I went to the canyon because I wanted to hike to the bottom of a canyon reputed to be twice the depth of Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Having just finished a book on the Grand Canyon after several years of research that included hiking down to Phantom Ranch, I couldn’t believe a trek to the bottom of a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon could be accomplished in a couple of hours as all the guidebooks claimed. It had taken our Grand Canyon Field Institute group over six hours to descend the 4800′ from the South Rim to Phantom Ranch via the South Kaibab Trail. (For my trail journal of that hike, see Trails and Treasures’ South Kaibab Trail.)
Colca Canyon at the start of the trek: Where's the bottom?
Colca Canyon is said to reach a maximum depth of 13,648′ on the north rim and 11,811′ on the south rim with the floor being 3,960′ below the rim on average. (See the Colca Canyon official site.) I started my trek into the canyon at Cabanaconde at an elevation of 10,780′ and went down to the oasis as Sangalle at 6900′, a descent of 3,880′. I couldn’t find a trail distance in any of the guidebooks, and my guide just shrugged his shoulders. Since I met young people with good knees who made it down in 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hrs, I’d guess three to four miles.
The following table compares the trail descents:
| Colca Canyon | Grand Canyon | |
| Rim elevation (in feet) |
10,780 |
7,200 |
| Destination elevation |
6,900 |
2,420 |
| Elevation difference |
3,880 |
4,780 |
| Hiking distance |
4(?) miles |
7.1 miles |
Thus, there are several important statistical differences in these two treks:
- the Colca Canyon trail is significantly steeper with an 18 to 21% gradient vs. a 14% gradient, and
- the Colca Canyon trek is accomplished at significantly higher altitudes, but
- the vertical descent into the Grand Canyon on the South Kaibab trail is significantly greater.
By comparing the views, one can see that the “rim” of Colca Canyon is far less obvious than that of the Grand Canyon. There are mountains that rise up from the rim of Colca Canyon. The Grand Canyon is in the middle of the Colorado Plateau. The Grand Canyon is also much older than Colca Canyon. Researchers estimate it began 17 million years ago.
- The Grand Canyon: Where’s the river?
There are other differences too which I’ll talk about in my next post. But, from my perspective as a hiker, the Grand Canyon is deeper.
For a good discussion of canyons, see http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Canyon. And, by the way, Colca Canyon is not the deepest canyon in the world; Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet is.