France BBCLCD · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
906 metres, to scale.
A slice through Trou de Fer 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.
906m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
3.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
54°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
344m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
6 °C warmer at the bottom.
In February the afternoon reaches 28 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to October. The wettest months are from January to March.
- 28°21°Jan
- 28°22°Feb
- 27°21°Mar
- 26°20°Apr
- 24°18°May
- 22°16°Jun
- 22°15°Jul
- 22°15°Aug
- 23°16°Sep
- 24°18°Oct
- 26°20°Nov
- 27°21°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 on Reunion Island
Trou de Fer is a canyon in France, cut by the Bras de Caverne river. The relief model measures 906 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 3.6 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Réunion National Park.
Getting there.
- Salazienearest town · 2.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,120 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.2 km from the floor
- Roland Garros Airport (RUN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 17 km in a straight lineCar hire at RUN airport (Sainte-Marie)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From June to 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
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 23viewpoints within 5 kmBelvédère, Voile de la Mariée, Trou de Fer and 20 more
- 5marked hiking routes within 4 kmSentier du Trou de Fer, Sentier de l'École normale, GR R1 and 2 more
- 7footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmSentier du Trou de Fer and 6 more
- 4named waterfalls within 4 kmTrou de Fer, Voile de la Mariée, Cascade Blanche and 1 more
- 24car parks within 3 km
- 12information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 12bus stops within 2 km
- 8campsites within 8 kmSite de Bivouac, Bivouac, Camping à la Ferme Le Relax and 5 more
- 48hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLes Jardins d’Héva, Chez Alice, La Mandoze and 45 more
- 12restaurants 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
- Salazie2.3 km in a straight line
- La Plaine-des-Palmistes13 km in a straight line
- Saint-André13 km in a straight line
- Bras-Panon14 km in a straight line
- Cilaos14 km in a straight line
- Sainte-Suzanne16 km in a straight line
- Sainte-Marie16 km in a straight line
- La Mare16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Trou de Fer.
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.
Cascadyas4 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas62 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 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 27 |
| Afternoon · rim | 21 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 21 |
| Night · rim | 17 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 16 |
| Rain (mm) | 140 | 114 | 143 | 76 | 53 | 37 | 31 | 31 | 33 | 34 | 46 | 55 |
| Rainy days | 19 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 10.1 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28 | 21 | 17 | 140 | 8.7 |
| Feb | 28 | 22 | 18 | 114 | 8.8 |
| Mar | 27 | 21 | 17 | 143 | 8.3 |
| Apr | 26 | 20 | 16 | 76 | 8.3 |
| May | 24 | 18 | 15 | 53 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 22 | 16 | 13 | 37 | 7.6 |
| Jul | 22 | 15 | 12 | 31 | 7.8 |
| Aug | 22 | 15 | 12 | 31 | 8.6 |
| Sep | 23 | 16 | 12 | 33 | 9.4 |
| Oct | 24 | 18 | 13 | 34 | 9.8 |
| Nov | 26 | 20 | 15 | 46 | 10.1 |
| Dec | 27 | 21 | 16 | 55 | 10.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (344 m) and the rim (1,295 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 | 211% | 53% | 165% | 54% | 55% | 98% | 139% | 68% | 84% | 127% | 29% | 57% |
| 2021 | 28% | 40% | 93% | 425% | 63% | 159% | 97% | 112% | 57% | 145% | 26% | 116% |
| 2022 | 135% | 151% | 69% | 142% | 42% | 103% | 111% | 96% | 65% | 44% | 27% | 38% |
| 2023 | 129% | 36% | 64% | 136% | 78% | 111% | 75% | 125% | 24% | 31% | 159% | 91% |
| 2024 | 199% | 67% | 89% | 160% | 75% | 184% | 36% | 77% | 79% | 80% | 60% | 36% |
| 2025 | 25% | 165% | 98% | 99% | 82% | 45% | 94% | 108% | 80% | 55% | 134% | 284% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Trou de Fer
France
- 906 mDepth
- 3.6 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 54°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q593481) · 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
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