West Side of Lake Küssnacht from Haltikon to Meggen

Saturday February 24, 2024 -- There were no plans for hiking on Saturday, as the forecast was for cloudy everywhere. But the weather in our region often surprises us, as the skies over Lake Zug and Mount Rigi suddenly opened up, and we could even see all the way to the Bernese Alps again.

So another spur-of-the-moment decision and we were off to the Küssnacht Arm of Lake Luzern again, to walk another short section of Regional Trail no.98: "Waldstätterweg", one of the few sections we still had to cover in order to reach our goal of walking around the entire lake. This was a good choice for us because it only took us 45 minutes from our building to the start of our hike at the historical chapel at Haltikon.

This was a short walk for us, just over two hours and only 8 kilometers, but we didn't want to risk walking more, as the weather changes quickly.

It was an easy pleasant walk with lots of good views into the Alps of Canton Nidwalden on the south side of the lake, and all the way to the Brienzer Rothorn which is at the gateway of the Bernese Oberland. We had started shortly after 11 a.m., and were back home by 2:45 p.m.

Our excursion started at the bus stop next to the little St. Katharina Chapel in Haltikon. The hamlet of Haltikon was first mentioned in documents of 1284, and it is assumed that there was a chapel here since at leas 1485. This particular chapel was built in 1636. 

These are the original Baroque Altars from 1636. The interior of the chapel was fully restored from 1971 to 1973 and put under federal and cantonal monument protection. 

One of the special features of this chapel is the impressive wood-paneled ceiling, which was renovated to its original status. 

Farm houses in Haltikon. 

Farm houses in Haltikon. 

We started just after 11 a.m. at the chapel in Haltikon, then joined Trail no.98: "Waldstätterweg" (which is a themed trail around the entire Lake Luzern) till Meggen, where we caught a train to Luzern at 13:39 and were home by 2:45 p.m. 

Heading off to join the "Waldstätterweg" Trail. That is Mount Rigi in the background, on the opposite side of the Küssnacht arm of Lake Lucerne. 

We had more sunshine and blue skies here than expected. 

Being observed by deer this time. (A deer farm. This breed of deer are called "Fallow Deer")

Our first view of the Nidwalden Alps on the south side of Lake Lucerne (in the center is Klewenalp, on the right is Mount Buochserhorn). The clouds were low, but we were glad to see some of the mountains at all.

This short stretch of the trail -- before reaching the Merlischachen Forest -- we had done once before in January 2022, having intended at that time to walk all the way to Meggen as we did today, but even though we started with great visibility at that time, we cut the hike short because the fog moved in and it got quite cold and we had no view of the Alps. (Those photos are HERE, some are quite nice).  

Another look in the direction of Klewenalp and Mount Bürgenstock. 

Following Trail no.98, our goal for this day is Meggen (on the lake) which has a train station. 

According to a panorama placard of the Alps at this spot, those mountains in the center are the Melchtal Alps. Where the circle is, one should be able to see the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau peaks. 

The final look at Mount Rigi and the town of Küssnacht, as we now head into the Merlischachen forest. 

On Trail no.98: "Waldstätterweg". We are headed toward Wagenmoos and then Meggen. The rest of the trail to Luzern will have to wait for another day. 

In this region are several marshes and flatmoors. It was very pleasant to walk through. This one was called Schlittenried. 

Right about noon, we found the perfect spot for our picnic lunch. 

This is Wagenmoos, an amphibian spawing region of national importance. 

Our trail took us around the Wagenmoos pond 

Back now on the Küssnacht Lake side, another look at Mount Rigi

This view is right past the Hertenstein Horn to the main part of Lake Luzern, with Mount Niederbauen in the far back. Not quite two weeks earlier I had done a hike at the foot of Mount Rigi on the left, passing around the Horn (those photos are HERE). 

Heading downhill now toward Meggen. 

A look back at the house we just passed. 

Directly across the lake at the foot of Mount Rigi is the town of Greppen, where I ended my three-hour hike on February 13th (with a much better view of the Nidwalden Alps at the time!)

Nearly down at Lake level. Across the lake is the Hertenstein Horn where I walked on February 13th. 

Our trail took us past the church in Meggen (heading down on the left), but we didn't stop to look inside this time, as we only had a few minutes extra to get to the train station. In the back is Mount Pilatus. 

And here we are at the end of our 2-hour walk crossing the bridge over the railway tracks to get to the station. As usual, we got to the station just 3 minutes before the train arrived. 

The interesting thing about this trail is that we started in Canton Schwyz, but crossed the border into Canton Luzern at the Wagenmoos pond. Then returned to Canton Schwyz for a short piece, before ending our hike in Canton Luzern. 

All the hikes we have done around the Küssnacht arm of Lake Lucerne. The other lake (upper left) is Lake Zug.