Einer flog zu Weit · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,077 metres, to scale.
A slice through Kitzlochklamm 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.
1,077m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
10.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
43°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
678m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
9 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 24 °C on the floor, against 15 °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.
- 3°-6°Jan
- 4°-5°Feb
- 8°-1°Mar
- 14°5°Apr
- 18°10°May
- 22°14°Jun
- 24°15°Jul
- 24°15°Aug
- 19°10°Sep
- 15°6°Oct
- 9°0°Nov
- 4°-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 Salzburg, Austria
Kitzlochklamm is a slot canyon in Austria, cut by the Salzach river. The relief model measures 1,077 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,355 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 10 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Taxenbachnearest town · 1.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 570 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Dechantsbühel Informal signs about historical valuenearest viewpoint · 3.2 km from the floor
- Salzburg Airport (SZG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire at SZG airport (Salzburg)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 Salzach runs highest from May to September.
The Salzach carries about 6.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.
- 2.0 m³/sJan
- 3.2 m³/sFeb
- 6.9 m³/sMar
- 7.4 m³/sApr
- 10 m³/sMay
- 12 m³/sJun
- 13 m³/sJul
- 13 m³/sAug
- 10 m³/sSep
- 6.2 m³/sOct
- 2.7 m³/sNov
- 1.7 m³/sDec
From about 1.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 13 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 260 km².
Follow the Saalach 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), 23 × 23 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 kmDechantsbühel Informal signs about historical value
- 16marked hiking routes within 4 kmZentralalpenweg 02A, Rupertiweg 10, Wanderweg 14 and 13 more
- 10via ferrata routes within 4 kmKitzlochklamm Klettersteig, Kitzlochklamm Klettersteig Klammfloh and 8 more
- 29footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmGrosser Wasserfall
- 5caves within 3 km
- 18car parks within 3 km
- 5information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 14bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmOberhasenberghof, Camping Biohof Unteregg
- 97hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHochalm, Kreuzboden-Hütte, Rauriserhof and 94 more
- 11restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 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
- Taxenbach1.1 km in a straight line
- Lend6.0 km in a straight line
- Rauris6.8 km in a straight line
- Pichl9.4 km in a straight line
- Dorfgastein11 km in a straight line
- Dienten am Hochkönig11 km in a straight line
- Bruck an der Großglocknerstraße11 km in a straight line
- Thumersbach13 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Kitzlochklamm.
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.
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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 15 | 9 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | -6 | -5 | -1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 0 | -5 |
| Night · rim | -14 | -13 | -10 | -5 | -1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | -4 | -8 | -12 |
| Rain (mm) | 90 | 72 | 89 | 85 | 151 | 176 | 184 | 184 | 135 | 102 | 76 | 82 |
| Rainy days | 13 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 |
| Sun hours/day | 3.0 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 29 | 28 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | -6 | -14 | 90 | 3.0 |
| Feb | 4 | -5 | -13 | 72 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 8 | -1 | -10 | 89 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 14 | 5 | -5 | 85 | 5.7 |
| May | 18 | 10 | -1 | 151 | 5.5 |
| Jun | 22 | 14 | 3 | 176 | 6.4 |
| Jul | 24 | 15 | 5 | 184 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 24 | 15 | 5 | 184 | 6.5 |
| Sep | 19 | 10 | 0 | 135 | 5.1 |
| Oct | 15 | 6 | -4 | 102 | 4.5 |
| Nov | 9 | 0 | -8 | 76 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 4 | -5 | -12 | 82 | 2.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (678 m) and the rim (2,033 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 | 56% | 197% | 92% | 67% | 97% | 128% | 136% | 146% | 137% | 167% | 37% | 121% |
| 2021 | 102% | 57% | 94% | 74% | 124% | 64% | 131% | 135% | 61% | 48% | 146% | 125% |
| 2022 | 77% | 133% | 22% | 113% | 101% | 113% | 90% | 86% | 131% | 99% | 124% | 75% |
| 2023 | 76% | 104% | 126% | 182% | 108% | 55% | 116% | 150% | 36% | 94% | 282% | 207% |
| 2024 | 88% | 111% | 99% | 120% | 114% | 148% | 99% | 89% | 209% | 110% | 34% | 92% |
| 2025 | 51% | 36% | 126% | 58% | 102% | 81% | 154% | 76% | 92% | 87% | 115% | 25% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1148011) · 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.






