The steepest municipalities in canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden
National ranking →Urnäsch is the steepest municipality in canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden: its terrain averages 17.8° of slope. Next come Hundwil (17.7°) and Reute (17.6°). This is the mean gradient across the whole municipal area, measured on a 40 m elevation grid — a figure for ordering, not an absolute gradient. Source: swisstopo swissALTIRegio 2026.
Ranking
swisstopo · swissALTIRegio 2026| Rank | Municipality | Mean slope | Residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urnäsch | 17.8° | 2'382 |
| 2 | Hundwil | 17.7° | 967 |
| 3 | Reute | 17.6° | 717 |
| 4 | Lutzenberg | 16.6° | 1'340 |
| 5 | Rehetobel | 16.3° | 1'710 |
| 6 | Schwellbrunn | 15.9° | 1'543 |
| 7 | Trogen | 15.7° | 1'905 |
| 8 | Wolfhalden | 14.6° | 1'913 |
| 9 | Gais | 14.5° | 3'150 |
| 10 | Schönengrund | 13.8° | 561 |
| 11 | Walzenhausen | 13.8° | 2'111 |
| 12 | Grub | 13.7° | 986 |
| 13 | Speicher | 13.5° | 4'505 |
| 14 | Waldstatt | 13.4° | 1'906 |
| 15 | Teufen | 13.2° | 6'646 |
| 16 | Bühler | 13.1° | 1'958 |
| 17 | Wald | 12.9° | 916 |
| 18 | Herisau | 12.7° | 16'100 |
| 19 | Stein | 12.1° | 1'492 |
| 20 | Heiden | 12.1° | 4'413 |
How we measure this
swisstopoThe mean slope of the terrain in degrees, averaged over the whole municipal area from the swisstopo swissALTIRegio digital elevation model at 40 m resolution (swissALTIRegio 2026). Two caveats matter. First, it describes the entire territory, not the inhabited settlement — a municipality can be steep overall while its village sits on flat ground. Second, slope depends on the grid it is measured at: at 40 m the figures run a few percent gentler than a 10 m grid, so use them to order municipalities, not as an absolute gradient. Steep terrain and large vertical range tend to coincide; see the greatest-vertical-range ranking.
Frequently asked questions
- Which municipality in canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden has the steepest terrain?
- Urnäsch, whose terrain averages 17.8° of slope (swissALTIRegio 2026) — the steepest of any municipality in canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden, measured on the swisstopo 40 m elevation grid.
- Why is the slope measured at 40 m?
- Slope depends on the resolution of the elevation grid it is computed from. These figures use the swisstopo 40 m grid, which is stable and comparable across all municipalities; a finer 10 m grid would read a few percent steeper. The ranking order is reliable, but the degree value is not an absolute gradient.