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Stream

Vorderrhein

76 km from source to mouth · Switzerland.

SwitzerlandSwitzerlandFlows into Alpine Rhine7th longest in Switzerland

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

76km

Average flow

58m³/s

Basin

1,512km²

Drop

700m

from 1,290 m to 590 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

76 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 17 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,290 m590 m
Sourceat 1,290 m0 km
Disentis/Mustér2,077 people9 km
Sumvitg1,158 people19 km
Trun1,170 people25 km
Breil/Brigels1,757 people34 km
Ilanz/Glion5,067 people50 km
Sagogn719 people58 km
Flims2,834 people65 km
Alpine Rhineat 590 m76 km
020406076 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 1,290 m
  2. 0 kmTujetsch1,237 people
  3. 8 kmla pendenta
  4. 9 kmDisentis/Mustér2,077 people
  5. 9 kmDisentis2,193 people
  6. 19 kmSumvitg1,158 people
  7. 25 kmTrun1,170 people
  8. 34 kmBreil/Brigels1,757 people
  9. 34 kmBreíl1,344 people
  10. 50 kmIlanz2,321 people
  11. 50 kmIlanz/Glion5,067 people
  12. 53 kmSchluein648 people
  13. 56 kmSafiental902 people
  14. 58 kmSagogn719 people
  15. 58 kmLaax1,252 people
  16. 59 kmRheinbrücke Valendas-Sagogn
  17. 65 kmFlims2,834 people
  18. 70 kmTrin1,429 people
  19. 75 kmBonaduz3,330 people
  20. 76 kmTamins1,217 people
  21. 76 kmReichenau
  22. 76 kmAlpine Rhineat 590 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Switzerland

At the mouth it carries 58 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 43 seconds. It drops from 1,290 m to 590 m, 9.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,512 km², about the size of GP. 30,000 people live in it. Highest water: March; lowest: from December to February. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (15% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Ilanz/GlionLargest city on its banks · 5,067 people
  • Sankt Gallen Altenrhein Airport (ACH)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 83 km from the cityCar hire at ACH airport (St. Gallen)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Vorderrhein, month by month

Highest water: March

Lowest water: from December to February. Best months to visit: from June to September.

21
-2°69 mmJan
16
-1°66 mmFeb
120
2°71 mmMar
94
6°98 mmApr
79
10°122 mmMay
74
13°145 mmJun
74
16°140 mmJul
80
15°155 mmAug
73
12°117 mmSep
64
8°93 mmOct
65
3°97 mmNov
36
-1°75 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 16 m³/s in the lowest month to 120 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at ACH airport (St. Gallen)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Vorderrhein: the basin in numbers

1,510 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 15% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 30,000people live in the basin
  • 20/km²people per km²
  • 1,953maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,639mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 1.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 7%protected areas
  • 0.2%covered by lakes
  • 2%glaciers
  • 8%permafrost
  • 0.3km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 59% Forest
  • 2% Cropland
  • 31% Pasture
  • 2% Ice

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Vorderrhein: what you find on the way

  • 12DamsBrigels and 11 more
  • 3Weirs
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 1RapidsVerblockung, Besichtigen
  • 1Canoe put-ins
  • 2Ferry piers

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Vorderrhein in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 226mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (226)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Oberalpstock14 km away · prominence 709 m3,328m
  2. Scopi14 km away · prominence 792 m3,190m
  3. Bristen12 km away · prominence 567 m3,073m
  4. Maasplanggstock4.8 km away3,361m
  5. Piz Gannaretsch8.9 km away · prominence 934 m3,040m
  6. Piz Giuv7.8 km away · prominence 749 m3,096m
  7. Pizzo Centrale7.5 km away · prominence 451 m2,999m
  8. Piz Blas7.4 km away · prominence 312 m3,019m

218 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Vorderrhein: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Vorderrhein: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Vorderrhein in pictures

Il Spir panorama 20210614
Daniel Kraft · CC BY-SA 3.0
Vorderrhein from the Vorderrheinbrücke. 22-09-2022. (actm.) 02
Agnes Monkelbaan · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vorderrhein from the Vorderrheinbrücke. 22-09-2022. (actm.) 03
Agnes Monkelbaan · CC BY-SA 4.0
20240902.Vorderrhein.-011
Bybbisch94 · CC BY 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (7)

Also: Rabiusa, Glogn, Rein da Medel, Rein da Tuma, Rein da Curnera, Flem, Ual da Mulin

In the same basin

RhineThe NetherlandsThe Netherlands1,233 km2,200 m³/sMoselleGermanyGermany544 km320 m³/sMainGermanyGermany524 km200 m³/sAareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/sNeckarGermanyGermany362 km140 m³/sLahnGermanyGermany242 km54 m³/sRuhrGermanyGermany217 km79 m³/sSaarGermanyGermany246 km78 m³/sLippeGermanyGermany255 km240 m³/sReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

IllAustriaAustria72 km210 m³/s55 km awayLinthSwitzerlandSwitzerland37 km55 m³/s58 km awayAareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/s126 km awayReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s117 km awayLimmatSwitzerlandSwitzerland140 km100 m³/s117 km awayThurSwitzerlandSwitzerland135 km47 m³/s106 km awayEisackItalyItaly100 km78 m³/s151 km awayBregGermanyGermany49 km9.7 m³/s142 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q673896) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit