United States Canyon
Virgin River Gorge
453 m of rock, cut by the Virgin River.
Philkon Phil Konstantin · Public domain
The cut
453 metres, to scale.
A slice through Virgin River Gorge 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.
453m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
22.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
24°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
562m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
4 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 41 °C on the floor, against 37 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in March and in November. The floor passes 35 °C from June to September: walk at dawn and carry water. The rim freezes at night from December to January.
- 15°10°Jan
- 17°12°Feb
- 22°18°Mar
- 26°22°Apr
- 32°28°May
- 39°35°Jun
- 41°37°Jul
- 40°35°Aug
- 36°31°Sep
- 28°23°Oct
- 20°16°Nov
- 14°9°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.
Long canyon that has been carved out by the Virgin River in northwest Arizona, United States
Virgin River Gorge is a canyon in United States, cut by the Virgin River. The relief model measures 453 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 697 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 22 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Beaver Damnearest town · 7.0 km in a straight line
- St George Regional Airport (SGU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 34 km in a straight lineCar hire at SGU airport (St George)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In March and in Novemberbest 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 Virgin River runs highest from January to March.
The Virgin River carries about 22 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to March. It is lowest from June to September.
- 66 m³/sJan
- 91 m³/sFeb
- 89 m³/sMar
- 63 m³/sApr
- 29 m³/sMay
- 5.8 m³/sJun
- 2.6 m³/sJul
- 8.0 m³/sAug
- 11 m³/sSep
- 18 m³/sOct
- 20 m³/sNov
- 39 m³/sDec
From about 2.6 m³/s in the lowest month to 91 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 10,887 km².
Follow the Virgin 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.
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmVirgin River Canyon Campground
- 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
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 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).
Towns nearby
- Beaver Dam7.0 km in a straight line
- Scenic20 km in a straight line
- Mesquite22 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Virgin River Gorge.
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.
Peakyas4 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 | 15 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 32 | 39 | 41 | 40 | 36 | 28 | 20 | 14 |
| Afternoon · rim | 10 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 28 | 35 | 37 | 35 | 31 | 23 | 16 | 9 |
| Night · rim | -2 | -1 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 8 | 2 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 27 | 30 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 26 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 18 | 28 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.7 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 10.7 | 12.2 | 14.0 | 11.8 | 11.6 | 10.9 | 9.3 | 7.7 | 6.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 15 | 10 | -2 | 27 | 6.7 |
| Feb | 17 | 12 | -1 | 30 | 7.4 |
| Mar | 22 | 18 | 3 | 23 | 9.1 |
| Apr | 26 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 10.7 |
| May | 32 | 28 | 12 | 10 | 12.2 |
| Jun | 39 | 35 | 18 | 3 | 14.0 |
| Jul | 41 | 37 | 22 | 26 | 11.8 |
| Aug | 40 | 35 | 21 | 26 | 11.6 |
| Sep | 36 | 31 | 16 | 18 | 10.9 |
| Oct | 28 | 23 | 8 | 23 | 9.3 |
| Nov | 20 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 7.7 |
| Dec | 14 | 9 | -3 | 28 | 6.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (562 m) and the rim (1,259 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 | 9% | 64% | 287% | 100% | 6% | — | 4% | 30% | 0% | 0% | 31% | 14% |
| 2021 | 70% | 10% | 113% | 58% | 6% | — | 207% | 122% | 53% | 192% | 0% | 249% |
| 2022 | 0% | 19% | 45% | 28% | 0% | — | 160% | 170% | 198% | 60% | 161% | 96% |
| 2023 | 316% | 82% | 363% | 11% | 70% | — | 33% | 200% | 329% | 15% | 69% | 10% |
| 2024 | 123% | 183% | 128% | 53% | 19% | — | 48% | 84% | 8% | 36% | 36% | 2% |
| 2025 | 2% | 58% | 107% | 54% | 240% | — | 19% | 65% | 120% | 115% | 134% | 80% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Virgin River Gorge
United States
- 453 mDepth
- 22 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 24°Steepest wall
Grand Canyon
United States · 182 km
- 1,413 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- 446 kmLength
- 56°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7933985) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here