The village lies near the head of the valley of the Linth river, and at the foot of the Klausen Pass into the canton of Uri.

[3] The village Linthal lies at the head of the valley of the Linth river, at an altitude of approximately 650 m (2,130 ft).

The Klausen Pass climbs out of the valley between the Ortstock and Clariden and carries a road into the canton of Uri.

The Richetli Pass, between the Kärpf and Hausstock, carries a walking trail to the head of the valley of the Sernf river, a tributary of the Linth.

[1] To the south, there are no further villages in the valley, but a side road continues past scattered farmsteads to Tierfehd, where there is one of the Linth–Limmern power stations.

Of the rest of the land, 0.9% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (66.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

[1][4] Linthal is located on the Hauptstrasse 17, which runs the length of the canton of Glarus before climbing the Klausen Pass into the canton of Uri, as well as being the terminus of the Weesen to Linthal railway line that parallels the main road and the Linth river through Glarus.

The high alpine Klausen Pass is normally only open to traffic between June and September, and for the rest of the year the road and railway up the valley form the only access to the village.