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009 2013 09 16 Wiki Loves Earth 2016

Germany Germany Slot canyon

Breitachklamm

1,046 m of rock, cut by the Breitach.

See the cutWhen to go

Friedrich Haag · CC BY-SA 4.0

The cut

1,046 metres, to scale.

A slice through Breitachklamm where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

2,004 m1,838 m1,046 m15 km rim to rim5.0 kmvertical scale × 1.42,004 m1,838 m1,046 m15 km rim to rim5.0 kmvertical scale × 2.8

Standing on the floor, to scale: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper. This is a narrow canyon: the published depth, where there is one, is the better figure.

1,046m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

14.8km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

39°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

1.1km

Length

Rim to floor

8 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 22 °C on the floor, against 14 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from June to September. The rim freezes at night from October to April. The wettest months are from June to August: in a narrow canyon a flash flood arrives without warning, even from rain upstream.

rim · 2,004 mfloor · 792 m
  1. 2°-6°Jan
  2. 3°-5°Feb
  3. 7°-1°Mar
  4. 12°5°Apr
  5. 17°9°May
  6. 20°13°Jun
  7. 22°14°Jul
  8. 22°14°Aug
  9. 18°10°Sep
  10. 14°6°Oct
  11. 7°0°Nov
  12. 3°-5°Dec
Hike: Jun–SepFrost on the rim: Oct–AprWettest: Jun–Aug

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Slot canyon in the Allgäu Alps south of Oberstdorf in Bavaria, Germany

Breitachklamm is a slot canyon in Germany, cut by the Breitach river. The relief model measures 1,046 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,212 m to the higher one. It runs for 1.1 km. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Oberstdorfnearest town · 3.9 km in a straight line
  • Parking 490 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.5 km from the floor
  • Sankt Gallen Altenrhein Airport (ACH)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 52 km in a straight lineCar hire at ACH airport (St. Gallen)Discover Cars · sponsored link
  • From June to Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The river

The Breitach runs highest from May to September.

The Breitach carries about 3.6 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.

  1. 2.4 m³/sJan
  2. 2.0 m³/sFeb
  3. 4.0 m³/sMar
  4. 4.4 m³/sApr
  5. 6.3 m³/sMay
  6. 7.2 m³/sJun
  7. 6.9 m³/sJul
  8. 7.3 m³/sAug
  9. 5.1 m³/sSep
  10. 2.9 m³/sOct
  11. 1.2 m³/sNov
  12. 1.6 m³/sDec

From about 1.2 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.3 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 114 km².

Follow the Iller from source to mouth on Riveryas

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Breitachklamm seen from above (Sentinel-2) N 6 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

  • 27viewpoints within 5 kmSkisprung-Schanzenturm, Aussicht Kanzel, Alpkreuz and 24 more
  • 13marked hiking routes within 4 kmEuropäischer Fernwanderweg E5, Deutschland, Oberallgäuer Rundwanderweg, Beslerrunde and 10 more
  • 1via ferrata routes within 4 kmBesler-Klettersteig
  • 1climbing crags within 3 kmKlettergarten Klingenbichl
  • 33footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmBreitachklamm, Zwingsteg and 31 more
  • 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
  • 52car parks within 3 km
  • 53information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
  • 13bus stops within 2 km
  • 10campsites within 8 kmCamping Jochum, Camping Zwerwald, Wohnmobilstellplatz Fischen and 7 more
  • 609hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHotel Müggelturm, Gruben, Berghaus Schwaben and 606 more
  • 99restaurants and cafés within 4 km
  • swimming spots within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • caves within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Oberstdorf3.9 km in a straight line
  • Riezlern5.2 km in a straight line
  • Mittelberg6.5 km in a straight line
  • Hirschegg6.8 km in a straight line
  • Bolsterlang8.1 km in a straight line
  • Ofterschwang12 km in a straight line
  • Sonthofen14 km in a straight line
  • Sibratsgfäll15 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Breitachklamm.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Cascadyas4 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Hinanger Wasserfall · 8.0 kmStuibenfall · 9.1 kmScheuenwasserfall · 9.8 kmTäschlefall · 12 km
Peakyas73 mountains within 15 km
Öfnerspitze2,576 m · 12 kmTrettachspitze2,595 m · 12 kmHochfrottspitze2,649 m · 13 kmKrottenkopf2,656 m · 13 kmBockkarkopf2,609 m · 13 kmMarchspitze2,609 m · 13 kmHochvogel2,592 m · 13 kmHohes Licht2,651 m · 14 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon · floor2371217202222181473
Afternoon · rim-6-5-1591314141060-5
Night · rim-13-13-9-504651-3-8-12
Rain (mm)98769388148166163176120978497
Rainy days131215151920191815131314
Sun hours/day3.34.65.56.06.17.07.36.85.54.63.02.8
Snow on the ground (cm)25261884100261219
Afternoon · floorAfternoon · rimNight · rimRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan2-6-13983.3
Feb3-5-13764.6
Mar7-1-9935.5
Apr125-5886.0
May17901486.1
Jun201341667.0
Jul221461637.3
Aug221451766.8
Sep181011205.5
Oct146-3974.6
Nov70-8843.0
Dec3-5-12972.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (792 m) and the rim (2,004 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

2013-09 Breitachklamm IMG 8280
Luu · CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-09 Breitachklamm IMG 8288
Luu · CC BY-SA 4.0
20150731 xl P1010027 Breitachklamm
Molgreen · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202052%221%85%57%68%152%81%133%113%134%33%99%
2021182%75%92%59%120%94%175%129%64%43%102%126%
202259%152%17%104%87%105%67%85%138%113%95%85%
202350%76%127%190%115%43%114%145%61%101%298%212%
2024115%91%130%134%150%138%115%83%172%108%85%89%
2025101%39%72%50%88%72%163%85%114%91%100%22%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Breitachklamm

Germany

  • 1,046 mDepth
  • 15 kmRim to rim
  • 1.1 kmLength
  • 39°Steepest wall

Bacherloch

Germany · 8 km

  • 937 mDepth
  • 3.6 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 45°Steepest wall

See the guide

Starzlachklamm

Germany · 15 km

  • 965 mDepth
  • 12 kmRim to rim
  • 0.4 kmLength
  • 32°Steepest wall

See the guide

Buchenegg Waterfalls

Germany · 24 km

  • 362 mDepth
  • 8.9 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 20°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and lengthWikidata (Q153135) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here