The Hinterrhein (; ; ; ; ; ), or Posterior Rhine, is the right of the two initial

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

(the other being the ''

Vorderrhein The Vorderrhein (; ; ; ; ), or Anterior Rhine, is the left of the two initial tributaries of the Rhine (the other being the '' Hinterrhein''). It is longer than the ''Hinterrhein'', but has a lower discharge than the latter at their confluence, w ...

''). It is located in the canton of

Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...

(),

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. One of its upper tributaries is , which is the outflow of Lago di Lei located in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, Italy. Although it is shorter in length, its

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

is larger than that of the ''Vorderrhein'' at their

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

near Reichenau, after which the river is called the

Alpine Rhine The Alpine Rhine Valley () is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine ( ), the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with se ...

, which flows out into

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

().

Course

Flowing from the village Hinterrhein near the

San Bernardino Pass San Bernardino Pass (, , ) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis ( canton of Graubünden) and Bellinzona ( canton of Ticino). Located in the far eastern side ...

through the

Rheinwald The Rheinwald (from Latin ''Rheni vallis'' meaning "Rhine Valley"; Romansh: ''Valrain'') is a valley in the Canton of Grisons in Switzerland, the first section of the Hinterrhein valley. The river Hinterrhein flows through three valleys in the ...

valley, the river flows into a gorge called Rofla Gorge (). In this gorge, an equal-sized tributary, the

Avers Rhine The Avers Rhine (, ) is a tributary of the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Course It rises in Avers at the confluence of the Bergalgabach with the slightly smaller Jufer Rhine. The Jufer Rhine rises in, and ...

, adds waters from the deep

Val Ferrera The Ferrera Valley (, ) is a valley in the Swiss canton of Graubünden between Schams and Avers. It is 10 km long and is drained by the Avers Rhine. The only villages in the valley are Innerferrera and Ausserferrera. Administratively, the ...

and the very remote alp of

Avers Avers (; , ) is a high Alpine valley region and a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It includes Juf, the highest-altitude year-round settlement in Europe. History Avers is first mentioned in 1292 as ''An ...

and its side valley Valle di Lei, located on

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

territory. Below the Rofla Gorge, the valley widens into a section called

Schams image:Schams Andeer.jpg, thumb , The Schams north of Andeer. In the top left, the ruins of Cagliatscha Castle The Schams () is a section of the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein valley in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Graubünden. Geograp ...

. The ''Hinterrhein'' then reaches

Andeer Andeer () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009, Clugin and Pignia merged into Andeer.Viamala Viamala or Via Mala (Romansh language, Romansh: literally, "bad path") is a narrow canyon, gorge along the river Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein between Zillis-Reischen and Thusis in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, as well as the an ...

, before arriving at

Thusis Thusis (, '' Romansh: Tusàn'') is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Mutten merged into the municipality of Thusis. History Thusis is first mentioned in 1156 as ...

. Now, another tributary of slightly bigger volume reaches the ''Hinterrhein'', the Albula, coming from the

Albula Pass The Albula Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass d'Alvra'' or , ) (el. 2312 m) is a Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden. It lies at the heart of the Albula Alps, on the watershed between the Albula, tributary of the Rhine and the Ova d'Alvra, tr ...

, which is also the name of a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

that has become a

UNESCO world heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by int ...

. The two main tributaries of the Albula are the

Landwasser The Landwasser is a river in canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Its origin was Lake Davos before this was turned into a reservoir for a power station. Nowadays it is prolonged by the creek Flüelabach at its source and changes its name near ...

, flowing through

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, and the Gelgia from the

Julier pass The Julier Pass ( Romansh: ''Pass dal Güglia'', German: ''Julierpass'', Italian ''Passo del Giulia'') (elev. 2284 m) is a mountain pass in the Albula Alps of Switzerland. It connects the Engadin valley with central Graubünden. At its summit, ...

area. After passing

Rothenbrunnen Rothenbrunnen () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. History Rothenbrunnen is first mentioned in 1472 as ''Hof Juvalt''. In 1572 it was me ...

through a valley called

Domleschg Domleschg is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Almens, Paspels, Pratval, Rodels and Tomils merged to form the new municipality of Domleschg.

(a valley with an incredible number of castles, showing the importance of transit in the area) the ''Hinterrhein'' is again left alone from civilisation in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

''Isla Bella'' near

Rhäzüns Rhäzüns (; , ) is a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. History Rhäzüns is first mentioned about 840 AD as ''Raezunne''. It formed a single parish with Bonaduz until the Reformation. It was part of the Grey L ...

, before it joins the

Anterior Rhine The Vorderrhein (; ; ; ; ), or Anterior Rhine, is the left of the two initial tributaries of the Rhine (the other being the '' Hinterrhein''). It is longer than the ''Hinterrhein'', but has a lower discharge than the latter at their confluence, w ...

() at Reichenau, near

Bonaduz Bonaduz () is a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Bonaduz is first mentioned in 960 as ''Beneduces''. Until 1854, the German-speaking hamlet of Sculms belonged to Bonaduz. Following a vote in that ...

. The

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the ''Hinterrhein'' lies mostly within the canton of Grisons, with one tributary, the rising in Lombardy, Italy (

Sondrio Sondrio (; ; ; archaic or ; ) is an Italian city, ''comune'' and administrative centre for the province of Sondrio, located in the heart of the Valtellina. , Sondrio counted approximately 21,876 inhabitants. In 2007, Sondrio was named the Alpine ...

). The nearby Lunghin Pass is the

triple divide A triple divide or triple watershed is a point on Earth's surface where three drainage basins meet. A triple divide results from the intersection of two drainage divides. Triple divides range from prominent mountain peaks to minor side peaks ...

between the rivers

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and Po.

Significance

To learn about the importance of travel along the Hinterrhein, a multiday trekking route is signposted along the river from Thusis to

Splügen Splügen (Romansh language, Romansh: ''Spleia'', Italian language, Italian: ''Spluga'') is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On 1 Ja ...

, where it turns south to

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (; ; ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the south at the end of the Valle San Giacomo below the pass ...

, a historically important transit route to Italy. Nowadays there is no traffic across the Splügen pass in winter, whereas the route across its age-old rival, the

, was given a long

road tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

in 1967 that made it possible to keep the road open all year.Road closures on passes in Graubünden
/ref>

References

Rivers of Switzerland Rivers of Graubünden Andeer Rheinwald Schams Sufers Zillis-Reischen Rongellen Sils im Domleschg Thusis Fürstenau, Switzerland Cazis Domleschg Rothenbrunnen Rhäzüns Domat/Ems Bonaduz Tamins {{Switzerland-river-stub