Crest Trail from Ahorn Farm to Wasen Village in the Emmental

Saturday May 23, 2026 -- After a late winter incursion middle of May with snow to low elevations and cold temperatures, the summer has hit us too early once again with temperatures of up to 30 degrees on this Pentecost long weekend. (It seems springtime comes in February most years, and winter comes afterwards!). Our problem once again is that the buses don't run to higher elevations yet, so anywhere else we want to walk will be very "warm"!!!!

In the Emmental region of Canton Bern and specifically in the rolling hills around Mount Napfberg (at 1406 meters the highest peak in the region), is a mountain farm/restaurant called Ahorn, which offers a twice daily small bus service (10 Fr. per person) from the town of Huttwil, a 25-minute ride on the narrow winding roads of this hilly landscape. We have often wanted to make this trip, but till now it was a 45-minute wait in Huttwil, which we did not want to do. This year, though, the connection offered is only 15 minutes' wait, so this was our plan for the day. 

We were very lucky that there was a cool breeze blowing all day, and the only place it really was too hot was at the end of our hike in the village of Wasen i.E. (i.E stands for "im Emmental, as there are other villages named Wasen) at the valley bottom. In all it was a 10-km / 3-hour hike with a lot of forest sections and nice views of the rolling hills of this region.

A final nice touch was the bus ride back via the Lüderenalp Pass on such narrow roads that vehicles are forbidden to drive the road in the opposite direction for 30 minutes each way when the bus is using it. We then headed home via the Kambly Cookie factory, a detour which meant it took us about 3½-hours (including 30 minutes at the cookie store) to get back home!

(As it turns out, to make sure we didn't miss the connection, we had a longer wait for the connecting train in Luzern, which was no big deal as it was a beautiful morning and I watched the cruise ships headed out with all the tourists...the chaos has started!)

PART I: 30-Minute Break at Luzern Ship-Docks, and bus ride to Ahorn

View of Mt.Pilatus as the train heads along Lake Lucerne from Küssnacht to Luzern. (I left home early at 7:45 and had a 30-minute wait in Luzern, as the little bus service to the Ahorn mountain farm had to be reserved ahead of time, and it only does one run in the morning, so we didn't want to miss it). 

I had to wait 30 minutes for the train to Huttwil, but that was no problem as it was going to be a hot day, and right now, at 8:30 a.m., it was lovely to sit along the lake in Luzern. This view is to the Hofkirche, the "mother church" in Luzern and the most important Renaissance church building in Switzerland. 

A little walk around the fountain in front of the KKL Theater. 

Ships ready for later cruises. 

A view of the Schwyzer Alps to the southeast. 

Then I sat and watched the cruise ships loading up for the first runs of the day. For this one there was a very long line-up as the tourists are headed to Alpnachstad, and from there with the cogwheel train up Mount Pilatus on the "Golden Round Trip" (highly marketed!!!). 

As the boat headed out, I was surprised that it really wasn't all that full. 

Then came the Gotthard, docking here for the trip to Vitznau, where most tourists then head up to Rigi Kulm by cogwheel train. There were only a very few people waiting here. 

And finally, at 8:40, the beautiful steamship called "URI" came in backwards to the dock where the other ship had left from. This ship travels all the way across the lake to Flüelen on the southern end of Lake Uri, a fantastic cruise...  

After a 30-minute break in Luzern and then a 45-minute train ride, we arrived in Huttwil at 9:43. The small bus (which requires reserving by 11 a.m. on the day before), picks us up at 10 a.m. There were five other people who had also reserved the ride, and later we saw them on the same trail we were walking. 

It was a 25-minute ride up the winding roads in this hilly region, passing first through the town of Huttwil. 

Along the way we passed through Eriswil. I managed to snap this photo as we passed by a Gasthof here. 

The bus then climbed out of the valley heading up into the hilly countryside. 

The bus then caught up to this parade of cows. This always becomes tricky to try to pass them! But the farmers managed quite well to keep their cows to the side of the road so that we could pass. 

We got to the end of our trip at the Ahorn Restaurant at 10:18. This is a bus service provided by local tourism office, and costs 10 Fr. per person to ride. The bus only makes two trips up here per day (at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.)

The Ahorn Restaurant.... The five other people who rode with us first went into the restaurant for something to drink. That is what a lot of people do before they start hiking!

PART II: 10-km walk from Ahorn Farm to Wasen village in the Emmental Region

View east from the parking lot at the restaurant. The air is unfortunately a bit hazy, but you can make out Mount Rigi on the left. 

We could hear the bells from the cows further down the road, so instead of heading out right away, we waited around for the cows to appear.

VIDEO:

Watching the cows being led up the road (where we had passed them earlier), 

then past the restaurant and further up the road...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The parade of cows passes the Ahorn restaurant and continues up the road toward higher pastures in the Napf region 

I was excited to see the peaks of Mts. Schrekhorn and Finsteraarhorn, which are some of the higher peaks in the Bernese Alps to the south. This is a very zoomed view! Mt. Finsteraarhorn on the right is actually the highest peak in the Bernese Alps. 

Before heading out on our hike, we climbed up the hill behind the Ahorn restaurant to get a better 360-degree view of the region, and hopefully see more of the Bernese Alps from higher up. 

Somewhat to the southwest is a lone tree on a hill. This looks really cool! The farm to the left of the tree, according to our map, is called "Vorder Arni", and we saw it from various points along our walk. It is a second long stretched out hill with a hiking trail along the crest. 

And yes, we do see more of the snow-covered Bernese Alps to the south!

Close-up view of more of the Bernese Alps. 

We stayed up here for a while because of the very nice views in all directions, and there was a nice cool breeze. We expected it to be much hotter. Behind me you can see the outline of Mt.Pilatus. 

It's 10:45 now, and time to head off the hill and find our hiking trail. The view is to the north to the West/East stretch of the Jura Range. 

Looking down at the Ahorn farm. It was on a bench at the left down below, where we had sat to watch the cows come up the road. 

And a final look to the south!

You can just make out the outline of the North/South Jura Range to the west!

Heading out from Ahorn at 10:45, this was a 10-km, 3-hour hike along the crest of one of the many stretched-out hills in this region, north of the Hornbach Valley. We reached Wasen village at 2:15 p.m., quite early for the 15:01 bus (so we had a lot of time to walk around). 

Starting out now on the hike of the day, along very nice soft pasture trails. 

Another view of the rolling landscape to the north, to the Luzern back-country and the Jura Range. 

This looks like one of those new-fangled accommodations offered at high cost to tourists who want something special!

With this current hot weather with no rain in sight, the farmers are busy mowing the meadows because it is perfect weather for the hay to dry. 

At just before noon we got to a very narrow crest called Fritzenflue. At the highest point was supposed to be a look-out point, and we were hoping for a lunch bench of some kind, but there was no bench and no view point!

I love the linden trees, we come across many of them! Soon the flowers will be blooming and you can smell the aroma from far away!

We had nice trails all along the route, and there was always a cool breeze, so we really lucked out with our choice of walk on this very hot day. All along now we are looking for a bench where we can stop for our picnic lunch!

That is one really large tree!

And here once again we are viewing the Vorder Arni Farm with the single tree on the hill on the other side of the Hornbach Valley. This time it is looking south, and we can see the Bernese Alps again from here!

At 1 p.m. we finally spotted a bench, but to our bad luck, the hiking group from our van ride had gotten here before us, having passed us somewhere along the way! (They are sitting on the bench on the right). So we had to continue up that road in the hopes that there was another bench somewhere in the forested section. 

Finally, at 1:10 p.m. we found this bench across from a farm called "Sepplihüsli"!

This is the view from our lunch bench, looking north past the little property called "Sepplihüsli". 

