A Section of the Lake Zurich Circular Trail from Sihlwald to Adliswil

Monday April 6, 2026 -- After two trips to the region around the city of Bern, and two 10-km walks or more, we just really didn't want to travel far or walk a long way on this fourth Easter Weekend day. So we just sort of settled for a riverside walk along the Sihl River between Zug and Zurich, starting in Sihlwald where we had ended another section of walking along the Sihl River (photos HERE) and walking just two hours to a convenient train station in Adliswil. This also adds another piece to my hopes of walking the entire "Lake Zurich Circular Trail" (Zürichsee Rundweg), a total 130-km themed trail all around the lake. 

[The Sihl is a 69-kilometer long river which flows out of Lake Sihlsee near Einsiedeln, with its source in the Schwyzer Alps, and flows into the Limmat River at the city of Zurich, after first passing THROUGH the Zurich train station (They built the railway lines above and below the river there, instead of diverting the river).] 

As far as riverside walks go, it wasn't really charming, as you start heading into industrial districts. And the narrow "unofficial" path I had wanted to walk was off-limits due to construction. Also, we walked quite a bit on the shady side, so it was a bit cool. The best part of the excursion was the getting there, as we rode a very small van bus over the mountain from Horgen on Lake Zurich, zipping along very narrow forest trails, and discovering an upper plateau we didn't know about.

The main reason for this walk near Zurich was to head into the city afterwards, which we don't often do. We had heard that over Easter, the Evangelical church decorates several of the fountains with colourful roses, and we thought it might be worth going to have a look. Photos to come later.

Heading north away from Zug at 10 a.m. and a look back to the beautiful Bernese Alps, and I am already regretting the decision to do a riverside walk in a valley without a view! So many other places we could have gone on this beautiful day... oh well. 

In Horgen Oberdorf we left the train station with a view of Lake Zurich. First I thought this was our bus, but afterwards, a much smaller van showed up!

This is our transport to get over the hill to Sihlwald! There were already quite a few people who had boarded before us. The seats had very little leg room! 

An interesting ride on a narrow road mostly through forest on both sides, but in between there was this high-plateau with lots of farmland. (Horgenberg?). We never knew about this! You can even see the snow-covered Alps from here. 

The bus dropped us off at the Sihlwald train station, which is an end-station for the small railway line from Zurich to the north. We caught the train here once when we walked a section of the Sihl River to the south of here. (March 2019, a similar stretch to what we are doing this day, but less industry). 

Further downstream is a wooden bridge, but it is closed due to damage. So we had to walk south again (upstream) and cross this bridge, which is the one we crossed with the little van as it came down that hillside on the left. 

Across from the bridge is this cute little building, which is (or used to be) the forester's home. 

This was a short walk for us, just 7½ kilometers along the Sihl River between Sihlwald (at 10:30) and Adliswil (15:15). But I usually don't walk more than two hours on riverside walks. After reaching Adliswil, we took the train for 15 minutes into the city of Zurich and walked another 3½ kilometers there. 

Crossing the Sihl River and looking upstream. 

Now we head north (downstream) on a partly shaded trail on the right side of the river. This is the wooden bridge which would have been more convenient for us to cross, but it is currently off-limits due to damage. 

The Sihl is a 69-kilometer long river which flows out of Lake Sihlsee near Einsiedeln, with its source in the Schwyzer Alps, and flows into the Limmat River at the city of Zurich, after first passing THROUGH the Zurich train station (They built the railway lines above and below the river there, instead of diverting the river). 

Quite a lot of shade still on this side of the river, so it was a bit cool. 

There were quite a few people on this trail as well, several families with little kids riding tiny bikes! This little guy was an expert with his pedal bike! (Others rode bikes with no pedals and had to push with their feet, it looked very uncomfortable!)

Signs of spring with the blossoming trees were a welcome sight. 

