The steepest municipalities in canton St. Gallen

The 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.

Which municipality in canton St. Gallen has the steepest terrain?

Pfäfers, whose terrain averages 33.4° of slope (swissALTIRegio 2026) — the steepest of any municipality in canton St. Gallen, 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.