Slot canyon

Slot canyons are subject to flash flooding and commonly contain unique ecological communities that are distinct from the adjacent, drier uplands.

Even in sandstone and limestone, only a very small number of streams will form slot canyons due to a combination of the particular characteristics of the rock and regional rainfall.

The Grand Canyon, near Blackheath, has a tourist track along its rim, but requires abseiling (rappelling) or swimming to visit fully.

Buckskin Gulch—one of the longest slot canyons in the world—begins in southern Utah and continues into northern Arizona within the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.

In New Mexico, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument's Slot Canyon Trail is unique as it was carved into tuff (volcanic ash).

In Czechia, there is a spectacular slot canyon in the Teplice Mountains[4] called Little Siberia due to the microclimate, which is several degrees colder than the surrounding area.

The canyons in Teplice are surrounded by pillar-like rock formations which resemble various animals and were the site where The Chronicles of Narnia[5] were filmed.

Slot canyons can have hazards such as falling rocks, unsteady terrain, narrow slots, slippery surfaces, blockages, steep descents and ascents, potholes, whirlpools (siphons), cold water, duckunders, long swims, fast flowing water, and flash floods.

[7][8] Notable incidents have occurred in slot canyons due to hazardous water conditions, particularly dangerous flash flooding caused by local as well as distant storms.

[11][12] Very little rain fell at the site that day, but an earlier thunderstorm had dumped a large amount of water into the canyon basin, seven miles upstream.