The Leiternweide Suspension Bridge Trail in the Simmen Valley

Sunday October 22, 2023 -- We headed out early in the morning with the goal of hiking along the mountainside above Grindelwald, on the sunny side accessed by the popular Grindelwald-First cable-way (a trip of 3 hours and 40 minutes from home). We were aware that there might be fog from the previous day's rain, and that was indeed the case. We made it only as far as Interlaken Ost by 9 a.m. where the fog was thick and the air cold. Looking at the webcam, we were shocked to see that it had snowed up at Grindewald First overnight! So much for the planned mountain hike... and the webcam showed plenty of fog above the two popular valleys here as well. 

So we sat in the Co-op restaurant with a morning coffee till after 10 a.m. desperately searching for a hike in the area which would not be on a 5⁰-temperature mountain-top disappearing in the clouds! We settled on a trail called "Hängebrückenweg" (or "Suspension Bridge Trail") in the Simmen Valley not too far from Lake Thun, and got to the Weissenburg train station at the start of the trail at 11:45. We were pleasantly surprised at all the things we discovered in the gorge: The source of the only calcium thermal springs in Switzerland (see HERE), ruins of the hotels and baths established in 1604, a steep ascent on metal steps which replaced a wooden ladder in the 1940's (until then, this was the route taken by children to get to school lower in the valley), and prehistoric caves (which we did not visit, as the trail was very steep and would have been slippery after the rain). 

Another pleasant surprise we discovered along the way is that there is a themed trail along the Simmen Valley called the "Simmentaler Hausweg", featuring about 40 historical houses, of which there were four on our way back to Weissenburg. 

So, even though it took us 5½ hours to get here (including the 90 minutes at the restaurant in Interlaken) we were very happy with the decision for this day, as the clouds never did leave the summits of the surrounding mountains.... And we still managed a very interesting and educational 3½-hour hike. 

PART I: Regional Trail no.319 "Leiternweide Hängebrückenweg" (Suspension Bridge Trail)

Once we decided on the new plan for the day, we headed back along Lake Thun from Interlaken at 10:30, heading to Spiez, where we change trains into the Simmen Valley (at the arrow). All the main peaks here are hidden in clouds. This is not the first time this has happened to us.

On the north side of Lake Thun is Beatenberg and Mount Niederhorn, which we had also considered for an alternative hike, but we are glad we didn't go there.

We had 20 minutes to wait in Spiez, and I was glad there was sunshine, because it was quite cold!

By 11:45 we were at the small train station in Weissenburg, ready to start on our hike (much later than usual!!)

At the Weissenburg train station was a small pavilion with a stone fountain and information about the hotsprings discovered at the back of the Buschenbach Gorge in 1604. There is a pipe along the entire gorge bringing the water to here. Of course it's not 27 degrees by the time it gets here any more!

Trail no. 319 through the Buschenbach gorge with the ruins of the  former thermal baths and the fabulous suspensioin bridge from Weissenburg to Oberwil is listed at just over two hours to walk, but we made it longer by returning to our starting point along the "Simmental House Trail"

Here is a very nice description of the themed trail we ended up doing this day, and we enjoyed it very much!!!

The trail into the gorge to the former hotels is a wide and easy road to walk. It didn't take us long to get to the location of the former "front baths". The pavilion is new and sports information about the site. 

The picture on the left shows the original hotel at this location, built in 1846-49 due to the large demand of the rear thermal baths in the gorge. The hotel accommodated 300 people. In 1898 the original hotel burned to the ground due to a chimney fire. The picture on the right shows the new hotel built a year later. Guests were mostly the rich and famous. The hotel had to be closed during the two World Wars, and afterwards there were mostly guests from Holland, including Queen Julianna. The last guests stayed here in 1963, and then the hotel burned to the ground in 1974, arson was suspected. 

It was because of this trail sign at the "Front Baths" that we found out we were also following the "Simmental House Trail", and so we looked on the Internet to find out we'd be passing four of the featured historical houses on our way back. 

A fountain built into the cliffs. The mineral waters flow through here. 

We did a very small detour off the main path to the location of a small chapel from early 1900, which was built here as a diversion for the spa guests. (Church services, programs offered, view of the hotel). 

This is all that is left of the chapel. Photos of it are from archives. 

