Panorama Trail from Fürenalp to Stäuber Falls in Engelberg

Monday June 12, 2023 -- One beautiful day after another but with the best weather in the morning means we are looking to start early and not have to travel too far, so we can take advantage of the best part of the day.

This was the case this day as we traveled to Engelberg to walk the panorama trail from Fürenalp to the Stäuber Waterfalls, and then down and back out of the valley. The hike requires using the Fürenalp cable-car, which transports only 8 people at a time, and is so popular that we have on a previous occasion actually turned back and changed plans instead of waiting forever in line. This time we were lucky, as there were few people at 9:00 a.m. and we were the first in line for the ride up. It was a perfect time of year for us to finally do this.

The visibility directly in the mountains here for this hike on this day could not have been better. It is amazing to us that we can be in this beautiful region in under two hours travel time. This was another 10-km hike for us, and the actual walking time is about 2-3/4 hours, so not really that long, but we took just under four hours, because we took our time to enjoy the trail, and also stopped for a picnic lunch next to the river. 

Note of Interest: What is most fascinating about the location of the waterfall and the trail in general is that Engelberg and Fürenalp are in Canton Obwalden, but most of the mountain below where we walked, including the waterfall and the river are in Canton Uri. On the way back down, we crossed again into Canton Obwalden at the Alpenrösli Restaurant. 

In the far background is the city of Engelberg. A bus takes you from the train station there to the Fürenalp cableway. 

The little Fürenalp cable car transports eight people at a time, it takes 6 minutes for the ride up to the summit station. 

Fürenalp Cable Car

A little detour to the look-out point near the summit cable-car station / restaurant. In the background is Mt.Titlis, a favourite destination of Asian tourists. That is a glacier along the base of the cliff of the east side of Mt. Titlis. 

We thought it was funny that there was a trampoline not far from a drop over the cliff. In the background are the Firnalpeli glaciers. 

This was another 10-km hike for us, not a very difficult one because there was negligible uphill involved. Total walking time is about 3 hours. We started at 9:45, and got back to the base station at 13:15. Note the borders between Canton Uri (Nider Surenen Valley) on the east side, and Canton Obwalden (Fürenalp, Herrenrüti) on the west. 

A perfect hiking day as we head off on the panorama trail. This section of the trail is in Canton Obwalden. 

Heading northeast along the Panorama Trail. In the back is the Surenen Pass, which we crossed from the other side in August 2017, those photos are HERE . Below is a little hamlet called Usser Aebnet, which is where we descended last time, as there is a cable-car there as well. 

The first alpine roses

Enjoying the fantastic mountain landscape

Oops, there's a cow on the path again!

Making a wide berth around the cows. Here at this point is where we cross into Canton Uri. 

I prefer to try to make friends with the cows. 

Beautiful flowering meadows. 

Some of the many meadow flowers we saw along the way. 

Down below is a farm called Alp Hobiel

Crossing the bridge because there was too much water running across the road, hahaha

At Alp Hobiel, they were distributing liquid manure, by hand! What a job. 

Approaching the waterfall now at the back of the valley (straight ahead in the middle). There were about half a dozen other people on the trail. 

Another look behind us before we soon leave the upper trail. 

Beyond the waterfall, the trail goes up to the Surenen Pass

Stäuber Waterfall

VIDEO:

The Stäuber Waterfall

From here it would be just over two hours to the Surenenm Pass. We are heading in the direction of Engelberg, but only going as far as the Fürenalp cable car station, another 1 hour 40 minutes. It took us just over an hour to walk to here. 

Descending next to the waterfall

For the rest of the way we follow the river, which is called Stierenbach. The valley is called Nider Surenen, and this is all in Canton Uri.

For a long stretch the path was a wide gravel road. We missed an opportunity to walk on the other side of the river. 

Entering cow territory!

To our east were some fantastic mountain peaks. It's called the "Gross Spannort"

Here at Stäfeli they were selling cheese as well, but we didn't buy any. We didn't stay long anyway, because there was construction work going on. Very noisy. 

Urs would have liked to stop at the little restaurant in Stäfeli for a pre-lunch dessert, but it was closed. Also, I would not have liked to sit here with the noise of construction going on next door. 

Another look at the Gross Spannort, and all the waterfalls coming down those mountains! There are also glaciers up there. 

Now we've rounded a corner where we see Mount Titlis again. The clouds are starting to move in there now. 

We found a good spot next to the river for our picnic lunch, but we did have to scramble down a hillside to get there. 

The fabulous spot where we had our picnic lunch, with the sound of the roaring water. 

VIDEO:

The Stierenbach River. This is my favourite background noise.

Further down the river at another small restaurant called Alpenrösli, we crossed the river. This is another look upstream. From here we crossed back into Canton Obwalden and had a long stretch through a forested section. 

Just 15 minutes to go till we reach the cable car station. We are hurrying again because we are cutting it close! In the back is the city of Engelberg. 

Another detour around cows on the path!

A look behind us once again up the valley. The clouds have now covered the peaks which we previously had such a clear view of. Good timing!

Watching the Fürenalp cable car from below

We made it back to the station at 1:15 p.m, and since the bus was to arrive at 1:22 p.m., there was still time to buy refreshments!

 

Our hike as it looks on Google Satellite Maps

Back in Engelberg we had to wait 20 minutes for the train, so I walked a bit out of the city to look back toward the valley where we had walked. Now there are many low clouds there. You can see the summit station at Fürenalp, in the red circle. 

We have done many hikes in the Engelberg area, including the hike from the Surenen Pass, in green on the right. This was actually the second time we walked down the valley to the cable car station. 

On our way toward Luzern by train, we were impressed once again at how steep the meadows are, which the farmers harvest here to store hay for their cows. 

Mount Buochserhorn in the background

Near the town of Stans

Location of Engelberg in Switzerland

As a side note: From the train just coming into the station at Engelberg, you get this good view of the summit of Mount Titlis, a popular viewing platform for tourists. This is a highly-zoomed view.