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Eastern Cape

Valley of Desolation

Floor639 m2,096 ft
Depth
561 m
Rim
1,629 m
Length
74.7 km
Tonight
10°CPartly cloudy · Wind 4 km/h NW

Valley of Desolation is up to 561 m deep: the rim reaches 1,629 m and the floor 639 m, along 74.7 km.

All facts
Floor
639 m
Open the 3D view
Depth

Depth of Valley of Desolation

Up to 561 m deep (typically 43 m) along the 74.7 km in view.

5007501,0001,2501,5001,750561 mrimfloor0204074.7 km

Rim = the lower side's highest point within 6 km. Centreline follows the river (no mapped valley line).

3D map

Valley of Desolation 3D map

Drag to orbit · click, then scroll to zoom (or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll) · One finger scrolls the page · two fingers orbit and zoom · 33.4 × 33.4 km

Surface
Vertical scale
Topographic map

Valley of Desolation terrain and contours

50 m contours from the Copernicus GLO-30 terrain model. Click two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.Tap two points on the map to draw your own cross-section.

Index contours every 250 mShowing west → east through the centre

Valley of Desolation elevation profile

West → east through the centre

Hover the profile to read elevation and distance.Tap or drag along the profile to read elevation and distance.
Weather

Valley of Desolation weather

Tonight · Partly cloudy · 10°C (50°F) · Wind 4 km/h NW

Valley of Desolation forecast for about 1,629 m.

  • Tonight10°–4 km/h NW
  • Today10°27°–32 km/h S
  • Sun8°22°–29 km/h SE
  • Mon6°22°4.7 mm16 km/h S
  • Tue6°18°–11 km/h S
  • Wed9°24°–13 km/h SE
  • Thu14°27°–12 km/h SE
  • Fri16°31°–14 km/h SE
  • Sat11°35°3.4 mm17 km/h SE
  • Sun8°15°1.9 mm18 km/h SE

Forecast data: MET Norway, CC BY 4.0; daily low and high, precipitation total and strongest wind from the hourly data, model run Oct 23, 23:19 UTC.

Camping & parking

Camping & parking near Valley of Desolation

Campsites, parking, trailheads and mountain huts mapped in OpenStreetMap around Valley of Desolation, nearest first, by straight-line distance. Check access, fees and permits locally.

All mapped places 3
PlaceDistance
Parking2.1 km ENE
Parking2.1 km ENE
Parking3.3 km NE
Slope

Slope

Share of the 33.4 × 33.4 km view by steepness, from the 30 m model.

Mostly gentle: 82% of the view is under 15°.

Gentle, 0–15°
81.7%
Moderate, 15–30°
15.0%
Steep, 30–45°
3.1%
Cliffs, 45° and over
0.2%
Steeper than 30°
3.3% of the 1,116 km² view
Relief in view
1,071 m low point 636 m
Land cover

Land cover

ESA WorldCover 10 m classification of the same area.

Shrubland 50.0%Grassland 44.8%Trees 2.6%Bare rock / sparse 1.9%Cropland 0.7%

Snow & ice means glaciers and year-round snow (a yearly average), not today’s snow cover.

Wildlife

Wildlife seen nearby

Sightings of the most-seen species on iNaturalist (research grade) within 16.7 km; 686 species recorded in all.

Sightings per species 6
  • Southern Rock Agama64
  • Sweet Thorn51
  • Yellow Milkbush42
  • Cape Aloe35
  • Cape Crag Lizard33
  • Karoo Crossberry33
Where it sits

Where Valley of Desolation sits

Region
South Africa23Africa69
Nearby

Nearby places

Downloads

Valley of Desolation downloads: topographic map, heightmap, STL 3D model and DEM

Free files made in your browser from this page's terrain data. No sign-up; credit the sources below.

Print & wall
3D printing & 3D apps
GIS & GPS
</>Embed this mapPaste this into your site to show the interactive 3D terrain, with a credit link back here.<iframe src="https://topolu.com/embed/valley-of-desolation" width="100%" height="480" style="border:0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen title="3D terrain of Valley of Desolation"></iframe> <p><a href="https://topolu.com/valley-of-desolation" rel="nofollow">Topolu</a></p>

Free to use with credit: see the data sources

Sources

Data sources

Terrain
Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Imagery
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 (scene 2026-03-11)
Land cover
© ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium
Facts
Wikidata (CC0)
Camping & parking, Geometry
© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Wildlife
iNaturalist community observations, counts only
Panorama
Includes Copernicus WorldDEM-90 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The European Union, ESA, DLR and Airbus incur no liability for any use of this data and do not endorse this service.
Forecast
Weather forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)
Sources
Wikidata · GeoNames · Wikipedia