Italy Slot canyon
Gilfenklamm
1,356 m of rock, cut by the Ratschingserbach - Rio di Racines.
Reinhard Müller · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
1,356 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gilfenklamm where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
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. This is a narrow canyon: the published depth, where there is one, is the better figure.
1,356m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
11.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
34°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
945m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 23 °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 May. The wettest months are from June to August: in a narrow canyon a flash flood arrives without warning, even from rain upstream.
- 2°-8°Jan
- 2°-7°Feb
- 6°-3°Mar
- 12°3°Apr
- 17°8°May
- 22°12°Jun
- 23°14°Jul
- 23°13°Aug
- 18°9°Sep
- 14°4°Oct
- 8°-2°Nov
- 3°-7°Dec
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.
Gilfenklamm is a slot canyon in Italy, cut by the Ratschingserbach - Rio di Racines. The relief model measures 1,356 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Stanghenearest town · 0.5 km in a straight line
- Parking 320 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.5 km from the floor
- Innsbruck Airport (INN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 42 km in a straight lineCar hire at INN airport (Innsbruck)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 Ratschingserbach - Rio di Racines runs highest from April to August.
The Ratschingserbach - Rio di Racines carries about 2.9 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to August, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from January to February.
- 0.9 m³/sJan
- 0.8 m³/sFeb
- 3.0 m³/sMar
- 5.3 m³/sApr
- 5.9 m³/sMay
- 6.3 m³/sJun
- 6.1 m³/sJul
- 6.3 m³/sAug
- 4.6 m³/sSep
- 3.4 m³/sOct
- 2.5 m³/sNov
- 1.6 m³/sDec
From about 0.77 m³/s in the lowest month to 6.3 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 158 km².
The Ridnauner Bach from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
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.
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.
- 5viewpoints within 5 km
- 73marked hiking routes within 4 kmUnterer Ridnauner Höhenweg, Ridnauner Höhenweg, 12A - Obertal => Sarner Weißhorn => Penser Joch and 70 more
- 29footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmGilfenklamm and 28 more
- 28car parks within 3 km
- 14information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 41bus stops within 2 km
- 164hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLorenz, Lilie Hotel, Moarwirt and 161 more
- 21restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- campsites within 8 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
- Stanghe0.5 km in a straight line
- Racines - Ratschings0.6 km in a straight line
- Vipiteno4.7 km in a straight line
- Racines5.6 km in a straight line
- Prati7.5 km in a straight line
- Brennero - Brenner8.4 km in a straight line
- Colle Isarco8.5 km in a straight line
- Campo di Trens8.7 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Gilfenklamm.
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.
Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas54 mountains within 15 kmFigures 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 2 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 17 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Afternoon · rim | -8 | -7 | -3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 4 | -2 | -7 |
| Night · rim | -17 | -16 | -12 | -7 | -3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -1 | -5 | -9 | -15 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 48 | 63 | 78 | 123 | 148 | 153 | 165 | 106 | 88 | 75 | 61 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.3 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 38 | 45 | 35 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 27 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | -8 | -17 | 58 | 3.3 |
| Feb | 2 | -7 | -16 | 48 | 4.6 |
| Mar | 6 | -3 | -12 | 63 | 5.5 |
| Apr | 12 | 3 | -7 | 78 | 6.0 |
| May | 17 | 8 | -3 | 123 | 6.0 |
| Jun | 22 | 12 | 1 | 148 | 7.0 |
| Jul | 23 | 14 | 3 | 153 | 7.3 |
| Aug | 23 | 13 | 3 | 165 | 6.8 |
| Sep | 18 | 9 | -1 | 106 | 5.5 |
| Oct | 14 | 4 | -5 | 88 | 4.6 |
| Nov | 8 | -2 | -9 | 75 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 3 | -7 | -15 | 61 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (945 m) and the rim (2,425 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 50% | 146% | 82% | 80% | 76% | 133% | 103% | 142% | 119% | 166% | 24% | 191% |
| 2021 | 172% | 68% | 101% | 64% | 115% | 75% | 131% | 114% | 77% | 58% | 155% | 83% |
| 2022 | 58% | 136% | 13% | 94% | 92% | 100% | 101% | 76% | 129% | 95% | 87% | 81% |
| 2023 | 58% | 56% | 117% | 150% | 159% | 79% | 132% | 124% | 61% | 121% | 178% | 208% |
| 2024 | 97% | 142% | 149% | 98% | 139% | 129% | 109% | 71% | 162% | 133% | 26% | 86% |
| 2025 | 94% | 41% | 111% | 67% | 127% | 79% | 145% | 90% | 115% | 71% | 131% | 45% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Gilfenklamm
Italy
- 1,356 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 34°Steepest wall
Arzler Pitzeklamm
Austria · 58 km
- 1,639 mDepth
- 9.2 kmRim to rim
- 1.0 kmLength
- 41°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q3661568) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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