Canada AWWE83 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
1,118 metres, to scale.
A slice through Turnback 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
1,118m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
16.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
39°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
211m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
11 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 14 °C on the floor, against 2 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in July. The rim freezes at night from August to June. The wettest months are from September to October and in December.
- -4°-15°Jan
- -3°-14°Feb
- -2°-13°Mar
- 4°-7°Apr
- 9°-3°May
- 12°0°Jun
- 14°2°Jul
- 14°2°Aug
- 10°-1°Sep
- 5°-7°Oct
- -2°-13°Nov
- -3°-14°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.
Valley in British Columbia, Canada
Turnback Canyon is a canyon in Canada, cut by the Alsek River. The relief model measures 1,118 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,734 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 17 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Yakutat Airport (YAK)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 103 km in a straight lineCar hire in WhitehorseDiscover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In 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 Alsek River runs highest from June to August.
The Alsek River carries about 239 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from June to August, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from December to April.
- 24 m³/sJan
- 33 m³/sFeb
- 62 m³/sMar
- 112 m³/sApr
- 389 m³/sMay
- 745 m³/sJun
- 966 m³/sJul
- 845 m³/sAug
- 674 m³/sSep
- 485 m³/sOct
- 260 m³/sNov
- 92 m³/sDec
From about 24 m³/s in the lowest month to 966 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 17,194 km².
Follow the Alsek 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
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.
- viewpoints within 5 km
- marked hiking routes 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
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 km
- hotels and guesthouses within 8 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).
In our other atlases
What else is around Turnback 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.
Peakyas2 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 | -4 | -3 | -2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 5 | -2 | -3 |
| Afternoon · rim | -15 | -14 | -13 | -7 | -3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | -7 | -13 | -14 |
| Night · rim | -20 | -20 | -20 | -14 | -7 | -4 | -2 | -2 | -5 | -11 | -18 | -19 |
| Rain (mm) | 244 | 184 | 159 | 126 | 120 | 112 | 137 | 214 | 291 | 293 | 249 | 270 |
| Rainy days | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 23 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.4 | 3.7 | 7.8 | 11.3 | 12.6 | 10.0 | 9.7 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 244 | 287 | 311 | 308 | 238 | 121 | 23 | 4 | 12 | 48 | 118 | 189 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -4 | -15 | -20 | 244 | 1.4 |
| Feb | -3 | -14 | -20 | 184 | 3.7 |
| Mar | -2 | -13 | -20 | 159 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 4 | -7 | -14 | 126 | 11.3 |
| May | 9 | -3 | -7 | 120 | 12.6 |
| Jun | 12 | 0 | -4 | 112 | 10.0 |
| Jul | 14 | 2 | -2 | 137 | 9.7 |
| Aug | 14 | 2 | -2 | 214 | 8.0 |
| Sep | 10 | -1 | -5 | 291 | 6.1 |
| Oct | 5 | -7 | -11 | 293 | 3.8 |
| Nov | -2 | -13 | -18 | 249 | 1.8 |
| Dec | -3 | -14 | -19 | 270 | 1.1 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (211 m) and the rim (1,945 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 | 82% | 151% | 65% | 93% | 64% | 106% | 121% | 119% | 80% | 92% | 92% | 148% |
| 2021 | 113% | 99% | 98% | 90% | 141% | 123% | 79% | 149% | 90% | 96% | 80% | 43% |
| 2022 | 109% | 149% | 137% | 78% | 66% | 64% | 131% | 123% | 170% | 183% | 105% | 70% |
| 2023 | 123% | 87% | 102% | 120% | 145% | 127% | 57% | 88% | 125% | 124% | 145% | 174% |
| 2024 | 92% | 75% | 136% | 67% | 148% | 64% | 159% | 90% | 96% | 108% | 73% | 94% |
| 2025 | 154% | 66% | 59% | 213% | 166% | 124% | 65% | 42% | 119% | 124% | 122% | 74% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q22358957) · 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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