A Leisurely Hike through the Aargau Wetlands in Brugg

Monday May 3, 2021 -- As an exception, we did a Monday afternoon hike, meeting after work in the city of Brugg (founded by the Habsburgs in approx. 12th Century) in the relatively northern part of Switzerland. This city has the distinction of being located on a very special confluence of three major rivers: The Aare River (which has its source near the Grimsel Pass in Kanton Bern and flows North through Lakes Brienz and Thun and through Bern, and is the longest Swiss river which starts and ends in Switzerland); the Reuss River (which has two sources near the Gotthard and Furka Passes in Kanton Uri, and which flows North through Lake Lucerne); and the Limmat River (which originates at the exit of Lake Zurich, but has its source in the Glarus Alps). 

First the Reuss flows into the Aare, then shortly afterwards the Limmat joins the two, and all three continue together as the Aare for 15 km or so to join the Rhine River where it forms the border with Germany. Together, these three rivers drain 40% of all the water in Switzerland.

In the middle of this triple-confluence of rivers is a conservation wetland covering 172 hectares, with an 11-km themed trail which crosses at least eight bridges, including the oldest still-in-operation railway bridge on the Swiss National Railway network (1855). The region is replete with smaller canals, frog ponds, and a great variety of birds. 

Unfortunately for us, the first part of the round tour (which we started at 14:30) was marred by the noise of the Swiss Military practicing the erection of temporary bridges on the Aare River (in keeping with the theme of our hike you could say), but afterwards we had some nice small trails through forests and brushlands. The northernmost section where the Limmat joins the Aare (called Limmatspitz) was particularly pretty.

We were expecting that this would be a 2.5-hour walk, but it was closer to three hours, and with lots of stops to admire the railway bridge, the frogs, the birds, and a quick visit into a model railway store, we ended up boarding the train back in Brugg only at 7 p.m.! Good thing it was only a 1-hour trip back home...

Information panel at the entrance to the wetlands park. There are different options for discovering the region (i.e. also an industrial-themed trail), but we went with the regular "Brückenwanderung", or "Bridge Trail"

Crossing the first bridge over the Aare River, we observed our military doing training exercises on the erection of emergency bridges 

Here the Aare River meanders, and the banks are lush with overgrowth

We passed a few frog ponds along the river trail. This guy is taking life easy!

Another bridge to cross. This one leads us onto a small island created by a side canal to the Aare River

On the "Bridge Trail" in the Brugg Wetlands

Lots of common birds flitting around here, but so pretty! These are the Eurasion Blue Tit (Blaumeise), the Common Chaffinch (Buchfinke), and the European Goldfink (Stieglitz). There are also supposed to be elusive Kingfishers here, but we didn't see any!

From across the Aare River, we see the old railway bridge, one of the oldest still-in-operation railway bridges in Switzerland, and the oldest on the SBB network. From under the other side of this bridge, the Reuss River joins the Aare

As we cross the Aare River from the left bank to the right bank on the very busy Vogelsang Bridge, a look South shows the confluence of the Reuss from the left (under the railway bridge) and the Aare from the right.

This looks the same, but is the view to the North. The river passes a couple of islands here, and at the far end of this island the Limmat joins the river from the right.

Across the river is a little village called Vorderrein, no relation to the Rhine River!

We're also happy that we can experience the bright colour of the canola fields, but the flowers stink!

After following the right bank of the Aare River, we arrive at the Limmatspitz, a lovely peninsula created by the two rivers where the Limmat joins from the East. There are apparently beavers and kingfishers here, but we didn't see any.

Walking along the right bank of the Aare to the northermost tip of the Limmatspitz peninsula

It was a perfect time of year to do this walk, as the trees are in various stages of bursting out their leaves, so there is a large variety of greens. This colour that looks like blossoms is actually a very pale green on tiny leaves. 

Here is where the Limmat River joins the Aare River, coming from the right behind me.

Another look South up the Aare River

Here is a side canal from the Limmat River. Another bridge crossing and we reach another large island, where there was originally a very large spinning mill (earlier, the industries were all set up along such rivers to make use of the water power)

A frog pond with loads of lazy frogs. We waited for a while hoping they would start "singing", but there was only the odd croak.

Looking closely, there were lots of eyeballs breaking the surface of the water!

Now we are walking southward again, parallel to the Limmat River, toward the location of the original spinning factory

The Limmat River

VIDEO

The Limmat River

As we head south, the Limmat River makes a bend to the East at the town of Turgi, but we are headed back to the Reuss River.

Fun for the railway aficionado: Here is the oldest still-in-operation railway bridge on the Swiss National Railway Network

VIDEO

One of many trains that cross this, the oldest still-in-use railway bridge
from the Swiss National Railway

Now we are back at the Aare River, opposite where we started. Here the Reuss joins the Aare directly from the left.

Our trail takes us under the bridge, where we will continue along the right bank of the Reuss River, heading South.

82.5m-long Reuss Bridge at Turgi, built in 1855/1856, is the oldest, still in operation original railway bridge of the Swiss National Railway. The pedestrian sidewalk was added a hundred years after construction, i.e. in 1957.

Here we are at the Reuss River where it flows under the railway bridge and into the Aare

Following the forest trail along the Reuss River

These oddly-shaped stones are part of antitank barriers which you can find all over Switzerland, but especially near the borders. The stones weigh several tons and are shaped such that the tank treads cannot climb them. These are nicknamed "Toblerone"

I was not able to climb the steep incline of the toblerone, so I climbed on the tree instead.

Crossing the Reuss River again for the last stretch back to the train station. This building also used to be a factory, now converted to apartments

Across the river is the town of Windisch (Vindonissa), which also has a Roman amphitheater!

Lovely Wisterias blooming. They smell better than the canola flowers!

Walking through Windisch on the way to the train station in Brugg

This church and surrounding buildings used to be a monastery, but now forms part of the Aargau Museum. There are apparently some very magnificent stained glass windows here. Since this is a museum, I couldn't simply walk in, as I usually do. But the museum is closed on Mondays, and also not open as late as we were here! (6:30 p.m.)

A walk through the park

The Internet description for this tour was 2 hours, or 2.5 hours, but this tracks at almost 3 hours! Maybe the locals walk faster... 

Our round tour as depicted on Google Earth Maps

And one final photo, "borrowed" from the Internet at the Swiss Tourism website www.myswitzerland.ch:

Aerial view of the confluence of the Limmat River with the Aare River looking South over the Limmatspitz: