The steepest municipalities in canton Nidwalden
National ranking →Wolfenschiessen is the steepest municipality in canton Nidwalden: its terrain averages 29.4° of slope. Next come Dallenwil (23.7°) and Emmetten (23.1°). 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 | Wolfenschiessen | 29.4° | 2'174 |
| 2 | Dallenwil | 23.7° | 1'856 |
| 3 | Emmetten | 23.1° | 1'691 |
| 4 | Oberdorf | 21.8° | 3'095 |
| 5 | Hergiswil | 20.6° | 6'316 |
| 6 | Ennetmoos | 18.8° | 2'313 |
| 7 | Beckenried | 18.4° | 3'770 |
| 8 | Stans | 17.2° | 8'565 |
| 9 | Buochs | 13.7° | 5'607 |
| 10 | Stansstad | 12.2° | 4'916 |
| 11 | Ennetbürgen | 10.8° | 5'361 |
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 Nidwalden has the steepest terrain?
- Wolfenschiessen, whose terrain averages 29.4° of slope (swissALTIRegio 2026) — the steepest of any municipality in canton Nidwalden, 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.