After only a 10-minute break, we entered on the last stretch of our hike, down through a small ravine to the end of our hike at Wasen which sits at the valley bottom. It is now 13:20, and the next hourly bus leaves at 14:02. If we hurried, we could have just made that bus, but Urs really wanted to discover the village and we would not have enjoyed the forest walk, so we decided to just enjoy the rest of the descent. 

A nice narrow path through the forest and lots of bridges on our descent through the small ravine. 

Even though it wasn't really hot, the shade of the forest on our descent was very welcome!

More bridges, over a very small stream. 

Lovely tall trees

And a sudden clearing (where the farmer was mowing his hillside meadows with a very noisy machine!) with cows that seemed quite surprised to see us!

Enjoying our interesting trail through the forest down to Wasen. 

And yet another bridge! The little stream is flowing with a bit more water now. 

So then we reached the outskirts of the town of Wasen at 2:15 p.m. It is still at least a 10-minute walk into the heart of the village, and Urs first wanted to visit the former train station. There used to be a railway line through here, but it is now only used for charter tours with a steam engine (Museumsbahn Emmental). 

Various Emmental-Style buildings at the west end of the village of Wasen. 

This is the former train station in Wasen. There is no longer a regular train service through here, only buses. But there are charter runs with the Museum Train. 

We still have about 10 minutes to walk into the old part of town, but the bus doesn't come till 15:01, so we have plenty of time. 

This is a cheese shop. For a change, Urs didn't want to go in to buy something!

As we approached the village, we saw various shops advertising hand-made swiss accordions (called "Schwyzerörgeli"), a popular Swiss folk instrument. A handmade instrument like this apparently sells for 5500 SFr. according to the sign in the window. As it turns out, the village of Wasen features several traditional Emmental handmade crafts such as saddle-making, cheese manufacturing, traditional costume tailoring, watchmaking and silhouette art. Apparently you can schedule tours of these works, or watch them work during their regular operating hours. (Website HERE). We did not know this or we would have arranged to have a look.  

Further on we can see the steeple of the town's church. 

This is the village school!

Main road in Wasen

Various buildings in the main part of Wasen Village. 

After walking along the main road and admiring the buildings, we then went to have a look at the village church. It is made of sandstone. 

Details of the Reformed Church in Wasen. It was built in 1881, but fully renovated in 2020.

PART III: Bus Ride back over Lüdernalp to Langnau, and the Kambly Cookie Factory in Trubschachen

A look back at the village of Wasen as our bus climbs the hill toward the pass at Lüderenalp. 

Views from the bus across the Emmental Region of Canton Bern, to the southwest. 

The beautiful view south from Lüderenalp. We have been here three times: The first time at the end of a hike in June 2017, coming from the south, the second time in September 2017, after first hiking up to the Napf, and the third time starting here at the mountain restaurant and heading south. (June 2023)

At Lüderenalp, the road becomes so narrow that other vehicles are not allowed to drive on the road at the times the bus is traveling here. For example, this sign shows that the thirty-minute periods between 8:10 and 8:40 etc. are the times that the bus is coming up to here from the south, and therefore any cars wanting to descend from here have to wait till the times listed. (8:40, 10:40, 14:40 and 16:40). 

.... and yet, twice on the stretch a car came up the hill, having ignored the signs on the lower end of the stretch. The oncoming car has to back up until there is a spot where the bus can pass, which isn't easy on this stretch!

More beautiful views as the bus makes its way down the hill toward the town of Langnau, where we will catch a train. 

Getting into the town of Langnau at 15:45, where we had to wait about 15 minutes for the train to Trubschachen, where we are taking a 30-minute break to buy some cookies at the Kambly Cookie Factory. 

At just after 4 p.m. we were on our way to the Kambly Cookie Factory, in the Kambly train, from Langnau to Trubschachen. We ate our samples, bought our cookies and crackers, and were on the next train home at 4:45 p.m., ultimately getting home at 6:30 p.m. 

Location of the Napf Region within Switzerland.