Idyllic Hike to Mt. Hörnli in the Tössbergland near Steg

Saturday July 25, 2026 -- The weather forecast for the weekend was for possible thunderstorms in many parts of the country, with cloud cover starting already at 9 a.m. The best prognosis was for eastern Switzerland around the Zurich Oberland and Toggenburg regions, which suited us well as we could not afford to travel a long distance. i.e. we needed to start our planned outing early in order to be done before the thunderstorms expected in that region at about noon.

The very eastern region of the Zurich Oberland (also known as the Tössbergland because of the Töss River) is a lovely area for hiking with lots of rolling hills, valleys, waterfalls, meadows, cows and more. Plus, from the top of many of these smaller mountains, you get some fantastic panorama views.

In October 2020, we did a hike to the highest peak in Canton Zurich, called the Schnebelhorn, having started at a small pass called Hulftegg. This time we wanted to start at the same pass but heading north, with the main goal a peak called Hörnli, where there is a mountain restaurant with a view! And what a view! 360-degrees from Lake Constance to Mt.Säntis, the Glarus Alps, the Bernese Alps, the Central Alps and back to the city of Zurich (no view of Lake Zurich, though). Unfortunately, the prognosed cloud cover started early over the Alps, so we'll have to return here on a clear day.

The hike then continues down the mountain to the train station at Steg in the Töss Valley. It was a short hike of only 2½ hours, and having started at 8 a.m., we were back on the train home by noon!

Leaving home once again at about 6:15 to get a very early start before the heat of the day, we were already traveling down the Jona/Fischenthal Valley by 7:45 a.m., enjoying the morning light here in these rolling hills in the eastern region of the Zürcher Oberland. At this point, we have great visibility of the Alps, as the clouds have not moved in yet. 

After less than two hours, we arrive in Steg at 8:00, and board the bus for the 10-minute ride to the Hulftegg Pass, where we are going to start our hike. 

The Gasthaus Hulftegg at the pass is a popular stopping point for motorcyclists. Here we are actually in Canton St.Gallen, in the Toggenburg Region, as the bus had crossed the border from Canton Zurich on the road from Steg to here. 

It's now 8:15 as we prepare to head out on our walk. The first part of our walk takes us along both the Regional Trails no.69: "Züri Oberland Höhenweg" and no.48: "Toggenburger Höhenweg " ("Höhenweg" = "High Trail" and usually includes many panorama views!). This is the same themed trail we took in October 2020 when we hiked to Mt.Schnebelhorn, the highest peak in Canton Zurich. Today we are headed to "Hörnli", just over an hour from here. 

Across from the Hulftegg Gasthaus was a huge parking lot for the many motorcycles that pass through here, plus this interesting sculpture reflecting the popularity of the pass for motorcycles!

Heading off on our hike at 8:15 a.m.

This was a fairly short hike for us, not quite 8 km and only 2½ hours, but it fit in perfectly with our plan to not travel far (2 hours) and be done before noon when thunderstorms were expected. We started at Hulftegg Pass at 8:15, and got back down to Steg at just before noon, after taking a break at the Hörnli Gasthaus.  

The view to the east across the Toggenburg region of St. Gallen. Early in the morning, the air is always hazy toward the east. 

Trying to get a clearer and close-up view of the mountains to the southwest. This little hill with a single barn at the top has the fun name of "Johannenbööl". 

Toggenburg landscape directly to the south. You can just make out the summit of Mt.Tödi, the main mountain at the back of the Linth Valley in the Glarus Alps. 

Close-up view of Mt.Tödi in the Glarus Alps to the south (very distinctive due to its flat snow cap). Just three days earlier we had done a hike very close to the back of the Linth Valley, in Braunwald, where we got good views of this peak. (Photos HERE).

And to the north, we can just see a bit of Lake Constance (Bodensee). 

After 20 minutes on a comfortable dirt road, we get the first glimpse of the summit called Hörnli, which is our main goal of the day. 

Up ahead a line of cows is headed somewhere. We can't tell if they are going on their own, or if they are being led to another pasture by the farmer. 

8:50 and it's already time for a snack break in the shade! (And mainly to change into shorts, as the day is already starting to warm up).

Still heading north parallel to the Canton Border, currently still in Canton St.Gallen. Up ahead is a farm with cows grazing in the pastures, where we had seen the other cows head west. 

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We caught up to the cows that had been heading west earlier.

Enjoying the sounds of cowbells that belong to this countryside.

