Riverside Walk along the Reuss River from Rotkreuz toward Luzern

Sunday March 30, 2025 -- We weren't expecting nice weather locally, and were debating heading south again to Ticino, when the fog lifted, and the skies turned blue here, so we made a quick decision to head to the Reuss River nearby, for a 10-km riverside walk. We have done several walks on the stretch of the Reuss River between Luzern and where the river joins the Aar and Limmat Rivers in Brugg on the way to the Rhine River to the north. When weather permits and we don't want to travel far, we head out to where we might have started or ended another short stretch.

Almost exactly to the day five years ago (those photos HERE), we did a seven-kilometer stretch along the river ending in the nearby city of Rotkreuz, so our choice for this day was to return to Rotkreuz (20 minutes from home) to start where we ended last time. We continued in the southward (upriver) direction for 10 kilometers, parallel to the low mountain range called Rooterberg. The little foot-path was pleasant enough to walk along, although riverbank walks tend to get tedious after a few kilometers. So after the first 6½ kilometers (90 minutes of our 2½-hour walk), we left the riverbank and crossed the freeway to visit a small chapel called St.Katharina, and then continued via some farms to the bus stop on the road back to the railway line between Luzern and Rotkreuz.

We learned something interesting about the St.Katharina Chapel: The church was built in the mid-14th Century on the property of a farm called Hof Emerdingen, on the site of the original Eschenbach Abbey located there until 1309. This was of particular interest, because barely two weeks earlier we had done a hike nearby which passed through the current Eschenbach Abbey. (Photos HERE)

We lucked out with blue skies and mostly sunshine right till the end of our walk at about 2:30 p.m. 

Starting in Rotkreuz at about 11 a.m. (heading westward), we first pass a small pond. 

Small pond west of the city of Rotkreuz

This used to be an old mill, now converted into apartments. We also passed by here on the walk we did five years ago (photos HERE)

It took us 20 minutes to get to the riverbank at the Reuss River, near where we ended the walk in 2020. 

This turned out to be a 10-kilometer walk for us. We started at about 11 a.m. in Rotkreuz, and got to the bus stop on the road from Inwil at 2:20 p.m. The two hours walking to St.Katharina church was enough of the riverside walk! We ended up walking for a little over three hours and mostly had sunshine. 

Lots of mistletoe in the trees across the river. 

Reuss River in early spring. 

I spotted a cormorant perched in a tree across the river. 

It looks like beavers were busy here! That was actually a very big tree, so the ambition is admirable!

First blossoms!

Just to the east of the footpath is a borderstone: Rotkreuz is in Canton Zug, and here we are crossing into Canton Luzern. 

This is the trainline between Luzern and Zug, a train we have traveled on quite often. In fact, at the end of this hike we took a bus to the train station in Ebikon near Luzern (10 minutes by bus), for the 20-minute train ride back to Zug from there.

Lots of small flowers along the riverbank

For the first hour, we had this nice little footpath to walk along. It was mild weather, not too hot. 

Near the Gisikon-Root train station, we crossed the bridge to the other side of the river. 

Heading toward the bridge

Crossing the bridge over the Reuss River, we can see the canal on the left, entering the river at the eastern tip of what is essentially an island in the river. On this island is a paper factory, and the canal was drawn away from the river to pass via the paper factory, and then returned to the river. 

On this side of the river, we had to walk about 20 minutes on a wide dike here until we crossed over the freeway. This path was popular with bikers and horse riders. 

We could see the tower of the St.Katharina Chapel, which was one of our goals of this walk. 

Crossing over the Autobahn on our way to St.Katharina Chapel. 

The chapel is right next to a very lovely old farmhouse. The chapel was built in the mid-14th Century on the site of the original Eschenbach Abbey, which is now located in the city of Eschenbach nearby. (We visited the site a couple of weeks earlier, photos HERE). 

A small path leads down to the chapel, next to the large old farmhouse. We got here shortly after noon. 

(After checking out the church, we stopped here to sit on the edge of this former well, for a small break. Later, having already continued on our walk, I realized I had left my sunhat here, and went back to retrieve it, adding ¾ of a kilometer to our full walk!) 

Details of the St.Katharina Chapel. Originally built here in the 14th Century, it was restored in 1988-89 and was placed under Cantonal and Federal protection. 

The beautiful old farmhouse next to the chapel. 

We continued on to the Emmendingen Farm. It was here that I realized that I had left my sun-hat at the well next to the chapel! So I ran back to get it, adding another 750 meters to the otherwise almost 10 kilometers we walked this day!

A second building at the Emmendingen Farm. 

A look back to the farmhouse and St.Katharina Chapel 

More blossoming trees, with lots of bees!

Past the Rooterberg mountain we get a view of the summit of Mt.Rigi to the east. 

This was the last stretch with a small footpath next to some marshes and the Rotbach stream, which we could not see. A short stretch through the forest on the left and we got to the road and bus stop with at least 10 minutes to spare for the bus. (We had passed by here on another walk back in April 2020, photos are HERE)

This beautiful Japanese cherry tree on the grounds near the bus stop (we got here at 14:20, and had about 10 minutes to wait), was BUZZING with bees!

If there had been less clouds today, we would have seen Mt.Pilatus before us on the second half of our walk. But this was the best look at it, from the bus on the way back to the train station in Ebikon, a 10-minute ride from where we had caught the bus. 

It is the season of Magnolias!

Starting in Rotkreuz, we walked 10 kilometers along the Reuss River with a detour to St.Katharina Chapel. 

These are all the walks we have done along the Reuss River between Luzern and Brugg

Santa Maria in Val Calanca, and a Walk Down into the Mesolcina Valley

Thursday March 27th, 2025 -- For our mid-week walk (the only nice day this week, and in the south only) we had a choice of traveling 3½ hours to good weather in Canton Valais, or two hours in the direction of the Tessin once again, where the forecast was for 20 degrees! We compromised with a slightly longer trip (2½ hours) via Tessin to Santa Maria in the Calanca Valley, which is actually in Canton Graubünden.

The original plan was a 3-hour walk, via a mountain town called Verdabbio back to Castaneda and down to Grono at the bottom of the Mesocco Valley. But after the first steep 350-meter descent through the forest (three deer bounded across our trail!), we changed plans to walk down directly to a different village along a historical mule trail which was recently restored by the incentive of the community of Verdabbio. Also on the way down we inspected a collection of stone houses called Grotti, specially built into the mountainside in order to keep cool, and some of these offer refreshments to hikers in the summer months.

This was the second time we have been to Santa Maria (November 2021), a beautifully situated medieval church with a nearby tower, the remainders of a medieval fortress. The tower steps are a real exciting experience: A narrow and dark stairway with stone steps of various heights, and adjoining "living" spaces to explore. 

Even though it was a short walk, we spent four hours in the fresh air with great views, and not as hot as expected. In fact, there was a wind blowing, and sometimes a bit cool. Best thing is, it doesn't take too long for us to get here. (Less than 2½ hours). 

After a 90-minute trip to Bellinzona, we take the bus into the Mesolcina Valley, from where we can see the church of Santa Maria and the castle tower where we are headed to start our walk. This is at the entrance of the Calanca Valley, and we have to switch to a separate bus. 

We were the only passengers in the bus for the 20-minute bus ride from Grono to Santa Maria

A look down at Grono in the Mesolcina Valley as the bus heads up into the side-valley called Val Calanca. (Even though this side valley is very close to Bellinzona in Canton Ticino, we are now located in Canton Graubünden). 

Beautiful concrete arched bridge over the Calanca Valley. The bus crosses here before heading up the mountain on the right. 

Just before the final bus stop, the driver stopped the bus here and suggested I take a photo, as it's a really good photo spot! He was quite right!

