Switzerland Biovit · Public domain
The cut
1,472 metres, to scale.
A slice through Viamala 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.
1,472m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
11.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
52°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
719m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
10 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C on the floor, against 15 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in 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°-7°Jan
- 4°-6°Feb
- 7°-3°Mar
- 12°2°Apr
- 18°8°May
- 23°13°Jun
- 25°15°Jul
- 24°14°Aug
- 20°10°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.
Gorge and pathway in Grisons, Switzerland
Viamala is a slot canyon in Switzerland, cut by the Hinterrhein river. The relief model measures 1,472 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 11 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Thusisnearest town · 4.0 km in a straight line
- Parking 170 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Aussichtspunkt Känzeli Thusisnearest viewpoint · 0.5 km from the floor
- Lugano Airport (LUG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 84 km in a straight lineCar hire at ACH airport (St. Gallen)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- 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 Hinterrhein runs highest from April to June.
The Hinterrhein carries about 20 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to June, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from December to February.
- 6.4 m³/sJan
- 6.3 m³/sFeb
- 17 m³/sMar
- 36 m³/sApr
- 42 m³/sMay
- 37 m³/sJun
- 30 m³/sJul
- 30 m³/sAug
- 24 m³/sSep
- 22 m³/sOct
- 22 m³/sNov
- 13 m³/sDec
From about 6.3 m³/s in the lowest month to 42 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 581 km².
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.
- 10viewpoints within 5 kmFoto-Spot Viamala-Schlucht, Aussichtspunkt Crap Carschenna, Aussichtspunkt Känzeli Thusis and 7 more
- 19marked hiking routes within 4 kmVia Albula/Bernina, Rongellen-Viamala-Schlucht, Via Spluga and 16 more
- 11footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmTraversina II, Pùnt da Suransuns, Pùnts da tgavorgia and 8 more
- 20car parks within 3 km
- 6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 7bus stops within 2 km
- 9campsites within 8 kmStellplatz Oberurmein, Wohnmobil-Stellplatz +plus+ Heinzenberg-Lescha, Stellplatz Muntsulej Mathon and 6 more
- 40hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmJuan Jion, Weiss Kreuz, Gasthaus Alpina and 37 more
- 17restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 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
- Thusis4.0 km in a straight line
- Donat4.0 km in a straight line
- Scharans6.3 km in a straight line
- Cazis6.6 km in a straight line
- Tiefencastel9.9 km in a straight line
- Lenzerheide11 km in a straight line
- Churwalden15 km in a straight line
- Rhäzüns16 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Viamala.
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.
Peakyas110 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas2 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 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 9 | 5 |
| Afternoon · rim | -7 | -6 | -3 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 5 | -1 | -6 |
| Night · rim | -16 | -16 | -11 | -6 | -2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | -3 | -8 | -14 |
| Rain (mm) | 64 | 55 | 73 | 98 | 142 | 148 | 143 | 166 | 110 | 114 | 122 | 77 |
| Rainy days | 11 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.1 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 59 | 69 | 62 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 39 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | -7 | -16 | 64 | 4.1 |
| Feb | 4 | -6 | -16 | 55 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 7 | -3 | -11 | 73 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 12 | 2 | -6 | 98 | 5.9 |
| May | 18 | 8 | -2 | 142 | 5.7 |
| Jun | 23 | 13 | 3 | 148 | 7.4 |
| Jul | 25 | 15 | 5 | 143 | 7.9 |
| Aug | 24 | 14 | 5 | 166 | 7.1 |
| Sep | 20 | 10 | 1 | 110 | 6.1 |
| Oct | 16 | 5 | -3 | 114 | 4.7 |
| Nov | 9 | -1 | -8 | 122 | 3.4 |
| Dec | 5 | -6 | -14 | 77 | 3.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (719 m) and the rim (2,281 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 | 38% | 89% | 94% | 54% | 76% | 134% | 76% | 148% | 96% | 194% | 11% | 191% |
| 2021 | 228% | 105% | 61% | 71% | 112% | 72% | 219% | 105% | 98% | 65% | 90% | 66% |
| 2022 | 38% | 93% | 17% | 74% | 83% | 107% | 90% | 61% | 126% | 100% | 51% | 81% |
| 2023 | 47% | 27% | 109% | 116% | 141% | 87% | 111% | 150% | 106% | 175% | 101% | 164% |
| 2024 | 89% | 192% | 257% | 108% | 148% | 169% | 123% | 44% | 183% | 154% | 30% | 58% |
| 2025 | 181% | 49% | 116% | 102% | 117% | 114% | 160% | 108% | 173% | 56% | 64% | 36% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Viamala
Switzerland
- 1,472 mDepth
- 11 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 52°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q666865) · 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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