Another view south to the little Johannenbööl hill, and the snow-covered summit of Mt.Tödi. 

Mt.Hörnli ahead of us. You can just see the communication tower at the top.

View to the north. 

At 9:15 we reached the junction where the borders of three different Cantons meet: Zurich to the west and south, St.Gallen to the east, and Thurgau to the north. It is called "Dreiländerstein", a stone monument demarking the exact point where they meet. Here we are now continuing south along the National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi", i.e. the St.James Pilgrim Trail. We have come 45 minutes from Hulftegg, and have another 25 minutes to the Hörnli Summit. 

This is the "Dreiländerstein", i.e. the "Three Canton Stone". From this side, SG = St.Gallen, TG = Thurgau, and on the far side were the initials ZH = Zurich. The three Cantons meet here!

The rest of the way was uphill through the forest (nice and cool) with many such steps along the trail. We have now crossed into the Zurich Oberland Region. 

By 9:40 we had reached the Gasthaus Hörnli, where they have a "self-serve" window, i.e. you order your food there and then pick it up when it is ready. Urs decided he felt like a cheese/sausage salad as a mid-morning snack (besides our traditional Panaché).

Berggasthuas Hörnli. While Urs waited for his order, I headed to the other side of the building, to check out the view. 

On the lower side of the building was a large view terrace, so we decided to sit here! It was actually rather "cold" here! But the view was superb. 

This is the view from the terrace on the bottom side of the Berggasthaus Hörnli. Down below is the valley where we rode by train to get to Steg, and where we are going to walk down to. The larger village is called Fischenthal. And at the far back you can just make out the entire stretch of Alps from the Glarus to the Bernese Alps. But the clouds are already moving in there, so the view is not as clear as it might be on, for example, a crisp autumn day!

Enjoying a mid-morning "Käse-Wurst Salat" (Cheese-Sausage Salad) with a view!

By 10:20 we are now on our way down the mountain, following the St.James trail to Steg, where we are taking the train back again the same route we have come. 

A look back at the Hörnli Gasthaus from the view-point up on the hill. 

There is the communication tower we had seen at the top of the hill on our way here from Hulftegg Pass. 

To the east we see the summit of Mt.Säntis, although it is very hazy.

Down below to the northeast is the city of Bauma, and on the far right at the back we see all the way to the city of Zurich, although you cannot see Lake Zurich from here. 

Part of the St.James Trail follows a winding road down the hillside, where we will later pass by that farm below, called Tanzplatz.

Down at the Tanzplatz farm they were just unloading a trailer of massive straw bales!

10:45 at Tanzplatz. From here we could have taken a shortcut, but we wanted to complete the walk to Steg along Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi". The train we want to catch at Steg leaves at 11:54, so this is just the right amount of time to get there. 

This cool rooster was very proud of himself, crowing away at mid-day!

Another close-up view toward the snow-covered Bernese Alps past the Bachtel look-out tower. Unfortunately you can barely see the mountains!

Now we leave the road for the final section along pasture and forest trails. In the back on the right you can see the communication tower up on the Hörnli summit. 

Reaching the outskirts of Steg at 11:40

His and Hers "Audi R8 Spyders" parked along the main road through Steg!!!

Near the train station. 

Arriving at the Steg train station at 11:44, with another 10 minutes to wait for our train. 

Before noon, we were on our way for the less-than-two-hour trip back home via Rüti and Zürich. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting at Hulftegg and ending in Steg, passing over Mt. Hörnli. 

All the hikes we have done in this region of the Zürcher Oberland. 

Location of the Tössbergland within Switzerland. 

Panorama Trail from Braunwald Gumen to Oberblegisee in the Linth Valley

Wednesday July 22, 2026 -- A beautiful day with great ambitions to hike uphill 650 meters to the summit of Mt.Sassauna in the Prättigau (from the top of a cable-car station, of course.... not all the way up!), which is not something we do often. There is a small bus that gets you to the base station of the cable car in Fanas, but it runs only every two hours and you have to reserve ahead of time.

So leaving home at 6 a.m. for the earliest possible start of our hike, we were on the way to Zurich when the train stalled due to technical difficulties. This seldom happens to us although we travel so much, but the delay meant we missed the bus connection (had to cancel) and had to quickly think up a Plan B.