At 11:40 we were on our way up to have another look at the Santa Maria Church. (When we were here last time, it was late afternoon in winter and getting quite dark). 

Next to the church is this restaurant, and there was a good deal on Cordon-Bleu with French Fries, so we considered stopping here for lunch, but then it would have been too late to go on our planned hike. 

That is a humungous tree!

The church of Santa Maria Assunta in Calanca. Parts of the church are older than 1000 years, but most of the expansions took place in the early 15th Century. (The tower is up on the hill to the left). 

Front entrance of Santa Maria Assunta church. This portal was decorated in 1606.

The interior of the church had a magnificent wooden ceiling, and lots of stucco sculpture work. 

Most of the artwork was done in 1628. 

Lots of detail of the artwork inside the church.

The back part of the church, i.e the entrance. 

From the church grounds we can watch our bus heading back down the mountain. 

We remember it was fun going up the tower last time, so it's worth another climb!

Opening hours of tower access: Children under 16 have to be accompanied by an adult, and accessing the tower is at your own risk....

The narrow stone steps wound around the square tower. It was quite dark, and some of the steps were much higher than others!

There was access through narrow doorways to a couple of rooms inside the tower. This is the tower of what used to be a fortified complex dating from the 13th or 14th Century

The view of the mountains in the Mesolcina (Misox) Valley from the top of the tower. 

And this is the view up the Mesolcina Valley! (The river that runs down from the San Bernardino Pass is called the Moesa). Last time we were here, this whole valley was already in shadow at about 3 p.m. 

From here we can see the snow-covered peaks of the Monte Tamaro Range near Locarno to the west. 

A look down at the church bell tower from the top of the fortress tower. On the right on that sunny plateau is a town called Castaneda, which we were originally going to circle back to before changing plans along the way. (And on the left at the arrow is a bench where we sat and had our picnic lunch!)

Stopping in another side room on the way down. Between the windows, it looks like there might have been a place for a fire, with a vent (chimney) above it. 

Heading down to the bench for our picnic lunch at 12:20. 

This is the bench where we sat for a while and had our picnic lunch before starting on our hike. 

Back in 2020 (photos HERE) we descended to Santa Maria from the hills above, and this is a view of the complex from above. 

Originally we were going to do a three-hour hike down to Verdabbio, returning to Castaneda but we decided to walk down the old mule trail to Cama and the Grotti. We started on our walk in Santa Maria at 12:40, and caught the bus in Leggia at 4 p.m. for the 2-hour trip home. 

A cute little bird, which I think is a female Black Redstart. 

On our 40-minute walk down the mountain to the town of Verdabbio, we spooked some deer (we saw three of them) which jumped across the trail and raced down the steep forest hillside. 

Our first look at Verdabbio. 

Walking along the cobblestone road into the village of Verdabbio. 

This huge bush is Rosemary! I have never seen rosemary as such a large bush!

From the village church, a look down at the valley basin of the Moesa River and the beautiful mountains. (Until just recently, the hiking trails in these side valleys were off-limits due to the major damage caused by massive landslides due to too much rain last year.) 

A quick look into the village church. The San Pietro parish church was built in 1631 in Baroque style. 

Originally we were going to walk back up through the forest to Castaneda, but there were brochures here describing an ancient mule trail (at least seven centuries old) recently renovated, directly to valley bottom here. So we decided to follow that instead. 

There were several of these shrines along the old mule trail, also renovated. 

The old mule trail has been in existence since at least the 14th Century, having first been mentioned in documents of 1384 as an important access route from the valley bottom to the mountain villages. The road is listed in the national registry of Historical Swiss Routes. Other than the recent renovations, the trail remains practically unchanged over several centuries.  

Early spring butterfly!

The shrine on this prominent rock is called "Capèla di Piét". 

We are loving finally seeing the blossoms and the greening of the countryside. 

