Fish River Canyon cuts up to 550 m into a Namibian desert plateau, sweeping through a signature "big bend" meander over roughly 160 km. Orbit the terraced walls, follow the river ribbon, and trace the famous rim-hugging hiking trail.
Published figures: about 160 km long, up to 27 km wide, up to 550 m deep - Africa's largest canyon; shaped by ancient rifting and long-term erosion by the Fish River, inside Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Namibia.
Drag to orbit the big-bend meander and its terraced walls, then scroll or pinch to zoom in on the river ribbon and the rim-hugging trail markers. The whole Fish River Canyon scene is drawn on your own device with WebGL, so nothing about your visit leaves the browser.
Fish River Canyon 3D Explorer
This browser explorer shows Fish River Canyon as a relief of its most famous shape: a single sinuous meander cutting a signature "big bend" loop through rust-red, terraced walls on a flat semi-arid plateau in southern Namibia, with the Fish River still tracing the gorge floor and the rim-hugging hiking trail marked in beacons.
The canyon runs about 160 km, spreads up to 27 km wide, and drops up to 550 m - making it Africa's largest canyon and one of the largest in the world. Its shape traces back to ancient rifting that fractured the plateau, followed by hundreds of millions of years of erosion carved mainly by the Fish River. Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park protects the gorge today, and the 85 km Fish River Canyon Trail along its rim and floor is one of Africa's best-known multi-day hikes - open only from May to September, when the river's flow is low enough to cross safely.
- Toggle the river ribbon at the canyon floor
- Toggle the hiking-trail beacons along the rim
- Read length, width, depth, and trail figures in the panel
- See the "big bend" meander loop the canyon is known for
- Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
| Figure | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | about 160 km (100 miles) |
| Depth | up to 550 m (1,800 ft) |
| Width | up to 27 km (17 miles) at the widest point |
| Rank | Africa's largest canyon - among the largest in the world |
| Formed by | ancient rifting and long-term erosion by the Fish River |
| Protected area | Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Namibia |
| Hiking trail | the 85 km Fish River Canyon Trail, open May-September only |
For other carved-canyon extremes, open the Grand Canyon 3D Explorer (deepest single-river gorge in this collection) or the Great Rift Valley 3D Explorer (tectonic rifting at continental scale).
The terraced walls, the river ribbon, and the trail beacons are all drawn right in your browser with WebGL, so panning across the 160 km gorge stays smooth without a server round-trip. The vendored three.js engine behind the scene is a one-time download of roughly 0.7 MB, and your browser keeps it cached, so returning to explore the big-bend meander again loads instantly.
This is an educational approximation - the meander shape, terrace bands, and trail markers are schematic teaching cues, not survey geology.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Fish River Canyon?
About 160 km long, up to 27 km wide, and up to 550 m deep - Africa's largest canyon and among the largest in the world.
What carved Fish River Canyon?
Ancient rifting first fractured the plateau, then hundreds of millions of years of erosion - mainly by the Fish River - deepened and widened the gorge into its present shape.
Where is Fish River Canyon?
In southern Namibia, inside the Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.
Can you hike Fish River Canyon?
Yes - the 85 km Fish River Canyon Trail along the rim and floor is one of Africa's best-known multi-day hikes, but it is open only from May to September when the river is low enough to cross.
What is the "big bend" shape in the scene?
It represents the canyon's most famous meander loop, near the area known as Bushman's Paradise, where the river bends sharply back on itself.
Is this a geological simulation?
No. It is an educational explorer using published park and tourism-board figures - the meander shape, terrace bands, and trail markers are schematic teaching cues.