Austria JJ55 · Public domain
The cut
1,424 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kärntner Tor 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.
1,424m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
12.4km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
38°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
618m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C on the floor, against 14 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in September. The rim freezes at night from October to April. The wettest months are from June to August.
- 4°-7°Jan
- 4°-6°Feb
- 8°-2°Mar
- 14°4°Apr
- 19°8°May
- 23°13°Jun
- 25°14°Jul
- 24°14°Aug
- 20°9°Sep
- 16°5°Oct
- 9°-1°Nov
- 5°-6°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.
Defile of Drava Valley at the border of Carinthia and Tyrol, Austria
Kärntner Tor is a gorge in Austria, cut by the Drava river. The relief model measures 1,424 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 12 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Nikolsdorfnearest town · 2.7 km in a straight line
- Parking 590 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.6 km from the floor
- Klagenfurt Airport (KLU)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 108 km in a straight lineCar hire at KLU airport (Klagenfurt am Wörthersee)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in 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 Drava runs highest from May to September.
The Drava carries about 39 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.
- 10 m³/sJan
- 5.1 m³/sFeb
- 37 m³/sMar
- 66 m³/sApr
- 84 m³/sMay
- 92 m³/sJun
- 97 m³/sJul
- 103 m³/sAug
- 79 m³/sSep
- 59 m³/sOct
- 45 m³/sNov
- 23 m³/sDec
From about 5.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 103 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 2,086 km².
Follow the Drava 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
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.
- 1viewpoints within 5 km
- 6marked hiking routes within 4 kmAV Weg 318, Kärntner Grenzweg, Gailtaler Höhenweg and 3 more
- 2climbing crags within 3 kmKlettergarten Rabantkofel, ÖTK Kletterpark
- 2footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmSilberfall Wasserfall
- 2caves within 3 km
- 14car parks within 3 km
- 3information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 3bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmNatur- & Familiencamping Marktgemeinde Oberdrauburg, Wohnmobilplatz Gailberghöhe
- 32hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmTirolerhof, Stöcklmühl, Gailberghöhe and 29 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots 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
- Nikolsdorf2.7 km in a straight line
- Oberdrauburg3.7 km in a straight line
- Irschen7.0 km in a straight line
- Lavant8.2 km in a straight line
- Dölsach9.7 km in a straight line
- Rangersdorf11 km in a straight line
- Kötschach11 km in a straight line
- Dellach im Drautal11 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kärntner Tor.
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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas58 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 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 9 | 5 |
| Afternoon · rim | -7 | -6 | -2 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 5 | -1 | -6 |
| Night · rim | -15 | -15 | -11 | -6 | -2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -4 | -8 | -13 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 55 | 71 | 82 | 127 | 151 | 167 | 175 | 126 | 106 | 96 | 70 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.1 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 29 | 34 | 26 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 23 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | -7 | -15 | 59 | 3.1 |
| Feb | 4 | -6 | -15 | 55 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 8 | -2 | -11 | 71 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 14 | 4 | -6 | 82 | 5.7 |
| May | 19 | 8 | -2 | 127 | 5.5 |
| Jun | 23 | 13 | 3 | 151 | 6.4 |
| Jul | 25 | 14 | 4 | 167 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 24 | 14 | 4 | 175 | 6.5 |
| Sep | 20 | 9 | 0 | 126 | 5.1 |
| Oct | 16 | 5 | -4 | 106 | 4.6 |
| Nov | 9 | -1 | -8 | 96 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 5 | -6 | -13 | 70 | 2.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (618 m) and the rim (2,232 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
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 | 36% | 104% | 121% | 59% | 106% | 133% | 136% | 176% | 135% | 187% | 22% | 298% |
| 2021 | 155% | 88% | 48% | 62% | 152% | 67% | 115% | 108% | 60% | 50% | 132% | 94% |
| 2022 | 66% | 84% | 23% | 96% | 96% | 101% | 86% | 97% | 113% | 73% | 85% | 95% |
| 2023 | 102% | 53% | 110% | 125% | 146% | 78% | 153% | 136% | 39% | 142% | 162% | 182% |
| 2024 | 107% | 148% | 141% | 116% | 159% | 154% | 103% | 69% | 187% | 147% | 15% | 62% |
| 2025 | 95% | 54% | 162% | 81% | 137% | 85% | 142% | 80% | 111% | 73% | 100% | 32% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Kärntner Tor
Austria
- 1,424 mDepth
- 12 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 38°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1231224) · 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
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here