Germany ermell · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
199 metres, to scale.
A slice through Höllental 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: Great Pyramid · 139 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.
199m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
3.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
14°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
3.0km
Length
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 24 °C. The best months to hike are in June and from August to September. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are in July.
- 1°0°Jan
- 2°1°Feb
- 7°6°Mar
- 13°12°Apr
- 18°16°May
- 22°20°Jun
- 24°23°Jul
- 24°23°Aug
- 19°18°Sep
- 13°12°Oct
- 7°5°Nov
- 2°1°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.
Valley in Germany
Höllental is a water gap in Germany, cut by the Selbitz river. The relief model measures 199 m from the floor to the lower rim. It runs for 3.0 km. Rim to rim it is 3.5 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Höllental.
Getting there.
- Lichtenbergnearest town · 1.4 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,560 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Am Trepplesfelsennearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the floor
- Erfurt-Weimar Airport (ERF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 83 km in a straight lineCar hire at NUE airport (Nuremberg)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In June and from August 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 Selbitz runs highest from January to September.
The Selbitz carries about 1.8 m³/s on average here.
- 3.1 m³/sJan
- 2.9 m³/sFeb
- 3.9 m³/sMar
- 3.1 m³/sApr
- 3.6 m³/sMay
- 2.7 m³/sJun
- 2.8 m³/sJul
- 2.2 m³/sAug
- 2.1 m³/sSep
- 1.8 m³/sOct
- 1.4 m³/sNov
- 0.8 m³/sDec
From about 0.83 m³/s in the lowest month to 3.9 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 213 km².
Follow the Saale 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.
N
1.9 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 7.5 × 7.5 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 37viewpoints within 5 kmHirschsprung, Kanzel, Frankenwaldblick and 34 more
- 48marked hiking routes within 4 kmGrünes Band - Ost- und Südthüringen, Seenweg, Museumsweg and 45 more
- 22footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmJungfernsteg, Teufelssteg, Muschwitzbrücke and 19 more
- 3rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 kmAnlegestelle Blankenstein, Anlegestelle Blankenberg- Schmidtsleite
- 1swimming spots within 3 km
- 1caves within 3 km
- 67car parks within 3 km
- 85information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 25bus stops within 2 km
- 11campsites within 8 kmZum Alten Schulmeister, Bahnhof Naila, Campingplatz Feriendorf Saaldorf and 8 more
- 63hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmJugend- und Freizeitheim der landeskirchlichen Gemeinsschaft Naila, Schloss Issigau, Gasthof und Pension Blechschmiedenhammer and 60 more
- 32restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 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
- Lichtenberg1.4 km in a straight line
- Rosenthal1.6 km in a straight line
- Bad Steben4.3 km in a straight line
- Berg6.7 km in a straight line
- Naila7.0 km in a straight line
- Bad Lobenstein7.5 km in a straight line
- Geroldsgrün9.1 km in a straight line
- Hirschberg9.3 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Höllental.
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.
Peakyas93 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures 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 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 2 |
| Afternoon · rim | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| Night · rim | -6 | -6 | -3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 3 | -1 | -4 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 43 | 50 | 41 | 72 | 73 | 84 | 72 | 63 | 55 | 59 | 60 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.2 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1 | 0 | -6 | 58 | 1.2 |
| Feb | 2 | 1 | -6 | 43 | 2.6 |
| Mar | 7 | 6 | -3 | 50 | 3.9 |
| Apr | 13 | 12 | 1 | 41 | 6.0 |
| May | 18 | 16 | 6 | 72 | 6.3 |
| Jun | 22 | 20 | 10 | 73 | 6.8 |
| Jul | 24 | 23 | 12 | 84 | 6.9 |
| Aug | 24 | 23 | 12 | 72 | 6.0 |
| Sep | 19 | 18 | 7 | 63 | 4.9 |
| Oct | 13 | 12 | 3 | 55 | 3.0 |
| Nov | 7 | 5 | -1 | 59 | 1.2 |
| Dec | 2 | 1 | -4 | 60 | 0.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (407 m) and the rim (612 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 | 42% | 197% | 98% | 36% | 83% | 150% | 36% | 173% | 76% | 128% | 22% | 73% |
| 2021 | 143% | 135% | 88% | 98% | 152% | 126% | 179% | 180% | 57% | 53% | 94% | 85% |
| 2022 | 114% | 144% | 39% | 151% | 48% | 81% | 49% | 92% | 174% | 61% | 60% | 80% |
| 2023 | 80% | 111% | 170% | 143% | 46% | 76% | 67% | 161% | 30% | 134% | 148% | 174% |
| 2024 | 105% | 172% | 46% | 124% | 153% | 126% | 75% | 121% | 164% | 111% | 73% | 76% |
| 2025 | 94% | 34% | 54% | 101% | 72% | 75% | 119% | 48% | 152% | 113% | 57% | 30% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Höllental
Germany
- 199 mDepth
- 3.5 kmRim to rim
- 3.0 kmLength
- 14°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1644035) · 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.
The family
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