box canyon

American  

noun

1. a canyon with steep side walls terminating headwards in a vertical cliff.

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box canyon British  

noun

1. a canyon with vertical or almost vertical walls

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Etymology

Origin of box canyon

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

box canyon

Locals had long relied on the resort to draw visitors to the two towns that border it: Telluride, in the box canyon, and Mountain Village, higher up the slopes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

Perched 8,750 feet up in a box canyon in the Colorado Rockies, it’s reachable only by twisting roads or a white-knuckle drop into one of the nation’s highest airports.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

Two days later, the Hotshots were battling the wildfire in a box canyon when the winds suddenly shifted and the flames rapidly raced toward them.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023

Tucked into a box canyon and with massive mountains circling the village, Telluride was one of Colorado’s wealthiest mining towns during the gold and silver booms that began in the late 1800s.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2022

The route took us up the gently sloping floor of the Western Cwm, the highest box canyon on earth, a horseshoe-shaped defile gouged from the heart of the Everest massif by the Khumbu Glacier.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer