The steepest municipalities in canton Schwyz
National ranking →Riemenstalden is the steepest municipality in canton Schwyz: its terrain averages 29.2° of slope. Next come Muotathal (25.4°) and Unteriberg (24.7°). 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 | Riemenstalden | 29.2° | 88 |
| 2 | Muotathal | 25.4° | 3'604 |
| 3 | Unteriberg | 24.7° | 2'524 |
| 4 | Innerthal | 23.8° | 194 |
| 5 | Morschach | 23.6° | 1'402 |
| 6 | Vorderthal | 19.6° | 1'032 |
| 7 | Oberiberg | 19.2° | 941 |
| 8 | Alpthal | 18.8° | 641 |
| 9 | Lauerz | 18.6° | 1'165 |
| 10 | Ingenbohl | 18.4° | 9'599 |
| 11 | Arth | 18.3° | 12'616 |
| 12 | Schwyz | 18.2° | 16'735 |
| 13 | Illgau | 17.9° | 819 |
| 14 | Sattel | 17.5° | 2'097 |
| 15 | Steinerberg | 17.4° | 954 |
| 16 | Schübelbach | 17.1° | 9'919 |
| 17 | Gersau | 16.9° | 2'505 |
| 18 | Reichenburg | 15.3° | 4'142 |
| 19 | Rothenthurm | 15° | 2'604 |
| 20 | Feusisberg | 14.3° | 5'588 |
| 21 | Galgenen | 14.3° | 5'506 |
| 22 | Einsiedeln | 13.8° | 16'667 |
| 23 | Altendorf | 12.2° | 7'539 |
| 24 | Wollerau | 11.5° | 7'631 |
| 25 | Küssnacht | 11.4° | 14'185 |
| 26 | Steinen | 10.3° | 3'762 |
| 27 | Freienbach | 6.2° | 17'100 |
| 28 | Tuggen | 6.2° | 3'491 |
| 29 | Wangen | 2.9° | 5'574 |
| 30 | Lachen | 0.9° | 9'448 |
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 Schwyz has the steepest terrain?
- Riemenstalden, whose terrain averages 29.2° of slope (swissALTIRegio 2026) — the steepest of any municipality in canton Schwyz, 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.