We then arrived at a town called Gattikon, where the train crosses this bridge and continues along the left side of the river. But according to my map, that section of trail was closed due to construction and rerouted on the main road. But on this side is a small path which I was hoping to follow, so we headed down those stairs....

...and then discovered that the trail on this side of the river was unfortunately blocked off as well. So we had no choice but to follow the main road for the one kilometer detour. 

We are following Regional Trail no.84: "Zurichsee Rundweg" (i.e. a themed trail all around the lake). We have come 45 minutes (or more) from the train station in Sihlwald, and still have about an hour to walk to the train station in Adliswil. This part of the riverside trail is also called "Sihl Erlebnis Weg", or "Sihl River Adventure Trail".

This is an industrial building, but nice to see blossoming trees being trained up the side of the building!

We are always delighted to see herons close by!

Following the "Sihl River Adventure Trail"!!!

We passed two artificial ponds on the other side of the trail. These have been created to provide an environment for the endangered "midwife toad". ("Midwife toads are called midwives because the male helps the female in giving birth")

I did see a frog (and lots of tadpoles), but this one is not a "Midwife toad", but rather a "Marsh Frog", which is Europe's largest frog.

At 12:30 we found a convenient bench for our picnic lunch, with just enough shade, so not too hot!

Getting closer to the end of our relatively short walk!

Looking back up the river. 

Not our bridge to cross yet!

So glad that spring is finally here!

We also often see Cormorants, lovely large birds, but they have become a nuisance. There are too many, and they eat too many fish in the rivers and the lakes!

Up ahead now is the final bridge on our planned tour, the one we will cross to the railway station in Adliswil. 

The bridge across the Sihl River in Adliswil.

View south up the Sihl River. There's a church on a little hill which might be worth a visit some time!

At 13:08 we reached the train station in Adliswil. From here we caught the 13:15 train for the 16-minute ride into Zurich, for the second part of this outing. 

This is what our hike looks like on Google Satellite maps. Starting in Sihlwald at about 10:30, we caught the train in Adliswil at 1:15 p.m. This was a fairly short 7½-kilometer walk, but afterwards we walked another 3½ kilometers around the city of Zurich, so 11 kilometers in all!

After spending about an hour and a half walking around Zurich, we were back on our way home at just after 3 p.m. This is the view south along lake Zurich, with more great views of the mountains. 

As the train heads south along Lake Zug, I am surprised that the cherry trees are already in full bloom here!

So many blossoming trees along Lake Zug (this is near Walchwil). I have decided to come back here in the next couple of days to do a walk along the Cherry Trail here!

Niedermuhlern to the Ulmizberg Tower near Bern

Sunday April 5, 2026 (Easter Sunday) -- As we had such clarity of view of the Alps on our trip near Bern the day before (Photos HERE), we headed in that direction again, but closer to the mountains, i.e. 13 km south of Bern (into the region of the Gantrisch Nature Park). We also had to consider walking somewhere which might be less popular for families on this lovely Easter Sunday.

We returned to the upper plateau called Längenberg, to start in the village of Niedermuhlern to head north, first along the St.James Trail once again, and then diverting toward a look-out tower on a small hill called Ulmizberg. We knew we'd have good views of the Bernese Alps from there, as we had started a hike heading south from there in March of 2019. Plus, views from platforms on look-out towers (our main goal this day) are usually a highlight when visibility is good, as was supposed to be the case this day. (As it turns out, the view from this particular platform was only to the wide flat landscape to the north, although we otherwise had good views of the mountains from the regular trail).

As is often the case on the St.James Trail, there was a lot of walking on paved roads, and we ended up with more clouds than expected. And since we did that long walk the day before, we shortened this one somewhat (only 10 km). But as usual for this region, there were lots of farms and pretty houses to admire along the way, and even with the clouds over the mountains, some pretty nice views. (Better than when we were here in 2019). 

Leaving home at 8:15, our train follows Lake Zug on the way to Luzern. The view of the Bernese Alps from here are actually also quite amazing. We are heading closer to those mountains. 