Along the trail we often saw the pipes laid out in the mid 1600's (!!!) to bring the mineral water out of the valley to the hotels and all the way to Weissenburg since 1657! (Unsure if these are the original pipes, which were made of wood). 

The hotsprings were discovered in 1600 in a difficult-to-access part of the Bunschen Gorge. Water runoff from Mount Stockhorn seeped through the limestone to create the only calcium springs in Switzerland. The officials of Canton Bern were quick to create a baths complex as competition with the popular established baths in Baden in Canton Aargau ("Baden" = "To bathe"). The original 17th-Century baths were small bathhouses, but the massive development of two large facilities in the 18th and 19th centuries accommodated 30,000 guests each summer.  

All along the trail we could see the pipes that transport the water from the back of the valley. 

Once we got to the "Rear Baths", we were pretty impressed with this construction!

The ruins of the original Weissenburg baths complex. Originally there were small bath houses here, but in 1695 a local entrepreneur named J.J. Ritter built a large bathhouse, hotel and even a butcher shop, and renewed the transport of the mineral waters with wooden pipes. In 1925, the buildings were demolished, as World War I had basically put an end to the very popular spa business. 

A look up out of the deep gorge. 

Continuing on to the back of the gorge along the Buschen River. We were happy with the sunshine that we had in this very narrow gorge!

Nice lighting in the gorge

This first smaller suspension bridge crosses a side river called Morgetenbach, which originates in the Gantrisch mountains to the north. 

Can you see the pipes transporting the mineral water? It can't have been easy carving out the cliffs to bring the water from that difficult-to-access location. We didn't get to the source of the thermal springs. 

Looking straight up above us, there are 110 meters of stairs to climb! These metal stairs replaced the original wooden ladders as late as the 1940's. Before that time, children had to climb down the wooden ladders to go to school in the valley. 

The stairs were a surprise, and lots of fun!

110 meters straight up the mountain along stairs like this, and other narrow paths. 

What an impressive sight to look at the suspension bridge from below like this!

The last set of narrow paths and stairs before reaching the suspension bridge. 

Another look at the bridge from below. 

These are the alpine meadows called Leiternweide. (We got here at just after 1 p.m. and had our picnic lunch on a bench here). Since at least the end of the 16th Century, there were several families who lived up here, and the children had to go to school in the valley where we had just walked up from, but till the 1940's there were only wooden ladders to descend on!

Crossing the Leiternweide suspension bridge, built in 2013, it is 111 meters long and hangs 111 meters above the river. Before this time, there was a type of "zip line" that the locals used to cross the ravine. 

The Leiternweide suspension bridge, 111 meters above the Morgetenbach stream

A fabulous view from the suspension bridge, down the Buschenbach Gorge where we ascended, and where in the 19th Century a successful spa and mineral baths operation flourished. 

A look up the Morgete Valley. I had an urge to hike up there, but it's another 1000 meters to the next pass!

On the west side of the suspension bridge, we learned about the wooden ladders that the children had to use to get into the valley, from at least the 16th century, when apparently several families lived and worked on the Leiternweide pastures. The ladders had no railings, and the smaller children were secured with ropes so they would not fall into the gorge. Also, a large amount of milch was transported down the ladders to serve the 30,000 summer guests at the baths. 

The Leiternweide suspension bridge. 

On the other side of the suspension bridge, we learned that as early as the 19th Century there was a way to cross the ravine, on a type of zipline like this one made of hardwood which slid along a thick cord. This was the safest way to get out of the valley in case of avalanches!

From the suspension bridge it was another 45 minutes to walk to the junction of the prehistoric caves. We did not visit them as we have seen such caves before, and it would have added an hour to hour hike. (We preferred to admire the houses in the valley below). 

Now we are back above the Buschenback ravine, looking straight down it into the Simmental (Simmen Valley)

Farm landscape

A view up the Simmental

At the junction to the prehistoric caves is information about the artifacts which were found in the three caves: Pieces of clay bowls from about 2000 BC, remains of the skull of a prehistoric cave bear, quartzite tools from 50,000 BC, bronze knives from the Bronze Age. 

Our walk down to Oberwil is through farm- and pastureland. There's a lonely-looking cow on our trail, we suspected she got out of her enclosure, but stayed close by the other cows which were grazing on the left. 

