Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail from Feldis to Brambrüesch near Chur

(This post published on Dec.4, 2022)

Sunday October 30, 2022 -- The last hike in October, one of very many we did this month because it was the warmest October on record.

We were going to walk in the vineyards of the Rhine Valley in eastern Switzerland near Lake Constance, but this time we were smart and checked the webcams and saw there was thick fog there. In Sargans at 9:30 we made the decision to keep on going south (instead of north) along the Rhine Valley to Chur, because... no fog THERE! 

It having been such a warm October, some cable cars and chair lifts were still in operation, and we knew of one that was running for the last time this season. First we took a cable car (full!!! others had the same idea) from Rhäzüns on the Posterior Rhine River to the mountain village of Feldis 800m higher up, where we spent a while looking at this quaint Grisons village. From there we rode the chairlift -- this was the one running for the last time this season -- another 500m uphill, which meant we could start our hike much higher up! After a small detour for a view into the beautiful Rhine Valley, we joined Regional Trail no.739: "Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail", a trail which highlights that this mountain (Furggabüel) is the meeting point of the three original Leagues of Raetia which joined to form the free state of Grisons (or Graubünden) in 1524 (?). (The coat of arms of the three leagues were joined to create the canton flag in 1933 // Graubünden only joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1803).

The wind was blowing hard and cold as we reached the stone monument, and even harder as we summitted Mt. Furggabüel. I was glad to get going down the other side to Brambrüesch, where we caught the gondola cable-way to Chur 1000m below! 

From Rhäzüns on the Posterior Rhine, we took a cable car up to Feldis, a small village on a sunny high promontory. (This view is from the cable-car soon after leaving the station)

Rhäzüns Castle, first mentioned in 1288, guards the entrance to the Domleschg region of Canton Graubünden. The castle is privately owned and you cannot even access the grounds. 

A look down at the towns of Rhäzüns and Bonaduz. The river below is the Posterior Rhine, and the other valley is where the Anterior Rhine River flows through the Rhine Canyon. The two Rhine rivers meet here near Bonaduz

Passing the cable car descending from Feldis to Rhäzüns

This tiny cabin can hold 14 people per 7-minute trip! There were about 12 in here when we took it up (all from our bus, probably)

The themed trail no.739 "Dreibündenstein Panoramaweg" starts here in Feldis, but we saved about 500m of uphill climbing by taking the chair lift to Mutta (Alp da Veulden)

A view over the rooftops of Feldis. We spent at least half an hour here, also visited the church, as usual. 

Main square in Feldis

Some creative artwork with wood being done here!

Some features of the village including an old cable-way cabin (the cable-way was renovated in 2005) and coats of arms on this 1774-built house

Two very distinct styles of buildings here in the village, many in the Valais style with wood...

... and the typical stone structures of Grisons houses.

This was a very tiny church! The churches in Canton Graubünden are mostly Protestant (Reformed) and the interiors are usually very plain and feature lots of wood. 

Alleyway from the church back to the main square

End of October, it's great to see the cows still out in the mountain pastures!

A look back at the village of Feldis as we walk about 1 km to the chair lift. 

The chair lift from Feldis to Alp da Veulden saves us 500m of ascent. Because of the warm October, they ran this one longer than usual (operation usually ceases mid-October until ski-season). This was the last day of the summer run. 

Lots of things to observe on a chair-lift ride!

At the top of the cable-car station on the high alpine pasture called "Alp da Veulden"; this is a look into the Domleschg Valley. The main mountain here is Piz Beverin on the right. The Posterior Rhine flows down this valley. 

The "Dreibündenstein Panorama Trail" goes from Brambrüesch to Feldis. (We started on the Feldis side, but saved ourselves about 500m ascent by taking the chair lift from Feldis). It was actually later than usual when we started on our hike at noon.

Description of the "Three-League-Monument Panorama Trail". It is described from Brambrüesch to Feldis, but we walked it the other way around. 

We started our hike by walking toward the west, so we could get a look down at Feldis on its sunny promontory! The dominant snow-covered mountain in the background is Mt.Tödi in Canton Glarus

Close-up of the village of Feldis below

Heading northeast now parallel to the Rhine Valley, these mountains are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tectonic Arena Sardona. This is the region of the Glarus Thrust, one of the world's most accessible examples of the earth's overthrust. 

(As a side note, this is the hike we did in May of 2020, over the Kunkels Pass starting in Tamins below. I really enjoyed that hike, possibly because May is quite early for mountain hikes, and this was the spring of COVID, and with the good weather we did lots of hiking just the same. Those photos are HERE). 

In May 2020 we crossed the Kunkels Pass from Tamins and walked down to Vättis

Heading toward Alp da Veulden

Alp da Veulden looking north to the spectacular craggy ridge of the Rätikon (Prättigau), which forms the border with Austria. 

This is Alp da Veulden, a scattering of barns on another sunny plateau. The view is southwest down the Rhine Valley

End of October and there are still pansies flowering in the alpine meadows!

This is also Alp da Veulden. There should be a lake here, but it's all dried out from the summer heat. We are heading up to that hill. We had our lunch across from the "lake". 

On the other side of this large barren expanse, the trail goes straight up the hill to the monument at the top. 

A look behind us to the hill around which we walked earlier. Very rarely have we walked an uphill trail that is most a straight line like this one. It is also a county border (from two of the original three leagues that now form the large canton Graubünden)

Up ahead is the stone monument marking the boundaries of the original three Leagues of Raetia which now form the canton of Graubünden. 

On the other side is the valley wherein lies Lenzerheide

There was a very, very strong and cold wind blowing here at the stone monument! We didn't stay long

The three-sided stone monument "Dreibündenstein". This stone is new, but there was a monument here originally in 1722. On the right is the flag of Canton Graubünden/Grisons, a combination of the coats of arms of the three original leagues. The first of the leagues -- formed in 1395 -- was called the "Grey League" and gives its name to the Canton (Grey = Gris/Grau = Grisons/Graubünden)

On the summit of Mt. Furggabüel (this is the house mountain for the city of Chur) it was even more windy and cold, so we hurried down the north side. Our trail continued down and over the little forested hill in the center of the photo. This is a ski lift in winter. 

So glad that the sun has come back again! Below is the middle station of the ski lifts, called Hühnerköpfe

At Lake Spundis we left the themed trail which heads down the hill to the right, and we hiked up the ridge called Spundiskopf

A look back at the lake called Spundis Lake, as we head up to the Spundiskopf ridge. (Panorama Trail goes down to the left). We came down from this mountain, Mt. Furggabüel

From the crest called Spundiskopf we got some nice views of the Rhine Valley below, the city of Chur on the right, and the Calanda Massif straight across. 

Enjoying the views and late afternoon sunshine at the end of October!!!

From Brambrüesch we took the gondola cableway down to Chur. This is very popular with mountain bikers, and most of the cabins had one or two bikes hanging on them!

Our hike between Alp da Veulden and Brambrüesch as seen on Google Satellite Maps

Down below in the city of Chur from the bus on the way to the train station. 

Part of the old city of Chur

We've also done many hikes along the Anterior and Posterior Rhine Valleys

Region of the Domleschg in Switzerland

As an aside, here is the webcam picture of the region of Berneck/Rheineck near Lake Constance (Bodensee), which we originally wanted to hike this day. In fact, the hike would have been right in the level of the fog, which didn't let up till 4 p.m., and we were supposed to start the hike at 10:15.