Whether you're paddling, climbing, hiking or just rocking up in your camper van for a cool place to pitch up, the world's canyons offer a playground for everyone. Canyons belongs to the most monumental natural wonders that can be seen on the earth. Thanks to the erosive power of water, you can find on this planet a lot of impressive cuts in its surface.
Let’s discover the world’s 10 most stunning canyons together:
1. Colca Canyon
With a depth of 3,270m, Peru’s Colca Canyon is one of the deepest in the world and almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. It's so remote, that it wasn’t until a team of adventurers made the first descent of the river Colca 30 years ago that the depths were officially recognised.
2. Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is located in northern Arizona and is one of the great tourist attractions in the United States. Carved over several million years by the Colorado River, the canyon attains a depth of over 1.6 km (1 mile) and 446 km (277 miles) long. The Grand Canyon is not the deepest or the longest canyon in the world but the overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape offers visitor spectacular vistas that are unmatched throughout the world.
3. Waimea Canyon
It may be better known for its surf breaks, but the natural wonders inland on Hawaii are just as daunting, intimidating – and awesome. This is the Waimea, the deepest canyon in the Pacific. Aloha!
4. Fish River Canyon
The Fish River Canyon is second only in grandeur to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and one of the top tourist attractions in Namibia. It is absolutely magnificent and breathtaking in its immensity. The canyon features a gigantic ravine, in total about 160km (100 miles) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 meters deep. Because the Fish River is being dammed it only contains a small amount of running water.
5. Verdon Gorge, France
Situated in southern France, the Verdon Gorge is a stunning geological wonder, whose 400m vertical walls of limestone have been attracting climbers for decades. And more recently highliners. Watch Mich Kemeter highline in the Verdon Gorge right here.
6. Tiger Leaping Gorge
Tiger Leaping Gorge is situated on the Yangtze River in southwestern China. About 15 km (9 miles) in length, the canyon passes through a series of rapids surrounded by mountains on both sides that sharply rise 3,000 meters above the river. It is believed to be the deepest canyon in the world – depending on the criteria applied. The canyon’s narrowest point is just 30 meter wide.
7. Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
When it comes to difficult locations to pronounce, Iceland's place names take some beating. We’re not sure where to begin with the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, so if you ever find yourself in Iceland and want to know directions, we suggest you point at a map before even trying.
8. Antelope Canyon
With its graceful curves in the rock and glowing orange and purple colors, the Antelope Canyon is one the most-photographed sandstone slot canyons in the world. It includes two separate photogenic canyons – Upper and Lower Antelope. Both canyons are so narrow in places that one can stretch out his or her arms and touch both sides. Although the canyons are beautiful, they can sometimes be dangerous. In 1997 a flash flood swept into Lower Antelope and killed 11 tourists.
9. Blyde River Canyon,
There are many geological wonders in South Africa, from stunning coastlines, to jaw-dropping mountain ranges and awesome rivers that carve their way through the epic landscape. The Blyde River Canyon can count itself among the finest. At 25km long and 750m deep, it's one of the largest and, thanks to its lush foliage, it's also one of the greenest.
10. Samaria Gorge
The Samariá Gorge is a 16 km long canyon in southwest Crete. Walking the Samariá Gorge is extremely popular and more than a quarter million people do so each year. The walk takes 4-7 hours and passes through forests of ancient cypresses and pines, then cuts very deep between vertical cliffs through the mountains to emerge at Agia Roumeli on the Libyan sea, at which point tourists sail to the nearby village of Hora Sfakion.