I get a kick out of this every time, the way the cows watch Urs as he makes a detour around them, when they stand on the trail!

Walking high above the Simme River in the Simmen Valley

Another farm with more cows on the trail, which requires a detour above where they stand.

Another wide detour, and another cow observing closely!

A look down the Simmental as we descend the last section to the village of Oberwil. The mountain on the left is Mount Niesen, and the clouds have not yet dissipated from the summit. (The view from all these peaks would not have been so great this day!)

PART II: The "Simmen House Trail" between Oberwil and Weissenburg.

A search of the Internet brings us to the website of the "Simmentaler Hausweg", where we discovered that four of the 39 houses featured on this route (numbers 24-27) were along the road between Oberwil and Weissenburg, and we were looking forward to seeing them. 

The first of many beautiful houses as we enter into the village of Oberwil, heading toward the town church of course! We got here at 2:45 p.m. 

Next lovely house. In particular, that flowering bush was awesome

Lovely flowering gardens at this time of year still!

Someone built an eintire village of model houses in their garden, this was so cute, especially the wooden covered bridge!

This could be an ad for Swiss Milk or something.... 

The St.Maurizius church in Oberwil is originally from the 13th Century (small late Romanesque building with chancel), and the tower as well as sacristy and nave were added in the 14th and 15th Centuries. Later, more additions and renovations were made. 

A beautiful interior with lots of wood. The organ looks much more modern than the rest!

Most of the frescoes from before the Reformation have been lost, except for this large painting on the South wall. This was one of the first parishes in the Simmen Valley to convert to the Evangelical Religion. 

Across the road from the church is another pretty building. 

The first of the four historical houses we came to look at is below the church, that building in the center of the photo. 

One of the approximately 40 historical houses featured on the "Simmental House Trail" is this old hotel, first mentioned in documents of 1793, although it is not certain when it was actually built. 

Hotel Hirschen in Oberwil, date of build unknown, restored in 1987. This was a former Traveler's Inn

The Oberwil Church viewed from below

From Oberwil we are walking to Weissenburg, another hour from here. It's now 3:15, and we need to catch the 16:20 train, so we walked briskly!

Looks so cool with the Simmentaler cows in front of the chalet!

Even the newest houses built here keep to the old style of chalets, for a very nice overall community look. 

The second house featured on the "Simmentaler Hausweg" is a build from 1754. (Each house has a small panel attached to it, with the information). It has a rare example of an original preserved parlor. The house was renovated in 1922.

Just another random house on the roadside

Heading out of Oberwil to the next community called Bunschen 

Even the newer builds, like this one from 1998 display fascinating carved or painted details. 

The next featured historical house is the Vennerhaus in Bühl, built in 1757.  

This house has the most beautiful painted walls beneath the roof overhang. It was built in 1757 and fully renovated in the year 2007. 

A look up the Simmen Valley

The historical house in Bunschen was difficult to find as there was no visible panel on it. When I saw the date on the front wall (1667), I looked up the details, and the photo on the website matched!

So now it's 15:55, we have 30 minutes to go till Weissenburg train station, but the train leaves at 16:20!!! So we walked very quickly. (And we actually made it 3 minutes before the train arrived!)

Before leaving Bunschen, though, we did have to have a look inside this lovely shop selling local products, and Urs bought a cold beverage, as he often does!

Heading down through the pastures to the road into Weissenburg, another view up the beautiful Simmen Valley. 

There are always interesting details to observe along the way. 

Last stretch into Weissenburg, although we still have an uphill hike to the train station, which is ABOVE the village!

Lovely Emmental-Style house here. 

Gasthof Alte Post in Weissenburg

A short uphill climb to the train station. It's 16:14 now. The sign down on the road states 10 minutes, but we made it in 5 (well, 5 minutes for me, 3 for Urs, as he had to press the "Request Stop" button!)

Here's me arriving at the train station at 14:19, train is expected at 14:20!

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

Location of the region of Oberwil and Weissenburg in the Simmen Valley. 

On the train back to Bern, there were still some low clouds in the region of Thun, but the peaks of Eiger and Jungfrau were above the clouds and looking larger than usual. 

This is the webcam of Grindelwald First at 10 a.m., which was the time we had planned to get there! The snow melted later but the low clouds stayed for most of the day, so we were glad that we changed our plans.