Short Section of the Lake Zurich Round-Trail from Schindellegi to Richterswil

(This post published on November 21, 2024, almost exactly two years later! Looks like I simply missed this one... As it is so much later, I don't recall all details, other than it was a nice day and Urs had to work, but I still wanted to walk, so I traveled to the Lake Zurich region to do a short hike above the lake).

Wednesday November 23, 2022 -- Urs had to work this Wednesday (he had Thursday off instead), but seeing as the weather was nice and mild with no snow yet, I decided short notice to do a little walk near Lake Zurich, expecting to have some nice mountain views as the air was clear.

I started in Schindellegi on the railway line from Lake Zurich to Biberbrugg (and Einsiedeln) and walked a 90-minute (5½-kilometer) stretch downhill to Richterswil on Lake Zürich along a themed trail called the "Zürichsee Rundweg" (i.e. "Trail around Lake Zurich"). It was an easy and pleasant walk through residential areas and some farmland in between, with some clear views of the snow-covered peaks of the Glarus region and most wonderfully, of the Alpstein Massif and Mt.Säntis far to the East. This is so close to home and takes only one hour for the trip each way. 

Having left home at about 11:40, this is a view heading up the mountain by train from Wädenswil (on Lake Zurich) at about 12:30

This is a view of the Glärnisch mountains in Canton Glarus to the south, as the train heads up to the starting point of my hike at Schindellegi. I was hoping to have a view like this all along the hike, but only saw these mountains again about half-way down. 

I started in Schindellegi at 12:45 and got to the train station in Richterswil at about 2 p.m. (It took me less than the 90 minutes to walk the 5-kilometer trail).  

15 minutes from the train station in Schindeleggi, you come to a little community called Aesch. From here it is just over an hour to my goal in Richterswil. I am walking along the themed trail no.84: "Zürichsee Rundweg". 

From here near the start of my hike, I get a close-up view all the way to Mount Säntis and the Alpstein Massif. This is so beautiful!

Always a look down at Lake Zurich as I continue down the hill. 

Passing through pasture lands as well as residential areas (and beneath the Autobahn). It is so nice that the grass is green all during the winter here! 

A look behind me at Schindellegi, where I started my hike. 

Pleasant paths to walk on the way down to the lake. 

More glimpses of beautiful snow-covered Säntis and Alpstein Massif. (According to my map, this could have been a small hamlet called Altenbach, near the freeway). 

More nice paths and still some lovely fall colours as I cross a small side section of the Mühlibachtobel in Wollerau. 

Some lovely houses on the outskirts of Richterswil, before I make my way through a long residential section before getting to the train station at the lake. 

This is the community hall in Richterswil, near the lake. 

I arrived shortly after 2 p.m. at the Richterswil train station on the lakefront at Lake Zurich, and had about 10 extra minutes to enjoy this view before the 14:18 train home. 

And this view from the lakeshore in Richterswil is to the St.Gallen Alps (Mt.Speer) to the south.

What my hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, from Schindellegi to Richterswil. All the other lines are trails we have hiked in the region between Zug and Lake Zurich. 

As the train heads north along Lake Zurich, a final look at Mt. Säntis

And this view of the Glarus and St.Gallen Alps, from the train between Thalwil and Zug, is always a favourite view.