So we went to the far back of the Linth Valley to the car-free mountain village of Braunwald, where we have been very many times. There is a lovely mountain lake nearby called the Oberblegisee, a popular hiking destination and fairly easy to get to on a 6-km trail from the Grotzenbühl cable-car station, a hike we did in November 2015, so we figured it would be a good time to go again, especially as the landscape is more colourful at this time of year.

But we did not take the regular trail there (where dozens of people were walking) but took a cable-car to the higher station of Gumen, and descended from there on a trail we hadn't done before. And after a short lunch break at the lake (some very bold young people even went swimming) we headed down a rather less-attractive and rather uncomfortable trail to the Luchsingen cable-car, all part of the themed trail called "Braunwald-Oberblegisee-Weg". Catching the 14:51 train at the valley bottom, we were back home by just after 5 p.m. 

As our train heads up the Linth Valley, the mountain called Tödi looms over the valley. (This was just after 9 a.m., although we had left home at 6 a.m. Normally it takes a little over 2½ hours to get here, but our train had technical difficulties on the way to Zurich, and we lost 30 minutes on the trip.) 

By 9:30 we were headed up to the car-free mountain village of Braunwald with the little red funicular. 

We first have to walk 15 minutes from the funicular station to the cable-way which we are planning to ride. This hotel is new, it was just being built the last time we were here. 

Village chapel on the way (we didn't look inside). 

The main mountain here at Braunwald is called the Ortstock. In July of 2022, we hiked over the saddle to the right of the mountain i.e. between the mountain and the pointed horn. Up ahead is the base station of the Grotzenbühl cable-way, which is the cable-way that most people take to start on the hike to Lake Oberblegi (Oberblegisee). 

We continued on to the Gumenbahn cable-way, which takes us higher up to the Panorama Trail, from where we will descend to the lake after a lovely high alpine walk. 

The cable-way is a combination of gondolas and sideways chairs. We are riding on one of the open chairs for better views!

Better view of the saddle next to Mt. Ortstock which we crossed in July 2022. We have done many hikes in this landscape to the south, most recently on a solo hike in October 2024. 

Reaching the upper station of the Braunwald-Gumen cable-car at 10:06, about a 10-minute ride. 

This is the side-ways chair we rode up on! 

View down into the back of the Linth Valley as we watch the gondolas travel up and down. 

Gumen mountain restaurant. I stopped here once for French Fries while waiting for weather to clear on that solo hike I did in October 2024. 

From here at Gumen, it's a 1¾-hour hike to the Oberblegisee Lake. There are all kinds of trails you can hike on starting from here.   

Heading off on the Panorama Trail. 

Starting at the top of the Gumen Cable-way at 9:10, we arrived at the lake at 12:20. After spending 40 minutes at the lake, we then continued down to the Brunnenberg-Luchsingen cable-way which we reached at just after 2 p.m. Ultimately, we caught the train back home in Luchsingen at 14:51. 

It's that time of year for fireweed in the higher elevations!

Mt.Tödi dominates the landscape here at the back of the Linth Valley. This is a close-up view of the bench I also stopped at on my October 2024 hike. 

To the south, Mt.Tödi on the left, Mt.Ortstock in the center, and the passage to Glattalp which we hiked over in July 2022. 

Far to the east we also catch a glimpse of the Engelhorn peaks near Elm, at the center of the UNESCO Heritage Site Sardona Tectonic Arena. 

A short tunnel to walk through!

Down below we can see the summit station of the Grotzenbühl cable-way. That is where most people start their hike to the Oberblegisee. We did that hike from there in November 2015. 

From the Gumen cable car, we had been following Trail no.816: "Braunwald Panorama Trail", a total 9-km loop trail which we had first walked in November 2015.

After 30 minutes on the upper Panorama Trail, we get our first look at Lake Oberblegisee

A close-up look at the lake from up high, before we start on our descent toward where the more commonly-used path comes around the mountain from Grotzenbühl. 

First a snack-break. 

And now a look back as we make our way down. 

There was a mountain farmer here busy cleaning all the cow poop in the barn. It's a lot of work!

From far up the hill we heard the cow bells, but in particular a very low, sonorous tone, and we knew one of them had to be wearing a huge bell. I'm not really a fan of this (i.e. leaving the cows in the pastures with such large bells). She could barely walk without tripping over the bell.

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Cowbells! You can really make out the sound of the very large one.

Here is a chair lift which operates in winter as part of the winter ski region here. The last few years have seen too little snow, and the region has decided to shut down their winter ski facilities. (The chair lifts will run in winter only for winter hikers). 

