United States Canyon
Waimea Canyon State Park
765 m of rock, cut by the Haleiele Stream.
Aaronbernstein · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
765 metres, to scale.
A slice through Waimea Canyon State Park 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: Great Pyramid · 139 m · Empire State · 443 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.
765m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
11.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
42°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
161m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
5 °C warmer at the bottom.
In September the afternoon reaches 26 °C on the floor, against 22 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from January to May. The wettest months are in March and in December.
- 23°18°Jan
- 23°18°Feb
- 23°18°Mar
- 24°19°Apr
- 25°20°May
- 26°20°Jun
- 26°21°Jul
- 26°21°Aug
- 26°22°Sep
- 26°21°Oct
- 25°20°Nov
- 24°19°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.
Protected area of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States
Waimea Canyon State Park is a canyon in United States, cut by the Haleiele Stream. The relief model measures 765 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Kekaha-Waimeanearest town · 9.8 km in a straight line
- Waimea Canyon Lookoutnearest viewpoint · 3.8 km from the floor
- Lihue Airport (LIH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 35 km in a straight lineCar hire at LIH airport (Lihue, Kauai)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From January to Maybest 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
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.
- 6viewpoints within 5 kmWaimea Canyon Lookout, Great overview over Canyon, Lookout and 3 more
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 9campsites within 8 kmWiliwili Camp, YWCA Camp Sloggett, Waiakoali and 6 more
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmThe Cabins at Kokee Park
- 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
- 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
- Kekaha-Waimea9.8 km in a straight line
- Kekaha11 km in a straight line
- Waimea11 km in a straight line
- Hanapēpē Heights17 km in a straight line
- Hanapēpē18 km in a straight line
- ‘Ele‘ele19 km in a straight line
- Kaumakani-Hanapepe19 km in a straight line
- Kalāheo20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Waimea Canyon State Park.
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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas54 mountains within 15 km
Coastya7 beaches 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 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 |
| Afternoon · rim | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 |
| Night · rim | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 84 | 125 | 57 | 49 | 43 | 41 | 47 | 51 | 76 | 84 | 100 |
| Rainy days | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 8.7 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 9.3 | 8.0 | 7.2 | 6.8 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23 | 18 | 16 | 68 | 7.3 |
| Feb | 23 | 18 | 16 | 84 | 7.3 |
| Mar | 23 | 18 | 16 | 125 | 7.5 |
| Apr | 24 | 19 | 17 | 57 | 8.7 |
| May | 25 | 20 | 18 | 49 | 9.6 |
| Jun | 26 | 20 | 19 | 43 | 10.1 |
| Jul | 26 | 21 | 19 | 41 | 10.1 |
| Aug | 26 | 21 | 20 | 47 | 9.7 |
| Sep | 26 | 22 | 20 | 51 | 9.3 |
| Oct | 26 | 21 | 19 | 76 | 8.0 |
| Nov | 25 | 20 | 18 | 84 | 7.2 |
| Dec | 24 | 19 | 17 | 100 | 6.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (161 m) and the rim (927 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 | 132% | 53% | 205% | 84% | 76% | 59% | 131% | 82% | 47% | 132% | 86% | 35% |
| 2021 | 119% | 103% | 151% | 76% | 88% | 59% | 140% | 74% | 96% | 62% | 34% | 165% |
| 2022 | 70% | 15% | 29% | 95% | 131% | 42% | 61% | 63% | 61% | 61% | 48% | 122% |
| 2023 | 124% | 211% | 79% | 75% | 78% | 25% | 28% | 10% | 26% | 27% | 61% | 42% |
| 2024 | 52% | 22% | 32% | 63% | 81% | 22% | 25% | 32% | 21% | 24% | 23% | 10% |
| 2025 | 49% | 13% | 18% | 91% | 19% | 47% | 46% | 24% | 32% | 31% | 44% | 66% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q7960119) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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islands
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here