Mkummerer · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
1,220 metres, to scale.
A slice through Wimbachklamm 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper. This is a narrow canyon: the published depth, where there is one, is the better figure.
1,220m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
17.3km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
37°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
0.5km
Length
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 from May to June and 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
- 9°-2°Mar
- 15°4°Apr
- 19°9°May
- 23°13°Jun
- 25°14°Jul
- 24°14°Aug
- 20°9°Sep
- 16°5°Oct
- 10°-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.
Canyon in Germany
Wimbachklamm is a slot canyon in Germany, cut by the Wimbach river. The relief model measures 1,220 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 1,592 m to the higher one. It runs for 0.5 km. Rim to rim it is 17 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Ramsau bei Berchtesgadennearest town · 1.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 740 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Ausblick Bachmannkapellenearest viewpoint · 0.5 km from the floor
- Salzburg Airport (SZG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 23 km in a straight lineCar hire at SZG airport (Salzburg)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 Wimbach runs highest from May to September.
The Wimbach carries about 3.5 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.
- 1.8 m³/sJan
- 2.3 m³/sFeb
- 3.6 m³/sMar
- 3.8 m³/sApr
- 4.9 m³/sMay
- 5.7 m³/sJun
- 5.8 m³/sJul
- 6.0 m³/sAug
- 4.8 m³/sSep
- 3.4 m³/sOct
- 2.1 m³/sNov
- 1.7 m³/sDec
From about 1.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 6.0 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 130 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.
- 23viewpoints within 5 kmArchenkanzel, Kirchblick mit Reiteralm, Hintersee-Blick and 20 more
- 46marked hiking routes within 4 kmAV Weg 411, AV Weg 421 (Wimbachtal), AV Weg 441 and 43 more
- 12via ferrata routes within 4 kmChrista Schwaiger Gedenk Brücke Heisei, Servus Stef, Isidorvariante and 9 more
- 19footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 2caves within 3 km
- 31car parks within 3 km
- 20information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 15bus stops within 2 km
- 4campsites within 8 kmGrafenlehen, Camping Mühlleiten, Campingplatz Simonhof and 1 more
- 172hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHammererlehen, Wiesenlehen, Königssee and 169 more
- 28restaurants and cafés 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
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
- Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden1.9 km in a straight line
- Ramsau2.8 km in a straight line
- Schönau am Königssee5.0 km in a straight line
- Bischofswiesen6.1 km in a straight line
- Berchtesgaden7.4 km in a straight line
- Schneizlreuth13 km in a straight line
- Bayerisch Gmain14 km in a straight line
- Grossgmain14 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Wimbachklamm.
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 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 5 |
| Afternoon · rim | -7 | -6 | -2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 5 | -1 | -6 |
| Night · rim | -15 | -14 | -10 | -6 | -2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -4 | -9 | -13 |
| 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 | -7 | -15 | 90 | 3.0 |
| Feb | 4 | -6 | -14 | 72 | 4.5 |
| Mar | 9 | -2 | -10 | 89 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 15 | 4 | -6 | 85 | 5.7 |
| May | 19 | 9 | -2 | 151 | 5.5 |
| Jun | 23 | 13 | 2 | 176 | 6.4 |
| Jul | 25 | 14 | 4 | 184 | 7.0 |
| Aug | 24 | 14 | 4 | 184 | 6.5 |
| Sep | 20 | 9 | 0 | 135 | 5.1 |
| Oct | 16 | 5 | -4 | 102 | 4.5 |
| Nov | 10 | -1 | -9 | 76 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 5 | -6 | -13 | 82 | 2.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (585 m) and the rim (2,176 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 (Q2582709) · 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.