Down below we get a look at the Bächi Mittelstafel farm, along the river called Bösbächibach. From there a small trail heads up to the restaurant, and continues to the lake. 

Crossing the bridge over the Bösbächibach, looking up the valley, which is called Alp Bösbachi. 

Here the more commonly-walked trail from Grotzenbühl joins the trail we had come down on, so we met up with a lot of other hikers here. 

This is part of the description of the themed trail "Braunwald-Oberblegisee Weg", which most people walk starting in Grotzenbüel summit station, and ending the same way we did at the Luchsingen-Brunnenberg cable-car station. We did part of this trail in November 2015, but started from and returned to the Braunwald funicular station at the time. (We have never actually started in Grotzenbüel). 

It is well-known that pigs are raised here at this mountain farm. They are known as "alpine pigs" in the description of this hike!

A look down at the farm as we continue up the trail toward the restaurant. 

I can understand why this mountain restaurant (called Bächibeizli) is so popular! It's now just noon-time. 

After another 20 minutes of walking (1 km) we get the first look at Lake Oberblegisee. 

As this is a very large lake, the many people who come up here spread out quite nicely. We walked along the eastern shore of the lake for a while, looking for a good spot for our picnic lunch. 

There was no shady spot, but we found a little hill with a bit of a breeze, and a view of the whole lake. 

At the back is the trail that comes up from the Bächi Farm. Some people are getting brave and going into the cold water for a swim!

Some brave young people! Many people also brought their dogs up here for a swim. 

After about 40 minutes at the lake, we decided it was time to continue on to the other cable-car station, another 45-minute walk along a gravel road, with about 350 meters of descent. 

Panorama view of Lake Oberblegisee as we head down the hill now. 

Mountain pond in a bit of a marshy area. 

Another look behind us. 

The rest of the trail was along a winding graveled mountain road, another three kilometers to the Luchsingen cable-car station at Brunnenberg. Many people start the hike there and head up to the lake, but I wouldn't want to walk these three kilometers uphill. 

It is always interesting to us to see were we had walked earlier! Up at the arrow is were we came down the mountain toward the Bächi Farm. The more common trail is on a wider road around that peak on the left. 

Nice views down into the Linth Valley. Across the valley are trails that come over the mountains from the next valley, i.e the Sernf Valley, where Elm is located. 

Several people passed us on the road to the cable-car station, including a family with young hikers!

This is a brand new water reservoir built in 2024. Past this one is another reservoir, which was the original one up here. The power plant here now provides electricity for 5000 households. 

We got to the Luchsingen cable-car station at 2:05 p.m. We have ridden this cable-car once before, in January 2017, when we did a pleasant walk to Glarus town on the sunny side of the valley (photos HERE). The little building is newer compared when we were here last. 

We had to be at the train station at 2:50 p.m., so had a bit of time to still enjoy the views from up here (also cooler than waiting down below), and watch two runs of the cable-car before we joined five other people for the third trip down. 

Down at the bottom now at 2:30 p.m. after about a 3-minute trip. We still have to walk 10 minutes to the train station, but there is still enough time for that till the 14:51 train. 

Watching the next cable-car coming down the mountain. 

A look at the Luchsingen village church steeple on our way to the train station. We didn't make the detour to the church. 

View toward the cable-car route from the train station. The lake would be up there below those peaks. 

Luchsingen village at the back of the Linth Valley. 

Looking north along the Linth Valley, where we will now be traveling by train. 

The 14:51 train arrives right on time, from the town of Linthal at the very back of the valley! From here, we have a 2-hour, 20-minute trip back home. 

In November 2015 we did two hikes here within three days of each other. First we did the Panorama Loop starting in Grotzenbüel and returning to Braunwald on Saturday Nov.7. (They were running the cable cars for an extended weekend because the weather was so great). It's from there that we first caught sight of Lake Oberblegisee, and wanted to return with a friend a few days later as the weather was still great. But the cable cars were not running during the week, so we had to walk from Braunwald to the lake and back, which was quite long, at 15 km. 

These are all the hikes we have done around Braunwald. 

And a final look at Mt.Tödi as we head northwards down the Linth Valley. 

Where Braunwald is located within Switzerland. 

What the landscape looked like in November 2015 (it was a long warm autumn that year and they kept the cable-cars running 1-2 weeks longer than normal, on weekends) from the same place along the Panorama Trail, from where we started our descent this time.