At the height of 3,770 metres (12,370 ft) the Kleinglockner is the third highest mountain summit in Austria.

It lies in the Glockner Group of Austria's Central Alps, the middle section of the Hohe Tauern.

Its peak forms part of the Glockner crest or ridge (Glocknerkamm) and lies exactly on the border between the Austrian state of Carinthia and Lienz District in the East Tyrol.

The Kleinglockner has the shape of a sharp edge, covered with the so-called Glockner Cornice (Glocknerwechte) and, depending on the conditions, can make the ascent of the mountain dangerous to almost impossible.

The climbing history of the Kleinglockner is closely linked to that of the Großglockner, because the first climbers, coming from the south and east, had to cross it.