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River

Linth

37 km from source to mouth · Switzerland.

SwitzerlandSwitzerlandFlows into Lake Zurich8th 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

37km

Average flow

55m³/s

Basin

1,061km²

Drop

261m

from 663 m to 402 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

37 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 20 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

663 m402 m
Sourceat 663 m0 km
Linthbrücke Rüti (Scheidgasse)3 km
Leuggelbach-Brücke7 km
Glarus Süd9,494 people10 km
Glarus12,886 people14 km
Obersee0.4 km²19 km
Walensee23 km²23 km
Schänis3,818 people26 km
Reichenburg3,751 people30 km
Uznach6,416 people34 km
Lake Zurichat 402 m37 km
010203037 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 663 m
  2. 0 kmPantenbrücke
  3. 0 kmLeger-Brücke (Sandbach)
  4. 0 kmLegerwäldli-Brücke (Sandbach)
  5. 0 kmSandrisi-Brücke (Sandbach)
  6. 0 kmSandwiti-Brücke (Sandbach)
  7. 0 kmAuenstrasse-Brücke
  8. 0 kmReitimatt-Brücke
  9. 0 kmLaueli-Brücke
  10. 0 kmFätschli-Brücke
  11. 0 kmFätschli-Steg
  12. 1 kmHydrometrische Messstation-Steg
  13. 1 kmwater pipeline bridge in Linthal
  14. 1 kmKlausenstrasse-Brücke
  15. 1 kmStauwehr-Steg
  16. 1 kmLinthal1,080 people
  17. 1 kmSchürstrasse-Brücke
  18. 2 kmStachelberg-Brücke (Durnagelstrasse)
  19. 2 kmSändli-Brücke
  20. 2 kmCotlan-Steg
  21. 3 kmSBB-Brücke
  22. 3 kmLinthbrücke Rüti (Scheidgasse)
  23. 3 kmHohlgand-Steg
  24. 4 kmMarglen-Brücke
  25. 4 kmSchlettli-Brücke
  26. 4 kmUnterallmeind-Brücke
  27. 5 kmSchwändiboden-Brücke
  28. 5 kmSchwändenen-Brücke
  29. 6 kmAdlenbacher-Brücke
  30. 6 kmLuchsingen1,119 people
  31. 6 kmHauptstrasse-Brücke
  32. 6 kmAreal Hefti-Rohrleitungsbrücke
  33. 6 kmTschächli-Brücke
  34. 7 kmLeuggelbach-Brücke
  35. 8 kmJenny Stauwehr-Steg
  36. 8 kmGrueb-Steg
  37. 9 kmBahnhofstrasse-Brücke
  38. 10 kmSchwanden2,541 people
  39. 10 kmLinthbrücke (Farbenstrasse)
  40. 10 kmGlarus Süd9,494 people
  41. 10 kmPlattenaustrasse-Brücke
  42. 10 kmBahnhofstrasse-Brücken
  43. 10 kmInslen-Steg (Süd)
  44. 10 kmInslen-Steg (Nord)
  45. 11 kmSernftalstrasse-Brücke (Bahnhofstrasse)
  46. 11 kmSteg-Brücke
  47. 11 kmLinthbrücke Mitlödi (Kreuzgasse)
  48. 11 kmKraftwerk Seidendruckerei-Hilfsbrücke
  49. 13 kmMühlefuhr-Steg
  50. 14 kmHohlensteinstrasse-Brücke
  51. 14 kmGlarus12,886 people
  52. 14 kmEnnenda2,699 people
  53. 17 kmNetstal2,900 people
  54. 19 kmObersee0.4 km²
  55. 20 kmMollis3,014 people
  56. 20 kmNäfels3,978 people
  57. 20 kmGlarus Nord18,247 people
  58. 22 kmOberurnen1,932 people
  59. 23 kmMaagtributary
  60. 23 kmWeesen1,723 people
  61. 23 kmWalensee23 km²
  62. 24 kmNiederurnen3,657 people
  63. 26 kmSchänis3,818 people
  64. 26 kmBilten2,011 people
  65. 30 kmReichenburg3,751 people
  66. 31 kmBenken3,025 people
  67. 34 kmUznach6,416 people
  68. 35 kmSchmerikon3,709 people
  69. 35 kmTuggen3,309 people
  70. 37 kmLake Zurichat 402 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 55 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 45 seconds. It drops from 663 m to 402 m, 7.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,061 km², about the size of HK. 103,000 people live in it. Highest water: from June to August. Its dams hold back little of its water (8.4% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Glarus NordLargest city on its banks · 18,247 people
  • Zürich Airport (ZRH)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 56 km from the cityCar hire at ZRH airport (Zurich)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water8 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Linth, month by month

