The steepest municipalities in canton Uri
National ranking →Gurtnellen is the steepest municipality in canton Uri: its terrain averages 35° of slope. Next come Wassen (33.5°) and Silenen (32.7°). 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 2025.
Ranking
swisstopo · swissALTIRegio 2025| Rank | Municipality | Mean slope | Residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gurtnellen | 35° | 505 |
| 2 | Wassen | 33.5° | 428 |
| 3 | Silenen | 32.7° | 2'040 |
| 4 | Erstfeld | 32.5° | 3'950 |
| 5 | Göschenen | 32° | 452 |
| 6 | Isenthal | 31.9° | 457 |
| 7 | Attinghausen | 28.8° | 1'786 |
| 8 | Andermatt | 28.7° | 1'588 |
| 9 | Hospental | 28.6° | 176 |
| 10 | Flüelen | 28.4° | 2'060 |
| 11 | Unterschächen | 28.4° | 725 |
| 12 | Bürglen | 28.1° | 3'853 |
| 13 | Spiringen | 27.3° | 889 |
| 14 | Realp | 27.1° | 158 |
| 15 | Altdorf | 25.9° | 10'198 |
| 16 | Sisikon | 25.4° | 401 |
| 17 | Seedorf | 24.9° | 2'065 |
| 18 | Schattdorf | 18.9° | 5'462 |
| 19 | Seelisberg | 17.1° | 738 |
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 2025). 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 Uri has the steepest terrain?
- Gurtnellen, whose terrain averages 35° of slope (swissALTIRegio 2025) — the steepest of any municipality in canton Uri, 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.