 98% | 115% | 54% | 107% | 82% |
| 2023 | 39% | 80% | 108% | 87% | 157% | 352% | 66% | 77% | 149% | 63% | 84% | 33% |
| 2024 | 104% | 123% | 177% | 82% | 147% | 117% | 83% | 209% | 103% | 112% | 152% | 6% |
| 2025 | 48% | 24% | 159% | 144% | 219% | 108% | 88% | 92% | 115% | 103% | 72% | 141% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Ryūjin kyō
Japan
- 317 mDepth
- 4.8 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 17°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q11598381) · 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?
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