Germany Derzno · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
129 metres, to scale.
A slice through Schnittlinger Loch 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: Big Ben · 96 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.
129m
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
359m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C. The best months to hike are from May to June and in September. The rim freezes at night from December to February. The wettest months are in May and from July to August: in a narrow canyon a flash flood arrives without warning, even from rain upstream.
- 2°1°Jan
- 4°3°Feb
- 9°8°Mar
- 15°14°Apr
- 19°18°May
- 23°22°Jun
- 25°24°Jul
- 24°23°Aug
- 20°19°Sep
- 14°13°Oct
- 8°7°Nov
- 3°2°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
Schnittlinger Loch is a slot canyon in Germany. The relief model measures 129 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 162 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 3.5 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Spaltnearest town · 2.8 km in a straight line
- Parking 240 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Burg Abenberg-Fernsichtnearest viewpoint · 1.9 km from the floor
- Nuremberg Airport (NUE)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 39 km in a straight lineCar hire at NUE airport (Nuremberg)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From May to June 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 the river runs highest from January to August.
The the river carries about 3.0 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from January to August.
- 5.0 m³/sJan
- 3.9 m³/sFeb
- 6.6 m³/sMar
- 4.3 m³/sApr
- 7.2 m³/sMay
- 4.4 m³/sJun
- 4.5 m³/sJul
- 4.2 m³/sAug
- 1.7 m³/sSep
- 1.4 m³/sOct
- 1.6 m³/sNov
- 1.1 m³/sDec
From about 1.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 7.2 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 436 km².
Follow the Main 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.
- 10viewpoints within 5 kmBurg Wernfels/Abenberg, Spalt-Blick, Burg Abenberg-Fernsicht and 7 more
- 49marked hiking routes within 4 kmPlanetenweg Georgensgmünd, Main-Donau-Weg (Rangau-Linie) Teil_2, Dr.-Fritz-Linnert-Weg and 46 more
- 18footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 12rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- 41car parks within 3 km
- 19information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 21bus stops within 2 km
- 12campsites within 8 kmWohnmobilstellplatz Abenberg, See Camping Langlau, Waldcamping am Brombachsee and 9 more
- 71hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmCVJM Burg Wernfels, FeWo Ritzer, FeWo Riedl "Urlaub beim Krammer" and 68 more
- 34restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves 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
- Spalt2.8 km in a straight line
- Absberg3.1 km in a straight line
- Mitteleschenbach7.9 km in a straight line
- Pfofeld8.2 km in a straight line
- Haundorf8.4 km in a straight line
- Windsbach9.5 km in a straight line
- Georgensgmünd9.6 km in a straight line
- Abenberg9.7 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Schnittlinger Loch.
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.
Riveryas10 rivers in the canyon
Peakyas63 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas3 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 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 3 |
| Afternoon · rim | 1 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -4 | -4 | -1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 43 | 49 | 44 | 85 | 74 | 87 | 81 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 60 |
| Rainy days | 12 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 1.4 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 15 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 1 | -4 | 59 | 1.4 |
| Feb | 4 | 3 | -4 | 43 | 3.1 |
| Mar | 9 | 8 | -1 | 49 | 4.4 |
| Apr | 15 | 14 | 3 | 44 | 6.5 |
| May | 19 | 18 | 7 | 85 | 6.7 |
| Jun | 23 | 22 | 12 | 74 | 7.5 |
| Jul | 25 | 24 | 13 | 87 | 7.5 |
| Aug | 24 | 23 | 13 | 81 | 6.6 |
| Sep | 20 | 19 | 8 | 56 | 5.4 |
| Oct | 14 | 13 | 4 | 56 | 3.4 |
| Nov | 8 | 7 | 0 | 56 | 1.4 |
| Dec | 3 | 2 | -3 | 60 | 1.0 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (359 m) and the rim (522 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 | 49% | 275% | 96% | 43% | 63% | 159% | 50% | 139% | 104% | 108% | 32% | 118% |
| 2021 | 117% | 129% | 73% | 57% | 135% | 184% | 171% | 153% | 54% | 60% | 70% | 135% |
| 2022 | 81% | 101% | 31% | 183% | 52% | 76% | 39% | 101% | 174% | 107% | 99% | 89% |
| 2023 | 56% | 84% | 153% | 152% | 58% | 64% | 99% | 180% | 41% | 101% | 230% | 148% |
| 2024 | 99% | 140% | 81% | 133% | 187% | 179% | 87% | 91% | 237% | 103% | 89% | 73% |
| 2025 | 114% | 83% | 66% | 64% | 47% | 91% | 109% | 67% | 239% | 100% | 94% | 32% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Schnittlinger Loch
Germany
- 129 mDepth
- 3.5 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 14°Steepest wall
Massendorfer Schlucht
Germany · 3 km
- 102 mDepth
- 3.0 kmRim to rim
- 0.3 kmLength
- 17°Steepest wall
Wolfsschlucht nördlich von Wallersberg
Germany · 33 km
- 86 mDepth
- 1.3 kmRim to rim
- 0.2 kmLength
- 14°Steepest wall
Teufelskirche von Grünsberg
Germany · 34 km
- 88 mDepth
- 870 mRim to rim
- 0.3 kmLength
- 16°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q1616742) · 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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