Austria C.Stadler/Bwag · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,197 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: 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.
1,197m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
43°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
525m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C on the floor, against 17 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from May to June and from August 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.
- 2°-6°Jan
- 3°-5°Feb
- 8°0°Mar
- 14°6°Apr
- 18°11°May
- 23°15°Jun
- 25°17°Jul
- 24°16°Aug
- 19°11°Sep
- 14°6°Oct
- 8°0°Nov
- 3°-5°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 Lower Austria, Austria
Höllental is a slot canyon in Austria, cut by the Schwarza river. The relief model measures 1,197 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 8.4 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Reichenau an der Raxnearest town · 8.2 km in a straight line
- Parking 110 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.7 km from the floor
- Vienna International Airport (VIE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 72 km in a straight lineCar hire at VIE airport (Vienna)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to 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 Schwarza runs highest from May to September.
The Schwarza carries about 6.2 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.
- 4.2 m³/sJan
- 5.3 m³/sFeb
- 6.8 m³/sMar
- 7.1 m³/sApr
- 9.9 m³/sMay
- 11 m³/sJun
- 11 m³/sJul
- 12 m³/sAug
- 11 m³/sSep
- 7.6 m³/sOct
- 5.0 m³/sNov
- 3.4 m³/sDec
From about 3.4 m³/s in the lowest month to 12 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 287 km².
The Schwarza 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
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 18 × 18 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 37viewpoints within 5 kmWaxriegel, Höllentalaussicht, Turmstein and 34 more
- 61marked hiking routes within 4 kmNordalpenweg 01, 1. Wiener Wasserwanderweg, NÖ Landesrundwanderweg and 58 more
- 85via ferrata routes within 4 kmTurmstein-Klettersteig, Teufelsbadstubensteig and 83 more
- 209climbing crags within 3 kmBruderherz, Hainbodenpfad, Hocke-Felix-Steig and 206 more
- 14footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmFerdinand-Mayr-Weg, 1. Wiener Wasserleitungswanderweg and 12 more
- 508caves within 3 km
- 23car parks within 3 km
- 45information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 7bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmPark 'n' Camp, Campen und Zelten beim Flackl-Wirt
- 32hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmForellenhof, Hotel Zemlinsky Hof, Marienhof and 29 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots 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
- Reichenau an der Rax8.2 km in a straight line
- Schwarzau im Gebirge8.5 km in a straight line
- Payerbach9.4 km in a straight line
- Puchberg am Schneeberg12 km in a straight line
- Schottwien13 km in a straight line
- Semmering14 km in a straight line
- Spital am Semmering15 km in a straight line
- Gloggnitz15 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.
Riveryas4 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas65 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 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Afternoon · rim | -6 | -5 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 0 | -5 |
| Night · rim | -12 | -12 | -9 | -4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 1 | -3 | -6 | -11 |
| Rain (mm) | 51 | 49 | 56 | 55 | 107 | 124 | 127 | 129 | 102 | 71 | 60 | 52 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.7 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 16 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | -6 | -12 | 51 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 3 | -5 | -12 | 49 | 3.9 |
| Mar | 8 | 0 | -9 | 56 | 4.9 |
| Apr | 14 | 6 | -4 | 55 | 5.8 |
| May | 18 | 11 | 0 | 107 | 5.9 |
| Jun | 23 | 15 | 4 | 124 | 6.6 |
| Jul | 25 | 17 | 6 | 127 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 24 | 16 | 6 | 129 | 6.5 |
| Sep | 19 | 11 | 1 | 102 | 5.0 |
| Oct | 14 | 6 | -3 | 71 | 4.3 |
| Nov | 8 | 0 | -6 | 60 | 2.6 |
| Dec | 3 | -5 | -11 | 52 | 2.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (525 m) and the rim (1,755 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 | 32% | 112% | 67% | 44% | 83% | 120% | 132% | 161% | 131% | 152% | 29% | 162% |
| 2021 | 120% | 54% | 48% | 83% | 120% | 44% | 81% | 119% | 46% | 47% | 113% | 112% |
| 2022 | 56% | 82% | 35% | 113% | 85% | 104% | 78% | 83% | 98% | 46% | 93% | 81% |
| 2023 | 125% | 77% | 93% | 203% | 109% | 97% | 131% | 126% | 43% | 105% | 171% | 202% |
| 2024 | 99% | 73% | 97% | 143% | 126% | 122% | 72% | 56% | 203% | 104% | 24% | 48% |
| 2025 | 51% | 35% | 178% | 114% | 82% | 77% | 135% | 52% | 117% | 74% | 91% | 48% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Höllental
Austria
- 1,197 mDepth
- 8.4 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 43°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1124294) · 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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