United States Canyon World Heritage
Tenaya Canyon
964 m of rock, cut by the Tenaya Creek.
Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
964 metres, to scale.
A slice through Tenaya 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: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 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.
964m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
4.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
59°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,206m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
7 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 33 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from November to April. The wettest months are from December to March.
- 10°3°Jan
- 10°3°Feb
- 12°5°Mar
- 16°9°Apr
- 22°14°May
- 28°21°Jun
- 33°26°Jul
- 32°25°Aug
- 28°21°Sep
- 22°15°Oct
- 15°8°Nov
- 9°2°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 California, USA
Tenaya Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Tenaya Creek. The relief model measures 964 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 4.0 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Yosemite National Park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- Yosemite Valleynearest town · 2.0 km in a straight line
- Parking 320 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.1 km from the floor
- Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 64 km in a straight lineCar hire at FAT airport (Fresno)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.
The river
The Tenaya Creek runs highest from February to April.
The Tenaya Creek carries about 1.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from February to April, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from June to November.
- 2.2 m³/sJan
- 2.9 m³/sFeb
- 3.1 m³/sMar
- 3.0 m³/sApr
- 1.8 m³/sMay
- 0.8 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.3 m³/sAug
- 0.2 m³/sSep
- 0.5 m³/sOct
- 0.8 m³/sNov
- 1.9 m³/sDec
From about 0.25 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.1 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 123 km².
Follow the Merced 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.
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
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 9 × 9 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 36viewpoints within 5 kmGlacier Point, Sentinel Dome, Sierra Point and 33 more
- 12marked hiking routes within 4 kmJohn Muir Trail, Four Mile Trail, Theodore Solomons Trail and 9 more
- 44climbing crags within 3 kmSnake Dike Base, Harry Daley Route, Curry Village Boulders and 41 more
- 17footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmJohn Muir Trail, Mist Trail, Valley Loop Trail and 14 more
- 13named waterfalls within 4 kmVernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Silver Apron and 10 more
- 1caves within 3 km
- 13car parks within 3 km
- 38information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 8bus stops within 2 km
- 10campsites within 8 kmYosemite Valley Backpackers Campground, Little Yosemite Valley Campground, Camp 4 and 7 more
- 3hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAhwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Valley Lodge
- 8restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots 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
- Yosemite Valley2.0 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Tenaya 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.
Cascadyas8 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas29 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 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 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 28 | 33 | 32 | 28 | 22 | 15 | 9 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 26 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -8 | -8 | -6 | -3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 0 | -4 | -8 |
| Rain (mm) | 116 | 111 | 98 | 62 | 35 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 39 | 61 | 125 |
| Rainy days | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.9 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 9.3 | 11.2 | 13.9 | 13.7 | 13.0 | 11.3 | 9.3 | 7.1 | 5.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 33 | 33 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 10 | 3 | -8 | 116 | 5.9 |
| Feb | 10 | 3 | -8 | 111 | 6.4 |
| Mar | 12 | 5 | -6 | 98 | 7.7 |
| Apr | 16 | 9 | -3 | 62 | 9.3 |
| May | 22 | 14 | 1 | 35 | 11.2 |
| Jun | 28 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 13.9 |
| Jul | 33 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 13.7 |
| Aug | 32 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 13.0 |
| Sep | 28 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 11.3 |
| Oct | 22 | 15 | 0 | 39 | 9.3 |
| Nov | 15 | 8 | -4 | 61 | 7.1 |
| Dec | 9 | 2 | -8 | 125 | 5.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,206 m) and the rim (2,274 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 | 16% | 5% | 97% | 159% | 98% | 62% | 23% | 47% | 5% | 0% | 47% | 40% |
| 2021 | 122% | 30% | 67% | 17% | 12% | 92% | 211% | 20% | 20% | 296% | 27% | 214% |
| 2022 | 0% | 5% | 33% | 49% | 3% | 19% | 42% | 331% | 295% | 2% | 151% | 262% |
| 2023 | 264% | 145% | 322% | 1% | 53% | 235% | 15% | 531% | 220% | 10% | 49% | 31% |
| 2024 | 83% | 180% | 154% | 80% | 65% | 46% | 126% | 47% | 85% | 10% | 133% | 43% |
| 2025 | 14% | 173% | 127% | 44% | 12% | 31% | 23% | 400% | 660% | 151% | 156% | 118% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Tenaya Canyon
United States
- 964 mDepth
- 4.0 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 59°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
United States · 20 km
- 1,265 mDepth
- 6.9 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 48°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7699521) · 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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