An Easy Walk from Sörenberg-Rossweid to Kemmeribodenbad in the Entlebuch

Sunday July 12, 2020 -- After all the Alpine hikes we have done recently, we really wanted a change of scene and decided again to try the 4-hour forest and ravine hike in the Entlebuch/Napf region near Luzern, but would you know it, on this Sunday there was lots of fog in the lowlands, in particular around the Luzern area!

We headed out with high hopes anyway, but as we got to Schüpfheim, where various buses take you in different directions, our destination still had thick cloud cover, and webcams showed no fog to the South near Sörenberg, so we changed our minds and headed that way, deciding to walk to Kemmeribodenbad (this is still Entlebuch region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site), an easy hike we have done before, but better a repeat hike than hiking in fog. One drawback is the region is very popular, especially on Sundays, but the gondola cable-way to Rossweid where we started our hike (a cable-way we rode for the first time, as last time we WALKED up the hill) was a treat -- they are not crowding strangers into the gondola cabins like they used to! The playground and restaurant at Rossweid is popular with families, and even though we encountered a fair number of Sunday strollers along the way, the main crowd was at the Kemmeribodenbad Hotel, famous for its Meringue Desserts, which we decided to forego when we got there because of the long waiting line.

As it turns out, the less-than-three-hours and approx. 10-km walk was not a bad choice. We weren't in the mood to climb a hill, and many of the higher peaks disappeared into the fog shortly afterwards. Plus we got to buy our peppermint syrup at one of my favourite farm shops. Now I'm resting for the next multiday hike....

The vacation town of Sörenberg as we head up on the cable car

Sörenberg gondola cable car to Rossweid. This is the first time we have traveled with this cable car. The last time we were here, we walked up the hill

Sörenberg Cable-Car, another one for my collection of cable cars.

The trail marker indicated 2 hours and 30 minutes to Kemmeribodenbad. A "short" hike for us

An easy hike on mostly wide forest and farm roads, a good Sunday afternoon stroll. Fewer people than expected. Last time we started in Sörenberg and hiked up the hill, this time we chose to go up with the cable car.

Behind the farmhouse is the Brienzer Rothorn, an area we hiked last year. Up there was probably not much of a view this day.

Looking North down the valley toward Schüpfheim, where the fog is still sitting low in the valley

This mountain range separates the Entlebuch area from Lake Brienzersee and Interlaken to the South. The prominent mountain is called Augstmatthorn, and we have walked the ridge below it.

On the right the Schrattenflue ridge, behind me is Hohgant, and in between it goes down to Kemmeribodenbad

This popular restaurant is called Salwideli. Most people walk to here and then return to Rossweid or Sörenberg.

The Schrattenflue is such bare rock, that Urs first thought it was still covered in snow!

Maybe one day we will walk up to the top there (Schiebegütsch)

A very lovely farm shop built into a basement room of this gorgeous house. We discovered this on our last tour through here, and were happy to visit it again.

Buying sausage and mountain mint syrup at the Schneebergli "Hofladen" (farm shop). They also offer a wide variety of teas, ointments, spices and preserves

Lovely daisies brighten up any meadow!

Mt. Augstmatthorn

The farm houses here have spectacular roofs

Heading into the Emme River Ravine

A beauty

This barn had the best moss-covered roof

Another interesting farmhouse

The beautiful hilly landscape of the Entlebuch, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The wooden bridge across the Emme River at Kemmeribodenbad

Originally we had planned to stop here at Kemmeribodenbad for their renowned meringue dessert. But the restaurant parking lot was full, and there was a waiting line to get into the large outside eating area. So we got on the next bus which was leaving in 5 minutes, and headed out toward Schangnau and Marbach. (We could have walked another 2 hours 30 minutes to Schangnau, but we'll do that a different day). In any case, here are two photos of Kemmeribodenbad taken on different visits here:

Our visit to the heritage buildings at Kemmeribodenbad on our May 2017 hike from Sörenberg

In October we had hiked down from a nearby vacation village called Marbachegg, and at that time there were few people here, so we treated ourselves to a shared dessert of meringue and whipped cream.

Earlier this Spring I walked down the valley from Sörenberg to Flüli. in 2017 (green) we walked up the hill and to Kemmeribodenbad. This time we rode the gondola to Rossweid, then walked the almost 10 km to Kemmeribodenbad. The pink is 2015 when we walked down from Marbachegg.