Highest water: from June to August

Best months to visit: from May to September.

41
0°62 mmJan
35
1°66 mmFeb
27
5°67 mmMar
42
9°91 mmApr
60
13°111 mmMay
88
16°137 mmJun
85
18°129 mmJul
95
18°137 mmAug
73
15°101 mmSep
48
10°78 mmOct
56
4°85 mmNov
55
1°75 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 27 m³/s in the lowest month to 95 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 ZRH airport (Zurich)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

Linth: the basin in numbers

1,343 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 8.4% of a year's flow.
  • 103,000people live in the basin
  • 79/km²people per km²
  • 1,438maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,473mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 4.3°Caverage air temperature
  • 15%protected areas
  • 2.2%covered by lakes
  • 2%glaciers
  • 2%permafrost
  • 0.1km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 71% Forest
  • 15% Cropland
  • 32% Pasture
  • 6% Towns and cities
  • 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

Linth: what you find on the way

  • 12Dams
  • 111WeirsWuhrtanne and 110 more
  • 4WaterfallsBerglistüber, Diesbachfälle, Läubibach Wasserfall and 1 more
  • 1Rapids
  • 1Boat ramps
  • 2Ferry piersSchmerikon (See), Ledischiff LS Stäfa
  • 5MarinasSchmerikon Rheinkies, Schmerikon Bad, Seepolizei and 2 more

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

Cross-checked with our atlases

Linth 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.

  • 2lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 211mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (2)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Oberseekm 240.4km²
  2. Walenseekm 29 · 151 m deep23km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (211)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Tödi5.4 km away · prominence 1,570 m3,612m
  2. Bifertenstock4.9 km away · prominence 385 m3,421m
  3. Piz Urlaun6.4 km away · prominence 99 m3,359m
  4. Clariden6.9 km away · prominence 413 m3,267m
  5. Gross Schärhorn10 km away · prominence 514 m3,294m
  6. Düssi12 km away · prominence 429 m3,256m
  7. Hausstock8.4 km away · prominence 655 m3,158m
  8. Cavistrau7.3 km away · prominence 448 m3,252m

203 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Linth: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Linth: 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

Linth in pictures

Linth Reichenburg
Adrian Michael · CC BY-SA 3.0
Auengebiet Linth Delta, Filzbach GL 20180815-jag9889
Jag9889 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Linthaufwärts von der Steinbogenbrücke Rüti zur Bahnbrücke Rüti
Anidaat · CC BY-SA 4.0
Linthaufwärts von der Steinbogenbrücke Rüti
Anidaat · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (5)

Also: Maag, Löntsch, Fätschbach, Sernf, Rauti

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

AareSwitzerlandSwitzerland295 km560 m³/s68 km awayReussSwitzerlandSwitzerland159 km130 m³/s60 km awayLimmatSwitzerlandSwitzerland140 km100 m³/s60 km awayThurSwitzerlandSwitzerland135 km47 m³/s49 km awayIllAustriaAustria72 km210 m³/s50 km awayVorderrheinSwitzerlandSwitzerland76 km58 m³/s58 km awayBregGermanyGermany49 km9.7 m³/s86 km awaySaane/SarineSwitzerlandSwitzerland126 km54 m³/s127 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q14335) · 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 atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — 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