What you are looking at
The Coloured Canyon is a narrow water-cut slot in layered sandstone, approximately three kilometres long, lying north-west of Nuweiba in the interior of the Sinai peninsula. The colour bands — red, orange, yellow, brown and a distinctive purple-lavender — come from iron oxidation in the rock walls, the timing of which corresponds to layers of sediment laid down in shallow seas during the Cretaceous. The slot itself was cut by flash-flood drainage from the surrounding hills over millennia; the narrowest section, near the south end of the walk, is only 1.5 metres wide between vertical walls 25 metres tall.
The canyon sits inside the SCA-administered protectorate that covers the inland strip between the Nuweiba-Taba coastal road and the interior Wilderness of Tih plateau. Access requires the protectorate ticket purchased at the Nuweiba SCA office and a 4×4 vehicle to reach the trailhead, which lies 9 kilometres west of the coastal highway on a sandy desert track. The track is straightforward in dry conditions but impassable after the rare winter storms; we log any closure on the change log below.
The visitor walk runs the full length of the canyon from north to south, with a Bedouin minder at the entrance and another at the exit. Total walk time is approximately 90 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes for the return drive to where the 4×4 picks you up at the southern end. The walls are climbable in places — there are short scrambles, never more than 2.5 metres, all of which can be bypassed by a longer route around. The colour bands are most vivid in the late morning when direct sun reaches the canyon floor for a brief window between 10:30 and 12:30 in summer; in winter the sun never reaches the floor directly and the colours are flatter but still spectacular.
Ticket, transport, kit.
| What | Where | Cost (Jun 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| SCA protectorate ticket | Nuweiba SCA office, on the coastal road south of the port | EGP 80 foreign adult, EGP 40 student, EGP 10 Egyptian |
| 4×4 transfer from highway to trailhead | Arranged at the Nuweiba SCA office or with a Bedouin operator | EGP 700–900 per group (up to 6) |
| Bedouin minder at the canyon | Included in the 4×4 transfer fee | — |
| Photography permit | At the SCA office | EGP 50 (cameras only; phones free) |
The standard pattern is a half-day from a Nuweiba beach camp: leave the camp at 09:00, reach the SCA office at 09:15, on the trailhead by 10:00, finish the walk by 12:00, back to the camp for lunch by 13:30. Subscribers planning the Coloured Canyon as part of a fuller Sinai itinerary often combine it with a Nuweiba camp night on either side.
Five questions before going.
Is the canyon walk physically demanding?
Can I do it as a day trip from Sharm El-Sheikh?
When are the colours brightest?
Can the slot flash-flood while I am in it?
Is there shade at the trailhead?
Reading list
- Said, R. The Geology of Egypt. Balkema, 1990. Standard reference on the regional stratigraphy.
- Nature Conservation Sector, South Sinai. Sinai Protected Areas Visitor Handbook. 2023 edition; available at Nuweiba SCA office.
- Abou-Saif, S. Tarabin Bedouin Routes of the Wilderness of Tih. Tih Press subscriber monograph, 2025.
- Tih Press field notebooks 2014–2026, "CC" tag.
Recent revisions.
| Date | Editor | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-30 | S. Abou-Saif | Quarterly verification. Access track condition logged at three fixed points; no soft-sand issues after dry winter. |
| 2025-12-08 | S. Abou-Saif | SCA ticket price updated. Photography permit confirmed at EGP 50. |
| 2025-04-14 | S. Abou-Saif | One-week closure logged after winter storm. Reopened on confirmation from the SCA meteorological service. |
| 2024-10-22 | S. Abou-Saif | New Bedouin minder position at the southern exit. Subscriber operator notes updated. |
Combine the Coloured Canyon with a Nuweiba camp overnight.
The classic two-day pattern. The Nuweiba camp file lists the verified beachfront properties.