France Pascalafourcade · CC BY 4.0
The cut
438 metres, to scale.
A slice through Saut de la Saule 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: Big Ben · 96 m · Eiffel Tower · 330 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
438m
Depth
published figure: 8 m
14.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
25°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
413m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 26 °C on the floor, against 23 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in June and in September. The rim freezes at night from December to February.
- 6°3°Jan
- 7°4°Feb
- 11°8°Mar
- 15°12°Apr
- 19°15°May
- 23°20°Jun
- 26°23°Jul
- 26°23°Aug
- 22°19°Sep
- 17°14°Oct
- 11°8°Nov
- 7°4°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.
Saut de la Saule is a canyon in France, cut by the Rhue river. The relief model measures 438 m from the floor to the lower rim. The published depth is 8 m. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Bort-les-Orguesnearest town · 2.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 540 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.9 km from the floor
- Aurillac airport (AUR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 55 km in a straight lineCar hire at CFE airport (Clermont-Ferrand)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and in Septemberbest 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 Rhue runs highest from March to June and from November to January.
The Rhue carries about 31 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to June and from November to January.
- 30 m³/sJan
- 22 m³/sFeb
- 37 m³/sMar
- 48 m³/sApr
- 47 m³/sMay
- 28 m³/sJun
- 9.8 m³/sJul
- 9.3 m³/sAug
- 11 m³/sSep
- 23 m³/sOct
- 35 m³/sNov
- 31 m³/sDec
From about 9.3 m³/s in the lowest month to 48 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 885 km².
Follow the Dordogne 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.
- 13viewpoints within 5 kmPoint de vue panoramique sur les Orgues, Site de la Pyramide, Belvédère and 10 more
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmDe Bort à Spontour
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPasserelle du Saut de la Saule
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmSaut de la Saule
- 35car parks within 3 km
- 7information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3bus stops within 2 km
- 9campsites within 8 kmCamping Les Aubazines, Camping d'Outre Val, Camping de l'Étang and 6 more
- 8hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmRelais Arverne, Hôtel restaurant Delmas, Central Hôtel and 5 more
- 9restaurants 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
- caves within 3 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
- Bort-les-Orgues2.3 km in a straight line
- Champs-sur-Tarentaine-Marchal4.6 km in a straight line
- Lanobre6.5 km in a straight line
- Ydes7.1 km in a straight line
- Champagnac9.3 km in a straight line
- Riom-ès-Montagnes16 km in a straight line
- Neuvic19 km in a straight line
- Condat20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Saut de la Saule.
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.
Peakyas1 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 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 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 4 |
| Night · rim | -3 | -3 | -1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 1 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 67 | 49 | 66 | 79 | 89 | 75 | 66 | 75 | 65 | 76 | 79 | 71 |
| Rainy days | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.7 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 13 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6 | 3 | -3 | 67 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 7 | 4 | -3 | 49 | 4.2 |
| Mar | 11 | 8 | -1 | 66 | 5.5 |
| Apr | 15 | 12 | 2 | 79 | 6.2 |
| May | 19 | 15 | 6 | 89 | 6.8 |
| Jun | 23 | 20 | 10 | 75 | 8.6 |
| Jul | 26 | 23 | 11 | 66 | 9.0 |
| Aug | 26 | 23 | 11 | 75 | 8.1 |
| Sep | 22 | 19 | 8 | 65 | 6.9 |
| Oct | 17 | 14 | 5 | 76 | 4.8 |
| Nov | 11 | 8 | 1 | 79 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 7 | 4 | -2 | 71 | 2.6 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (413 m) and the rim (886 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 | 61% | 102% | 93% | 75% | 87% | 177% | 23% | 87% | 120% | 159% | 35% | 181% |
| 2021 | 118% | 117% | 49% | 49% | 104% | 212% | 120% | 35% | 196% | 67% | 62% | 137% |
| 2022 | 47% | 79% | 57% | 67% | 36% | 200% | 19% | 76% | 98% | 47% | 96% | 84% |
| 2023 | 75% | 30% | 122% | 92% | 88% | 153% | 52% | 67% | 66% | 150% | 181% | 170% |
| 2024 | 82% | 155% | 164% | 89% | 166% | 142% | 99% | 56% | 206% | 134% | 71% | 84% |
| 2025 | 95% | 38% | 42% | 51% | 25% | 64% | 23% | 44% | 51% | 54% | 48% | 47% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Saut de la Saule
France
- 438 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 25°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q19951279) · 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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