10 Incredible Canyons and Gorges

Canyons or gorges are deep ravines between rocks, or moun­tain peaks. In most cas­es, they are formed as a result of the activ­i­ty of rivers that destroy the under­ly­ing lay­ers of rocks. Let’s take a look at 10 incred­i­ble canyons and gorges in the world.

10. Fish River Canyon, Namibia

Fish Riv­er Canyon is locat­ed in south­ern Namib­ia. It is the largest canyon in Africa and a pop­u­lar attrac­tion to see its immen­si­ty and majesty, with a length of about 160 km, a width of 27 km and a depth of 550 m. At the bot­tom of the canyon is a hot spring resort. Some plots are pri­vate­ly owned.

9. Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

The Grand Canyon is locat­ed in north­ern Ari­zona, Amer­i­ca and is one of the most incred­i­ble in the world. Formed by the ero­sion­al action of the Col­orado Riv­er over mil­lions of years, it is over 1.6 km deep and 446 km long. What attracts tourists to this place is the gen­er­al immen­si­ty of the canyon, its intri­cate land­scape and col­or­ful views that are hard to find any­where else in the world.

8. Fjadrargljufur Canyon, Iceland

Fjadrar­glju­fur is locat­ed in the south­east of Ice­land and is one of the most beau­ti­ful canyons in the world. Its depth in some places reach­es 100 m, and its length is about 2 km. In this gorge flows the riv­er Fjadra, formed as a result of pro­gres­sive ero­sion with water from glac­i­ers flow­ing through rocks and palag­o­nite over thou­sands of years. Tourists vis­it this attrac­tion to enjoy the views.

7. Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

Blyde Riv­er Canyon is locat­ed in Mpumalan­ga in South Africa and is one of the most scenic canyons in the world. Its length is 25 km and the aver­age depth is about 750 m. It is also the green­est canyon in the world. Con­sist­ing most­ly of sand­stone, it sup­ports a wide vari­ety of flo­ra and fau­na and is pro­tect­ed by a nature reserve.

6. Verdon Gorge, France

The Ver­don Gorge in south­east­ern France is one of the most amaz­ing gorges in the world. It is a riv­er canyon often referred to as the most beau­ti­ful in all of Europe. It has a depth of 700 m and a length of 25 km. The ero­sive action of the Ver­don Riv­er, famous for its turquoise-green water, has shaped the gorge, mak­ing it one of the most amaz­ing places in France.

5. Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

Tiger Leap­ing Gorge is one of the deep­est and most pic­turesque gorges in the world. It is locat­ed on the Jin­sha Riv­er, near Lijian City, Yun­nan Province in Chi­na, and has a max­i­mum depth of 3,790 meters from the riv­er to the sum­mit. The Naxi peo­ple have lived in sev­er­al small vil­lages for cen­turies and wel­come tourists with hos­pi­tal­i­ty.

4. Bryce Canyon, USA

Bryce Canyon in Utah looks like a nat­ur­al amphithe­ater with lime­stone columns called hoodoos. It became known as one of the most beau­ti­ful canyons in the world in the ear­ly 1900s, when its unearth­ly appear­ance was described in mag­a­zines and news­pa­pers. Despite the dif­fi­cult acces­si­bil­i­ty, this is a pop­u­lar place for stargaz­ing with a view of the most clear star­ry sky. You can also check out our selec­tion of 25 US Nation­al Parks to learn more about the canyon.

3. Kali Gandaki Gorge, Nepal

The Kali Gan­da­ki Gorge in Nepal is one of the most beau­ti­ful in the world. It was formed by the Gan­da­ki Riv­er in the Himalayas. Some records define it as the deep­est gorge in the world, with a depth of 2520 meters between Anna­pur­na I and Dhaula­giri. It also hosts an ancient trade route between India and Nepal.

2. Indus Gorge, Pakistan

The Indus in Pak­istan is one of the most incred­i­ble gorges in the world. The Indus Riv­er is one of the main rivers of Asia and the most impor­tant riv­er of Pak­istan. The gorge reach­es a depth of about 4500–5200 meters along the riv­er near the Nan­ga Par­bat mas­sif.

1. Antelope Canyon, USA

Ante­lope Canyon is arguably the most vis­it­ed and most pho­tographed of all the incred­i­ble canyons in the world. It became famous for its unique­ly shaped rocks with flow­ing pat­terns of dif­fer­ent col­ors. Locat­ed in the Amer­i­can South­west, the canyon was formed by the ero­sion of Nava­jo sand­stone, pri­mar­i­ly by flash floods and sec­on­dar­i­ly by sub­aer­i­al process­es.

There are many more equal­ly mag­nif­i­cent canyons or gorges in the world. Some of them are known to tourists from all over the world, while oth­ers remain untouched and hid­den from human eyes. Over­all, these are some of the most beau­ti­ful nat­ur­al land­forms on Earth.

See next: 10 Amaz­ing US Land­scapes