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Kiefersfelden — Gießenbachklamm Ende

Germany Germany Slot canyon

Gießenbachklamm

1,110 m of rock, cut by the Gießenbach.

See the cutWhen to go

User:Mattes · CC0

The cut

1,110 metres, to scale.

A slice through Gießenbachklamm where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

1,649 m1,609 m1,110 m17 km rim to rim5.0 kmvertical scale × 1.61,649 m1,609 m1,110 m17 km rim to rim5.0 kmvertical scale × 3.0

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.

1,110m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

16.9km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

41°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

0.2km

Length

Rim to floor

7 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 25 °C on the floor, against 18 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in September. The rim freezes at night from November to April. The wettest months are from June to August: in a narrow canyon a flash flood arrives without warning, even from rain upstream.

rim · 1,649 mfloor · 499 m
  1. 4°-3°Jan
  2. 5°-2°Feb
  3. 10°2°Mar
  4. 15°8°Apr
  5. 20°12°May
  6. 23°16°Jun
  7. 25°18°Jul
  8. 25°17°Aug
  9. 20°13°Sep
  10. 16°9°Oct
  11. 10°3°Nov
  12. 5°-2°Dec
Hike: May, SepFrost on the rim: Nov–AprWettest: Jun–Aug

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.

Gießenbachklamm is a slot canyon in Germany, cut by the Gießenbach river. The relief model measures 1,110 m from the floor to the lower rim. It runs for 0.2 km. Rim to rim it is 17 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

  • Zellnearest town · 3.7 km in a straight line
  • Parking 830 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
  • Engelsteinnearest viewpoint · 1.0 km from the floor
  • Salzburg Airport (SZG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 68 km in a straight lineCar hire at SZG airport (Salzburg)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 Gießenbach runs highest from May to September.

The Gießenbach carries about 3.4 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to September.

  1. 1.9 m³/sJan
  2. 2.0 m³/sFeb
  3. 3.0 m³/sMar
  4. 3.3 m³/sApr
  5. 4.3 m³/sMay
  6. 5.0 m³/sJun
  7. 5.0 m³/sJul
  8. 5.2 m³/sAug
  9. 4.0 m³/sSep
  10. 2.8 m³/sOct
  11. 1.8 m³/sNov
  12. 1.7 m³/sDec

From about 1.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 5.2 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 117 km².

Follow the Inn 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.

Gießenbachklamm seen from above (Sentinel-2) 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.

  • 24viewpoints within 5 kmDuxer Köpfl, Engelstein, Steinbruch and 21 more
  • 87marked hiking routes within 4 kmNordalpenweg 01, Wanderweg 653 - Brünnstein, Wanderweg 814 - Wilder Kaiser and 84 more
  • 49climbing crags within 3 kmOld school, Rampe, Purple Love and 46 more
  • 17footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmSachssteg, Hechtsee, Höhenweg and 14 more
  • 2rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
  • 4swimming spots within 3 km
  • 1named waterfalls within 4 kmGscheier Loch
  • 4caves within 3 km
  • 57car parks within 3 km
  • 64information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
  • 10campsites within 8 kmWohnmobilstellplatz Feuriger Tatzlwurm, Campingplatz Hiasenhof, Campingplatz Rueppenhof and 7 more
  • 324hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmAyurveda Hotel Sonnhof, Gasthof-Pension Gradlwirt, Berggasthof Moosbauer and 321 more
  • 96restaurants and cafés within 4 km
  • via ferrata routes within 4 km
  • bus stops within 2 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

  • Zell3.7 km in a straight line
  • Kiefersfelden4.1 km in a straight line
  • Kufstein4.2 km in a straight line
  • Vorderthiersee4.5 km in a straight line
  • Oberaudorf4.5 km in a straight line
  • Mitterndorf4.9 km in a straight line
  • Weissach5.3 km in a straight line
  • Endach5.5 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Gießenbachklamm.

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.

Cascadyas2 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Wasserfall Tatzelwurm · 9.2 kmWasserfall im Hauptdolomit des Talgrabens NE von Sachrang · 12 km
Peakyas113 mountains within 15 km
Sonneck2,260 m · 10 kmEllmauer Halt2,344 m · 11 kmTreffauer2,304 m · 11 kmFleischbank2,186 m · 12 kmKarlspitzen2,281 m · 12 kmGoinger Halt2,242 m · 13 kmAckerlspitze2,329 m · 14 kmRegalmspitze2,253 m · 14 km
Lakeyas4 lakes within 15 kmComing soon
Hechtsee0.2 km² · 1.2 kmThiersee0.2 km² · 5.1 kmHintersteiner See0.4 km² · 9.0 kmWalchsee0.8 km² · 12 km

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon · floor451015202325252016105
Afternoon · rim-3-228121618171393-2
Night · rim-12-11-7-326773-1-6-10
Rain (mm)83668183144170173179118937073
Rainy days131216152021212015141314
Sun hours/day3.34.65.56.06.17.07.36.85.54.63.02.8
Snow on the ground (cm)25261794100371218
Afternoon · floorAfternoon · rimNight · rimRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan4-3-12833.3
Feb5-2-11664.6
Mar102-7815.5
Apr158-3836.0
May201221446.1
Jun231661707.0
Jul251871737.3
Aug251771796.8
Sep201331185.5
Oct169-1934.6
Nov103-6703.0
Dec5-2-10732.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (499 m) and the rim (1,649 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Aufstieg zur Giessenbachklamm Kiefersfelden-1
Rufus46 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Aufstieg zur Giessenbachklamm Kiefersfelden-2
Rufus46 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gießenbachklamm
Edelmauswaldgeist · CC BY-SA 4.0

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202049%178%79%79%77%150%119%137%133%159%36%101%
2021126%49%96%62%168%79%136%136%70%48%140%100%
202266%129%15%94%93%103%90%82%123%104%117%75%
202356%86%115%260%124%44%121%130%52%90%260%222%
202494%103%103%109%133%145%119%132%202%117%41%98%
202561%37%106%46%98%76%156%85%104%85%133%35%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Gießenbachklamm

Germany

  • 1,110 mDepth
  • 17 kmRim to rim
  • 0.2 kmLength
  • 41°Steepest wall

Kundler Klamm

Austria · 23 km

  • 1,195 mDepth
  • 13 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 43°Steepest wall

See the guide

Entenlochklamm

Austria · 20 km

  • 912 mDepth
  • 14 kmRim to rim
  • 2.5 kmLength
  • 38°Steepest wall

See the guide

Taxaklamm

Austria · 22 km

  • 1,056 mDepth
  • 5.7 kmRim to rim
  • —Length
  • 42°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and lengthWikidata (Q18333434) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here