United States James St. John · CC BY 2.0
The cut
389 metres, to scale.
A slice through Wind River 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: 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.
389m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
3.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
32°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,350m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 31 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are in May.
- 4°1°Jan
- 5°2°Feb
- 11°8°Mar
- 16°13°Apr
- 21°19°May
- 29°26°Jun
- 34°31°Jul
- 32°29°Aug
- 26°23°Sep
- 16°14°Oct
- 9°6°Nov
- 3°0°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 made from tectonic plate shifting in Wyoming
Wind River Canyon is a canyon in United States, cut by the Wind River. The relief model measures 389 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 3.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Thermopolisnearest town · 14 km in a straight line
- Parking 670 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Central Wyoming Regional Airport (RIW)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire in RivertonDiscover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In 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.
The river
The Wind River runs highest from May to June.
The Wind River carries about 57 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to June, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from August to February.
- 18 m³/sJan
- 35 m³/sFeb
- 72 m³/sMar
- 115 m³/sApr
- 169 m³/sMay
- 142 m³/sJun
- 91 m³/sJul
- 34 m³/sAug
- 32 m³/sSep
- 38 m³/sOct
- 32 m³/sNov
- 19 m³/sDec
From about 18 m³/s in the lowest month to 169 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 20,076 km².
Follow the Bighorn 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
1.9 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 7.5 × 7.5 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 6car parks within 3 km
- 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
- 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).
Towns nearby
- Thermopolis14 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Wind River 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.
Peakyas10 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 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 29 | 34 | 32 | 26 | 16 | 9 | 3 |
| Afternoon · rim | 1 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 26 | 31 | 29 | 23 | 14 | 6 | 0 |
| Night · rim | -10 | -9 | -5 | -1 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 7 | 0 | -5 | -10 |
| Rain (mm) | 12 | 16 | 23 | 40 | 62 | 30 | 21 | 20 | 31 | 29 | 16 | 15 |
| Rainy days | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.9 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 9.7 | 12.0 | 12.1 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 4.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 17 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | 1 | -10 | 12 | 5.9 |
| Feb | 5 | 2 | -9 | 16 | 7.1 |
| Mar | 11 | 8 | -5 | 23 | 7.9 |
| Apr | 16 | 13 | -1 | 40 | 8.8 |
| May | 21 | 19 | 4 | 62 | 9.7 |
| Jun | 29 | 26 | 10 | 30 | 12.0 |
| Jul | 34 | 31 | 15 | 21 | 12.1 |
| Aug | 32 | 29 | 13 | 20 | 10.8 |
| Sep | 26 | 23 | 7 | 31 | 9.5 |
| Oct | 16 | 14 | 0 | 29 | 7.3 |
| Nov | 9 | 6 | -5 | 16 | 5.9 |
| Dec | 3 | 0 | -10 | 15 | 4.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,350 m) and the rim (1,769 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 | 118% | 189% | 60% | 82% | 32% | 127% | 48% | 52% | 74% | 81% | 23% | 68% |
| 2021 | 59% | 147% | 152% | 102% | 67% | 76% | 94% | 169% | 63% | 229% | 54% | 104% |
| 2022 | 127% | 92% | 90% | 138% | 119% | 30% | 60% | 142% | 111% | 75% | 142% | 112% |
| 2023 | 226% | 96% | 90% | 67% | 60% | 418% | 121% | 186% | 116% | 190% | 115% | 29% |
| 2024 | 37% | 113% | 91% | 95% | 104% | 47% | 99% | 86% | 30% | 81% | 50% | 25% |
| 2025 | 81% | 48% | 143% | 121% | 98% | 75% | 175% | 102% | 76% | 156% | 33% | 79% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Wind River Canyon
United States
- 389 mDepth
- 3.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 32°Steepest wall
Waterfalls Canyon
United States · 133 km
- 822 mDepth
- 16 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 46°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q8023942) · 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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