The day looks promising with clear air and far-reaching views. 

We are traveling the same route as we did the day before, past the fabulous Aarburg Castle near Olten. Yesterday when I wanted to photograph it, it—and only it—was in the shadow of some clouds!

After a bus ride from the Bern-Köniz station, we reached the starting point of our hike, Niedermuhlern, at 10:40 (a 2½-hour trip). The village of Niedermuhlern was first mentioned in documents of 1241. 

A typical massive wood house of the Bern back-country. Only the geraniums are missing!

In Niedermuhlern is also a cheese dairy, where I am standing to take this photo of another lovely house across the street. As it was Sunday, the dairy was unfortunately closed, or we would have bought some cheese. 

And then we discovered this very pretty "Spycher" (Granary / small houses that used to be a combination of storage below and living quarters above). This one is being nicely renovated. 

Some attractive inscriptions in the wood, including a date of 1751 (on the door below was a date of 1746). These are usually very old buildings. 

And this is the fabulous house to which the "Spycherli" belongs. Can you imagine house-cleaning in such a huge family home?

I wondered what this little flock of sheep was doing all crammed together like that. Urs said they are standing in the shade!

Close-up view of a small kestrel. We see these often, hovering over the plowed fields. 

This wasn't even a 3-hour hike! Fairly easy, only 10 km, but because there was a lot of the trail on paved roads, we were quite tired by the time we got to Schliern. We started in Niedermuhlern at 10:40, and caught the bus in Schliern at just after 3 p.m, after spending a bit of time at the communication tower on Mt. Ulmizberg. 

Heading out of Niedermuhlern toward the next village called Obermuhlern (i.e. Lower- and Upper-Muhlern), we were happy to now see cows in the pastures. 

We are walking "away" from the mountains, so have to turn around a lot to get the views! Even with more clouds than the day before, the mountains look fantastic. The three large peaks are the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau Trio. The pointed peak on the left is Mt.Schreckhorn. 

To the east we also get a good view of the Schrattenfluh Massif which is actually in Canton Luzern. 

Another close-up view of Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau (Eiger Northwall on the left). The small peak on the far left is Mt.Finsteraarhorn, at 4274m the highest peak in the Bernese Alps. Because it is earlier in the morning, the view is not as clear as it was the evening before. 

The lovely pastureland of the Bernese back-country. This region is a plateau called Längenberg, above the Gürbental Valley. 

Looking back now at the village of Niedermuhlern where we started our walk. In the back are the Gantrisch mountains. 

There are two observatories up here. This one is called the Zimmerwald Observatory, the largest professional observatory in Switzerland. 

Up ahead now is the next village of Obermuhlern. We are now looking for a place to have an early picnic lunch. 

Not as many houses in Obermuhlern. 

This first stretch we are walking is along the National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi" or "St.James Trail", the Swiss section of the European pilgrim trail "Camino de Santiago". 

That little one seems very surprised to see us. 

We didn't find a bench, so sat in this pasture to eat an early picnic lunch and enjoy the views of the Alps. 

It's now 11:30 and we can already see more contrast and details on the mountains. 

A very close-up view of Mt. Schreckhorn. The little cloud halo is cute!

The mountains to the southwest are clearer. This is a lovely pastoral landscape. 

Typical farm in this region. 

Directly to the south is the Gantrisch Range (part of the Bernese Alps). The peak on the right is called Mt.Gantrisch, and the one next to it is Grossi Nüneneflue. Back in September of 2023 we hiked up to the saddle between those two peaks, and walked all the way eastward to the summit of Mt.Stockhorn. That was a fantastic hike. 

After a 30-minute stretch through the forest, we've left the St.James Trail and are getting some views toward the city of Bern and the Jura mountain range to the north. That village is called Kühlewil. 

Lovely garden with spring flowers. 

More lovely wooden houses. This is the back side of the one with the lovely garden. 