Apparently this is now part of Trail no.733: Via San Bernardino, which runs down the length of the Mesolcina Valley from the San Bernardino Pass. We have done a couple of other stretches of this trail, namely from the village of San Bernardino to the town of Mesocco (June 2022) and most recently, starting from Mesocco and walking along the former railway line for 10 km to Cabbiolo (December 2024)

In Cama, near the valley bottom, we got to the collection of historical "Grotti". These little stone houses are built on the site of a large historical landslide. The general feature of a grotto is that it is built around an aperture from which a steady stream of cold air issues. This keeps a moderate temperature for storing cheese, fruits, wine and cured meats. In this village are several types of buildings: Some are like cellars, completely underground, and others are half-and-half. Some are private residences, and three of them are open to the public. In summer, these are run as small restaurants offering beverages and light meals. 

Entering the Cama Grotti hamlet from the north side.

There were several information placards explaining how these kinds of buildings came about: Location, use, building materials. Unfortunately, the three Grotti which are open to the public operate only in summer, serving refreshments and local specialties. 

We climbed up through the village to look down over the rooftops. Each property has at least one stone picnic table!

At the main square in the Grotti village, there is one of the "restaurants". The sign seemed to indicate that the restaurant would be open, and we would have stopped there for refreshments. But there was no one around. So we just used one of the picnic tables (lower right) for our own coffee break.  

Taking a break at someone's stone picnic table in the Grotto village!

A look behind us as we leave the collection of Grotti and head southward to the local church in Cama. 

The church in Cama (San Maurizio) looked interesting, but it was actually closed for renovations. A worker had just opened the door and let us have a quick look inside. It has a Baroque style, although the church was first mentioned in documents of 1219. As was mostly the case with all these churches, many changes took place since then.  

The cemetery at San Maurizio

A look behind us at the bell tower of San Maurizio and the mountains of the Mesolcina Valley, as we continue southwards toward Leggia. 

The beautiful magnolias are currently in full bloom. 

The beautiful magnolias are currently in full bloom. 

Our plan is to end our short walk here in Leggia, on the main road below the church, which unfortunately was locked. 

There used to be a railway line here in the Mesolcina Valley (discontinued in 2013), but the original railway stations still stand. We had about 10 minutes before the 4 p.m. bus, so we took a small detour along the main street to have a closer look at the former Leggia train station (now a private residence).

The former Leggia train station. There was a railway line passing through here operating between 1907 and 1978, discontinued in 2013. (We walked a large section of this former railway line in December of 2024, those photos are HERE). 

The red line is the road from Grono in the Mesolcina Valley, up into the Calanca Valley and to Santa Maria (a "private" bus ride for us!). The blue trail is the short walk we did from Santa Maria back down into the Mesolcina Valley via Verdabbio and the historical mule trail. 

These are all the hikes we have done in the area around Val Calanca. The mountain range between the Riviera Valley and the Calanca Valley forms the border between Canton Ticino on the west, and Canton Graubünden on the east. 

Heading by bus from Leggia back to Castione (at the junction of the Riviera and Mesolcina Valleys), we get more looks at Sant Maria high above the valley. This is a zoomed shot. In all, it was a 2-hour trip home. 

The bus passes through the town of Roveredo and across the Moesa River. This is a final look up the Valle Mesolcina. 

These are all the hikes we have done in the area around Val Calanca. The mountain range between the Riviera Valley and the Calanca Valley forms the border between Canton Ticino on the west, and Canton Graubünden on the east. 

I always love this view up the Riviera Valley from the overpass at the Bellinzona railway station, with the small Claro Monastery perched on the hillside below Pizzo di Claro (the main mountain there.)

On the train trip back to the north, we also always enjoy this view of the Blenio Valley at Biasca, before the train enters the longest railway tunnel in the world (Gotthard tunnel). 

Location of the Valle Mesolcina in Canton Graubünden near Bellinzona.