Our first view of the communication and observation tower at the top of Mt.Ulmizberg. This is our final climb before heading down to the bus stop on the other side. The village ahead is called Oberulmiz. 

A closer look at the observation tower. At first we thought this was scaffolding and that the observation platform might be closed, but this is just the way the tower is built. 

Approaching Oberulmiz village. 

Another typical house of this region. 

From here we still have a 25-minute walk up the small hill to the observation tower, and then another 45 minutes from there to the bus stop in Schliern. Till now, we have walked an hour and 20 minutes (not counting breaks). It is now 1 p.m. 

Starting on the uphill section to the observation tower. 

The forest trail was nice, but it was getting a bit warm!

We got to the summit of Ulmizberg at 13:26, so just exactly 25 minutes as per the sign at the bottom of the hill!

And this is the view we had from the summit. As it is later in the afternoon, we are now seeing more details of the mountains of the Bernese Oberland. 

Looking up at the observation tower. From here we can't imagine where the viewing platform might be, but we are looking forward to a better view of the Alps.... (which was not to be). The tower, built in 1974, is 95 meters tall. It is a directional beam antenna tower built to relieve the telephone network. 

After entering the stairway on the tower, there was a long gangway to the north side, and after a spiral staircase (total 65 steps) we reached the platform at a height of 13½ meters on the NORTH side of the tower. So no views of the Alps from the tower platform. 

From the platform we look down to the town of Schliern, where we are descending to afterwards, to catch the bus. The view is all the way to the Jura range (the northern section).

A close-up look at the city of Bern at the back. And below is the city of Köniz, where we had first thought of ending our hike, as there is a castle and church which we would have liked to visit (Just visible in the center next to the clearing, i.e. the red roofs). This would have been an extra 30 minutes of walking, and we ended up not doing it. 

Descending the spiral staircase and the walkway

On the south side of the tower at the end of the walkway and only about three meters from the ground, a view of the Gantrisch Range again, with the distinctive peak of Mt.Stockhorn on the left. 

The best view of the Bernese Alps was from ground level at the summit of Mt.Ulmizberg, not from the observation tower. There were fire pits and several benches and picnic tables here, usually very popular with families. We had been expecting very many people as we got here, but there were really only a dozen people. I guess they are still busy with Easter Family Lunch. 

More views as we prepare for our final descent. 

The best view of the Bernese Alps was from ground level at the summit of Mt.Ulmizberg, not from the observation tower. There were fire pits and several benches and picnic tables here, usually very popular with families. We had been expecting very many people as we got here, but there were really only a dozen people. I guess they are still busy with Easter Famil Lunch. 

A close-up look at Mt. Schreckhorn (on the right) and what I believe is the Wetterhorn on the far left. 

A look at the tower from three different angles. 

After a break up at the summit of Ulmizberg, we started on our descent just after 2 p.m. It was going to be a 45-minute walk to the bus stop, to catch the 15:09 bus. This was a nice part of the hike, through the forest and all downhill! On this stretch, several people passed us heading UPHILL, and they were are sweating!

Heading down the Ulmizberg mountain. 

Here at this point we could have headed north toward Köniz and the castle there, but it would have been 30 minutes more of walking, so we stayed by the original plan and headed straight onwards to Schliern. 

More farm houses

A look behind us now to where we descended from. I don't know where all those people came from!

The 15:09 bus showed up early, just after 3 p.m., but we had made it with plenty of time for a change, not having to hurry! From here it is just a two-hour trip home, first by bus to the Bern train station, then train home via Zurich. 

What our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting in the south in Niedermuhlern, and heading north, then west to Ulmizberg and Schliern. 

These are all the hikes we have done around the region of the Längenberg. 

Sighted on the bus ride from Schliern to Köniz

The bus to Bern also passes by the castle and church in Köniz, where we had considered walking to. 

And this is the view south across Lake Zurich on our way to Zug. 

Location of the Längenberg and Ulmizberg within Switzerland.