Irchel Look-out Tower in Zurich Wine Country

Saturday May 18, 2024 -- The weather is turning out better this long weekend than expected, particularly here north of the Alps. 

For today's outing we chose to go to the back-country of Canton Zurich, to a small hill called the Irchel near where the Thur River enters the Rhine River, which has a look-out tower with some nice views of the mountains, although it wasn't quite as clear as one hopes for a "look-out tower" hike. It wasn't a strenuous hike as we only had to ascend 130 meters to get to the tower, but the rest of the 9 km walk was mostly through forest with a few places with views over the countryside. 

A forest hike such as this one has both its positive and negative sides for me: Positive at this time of year because the greens are so pretty; negative as we should have been taking advantage of the sunshine; positive as it might have otherwise been kind of hot; negative as the "sameness" of the trail makes it seem like the hike is much longer than it really is, although perhaps that had something to do with the fact that I had walked 15 km the day before!

Most interesting here is that we are close to the German border, and quite visible to the north are three very noticeable protrusions in the region called the Hegau, an extinct volcanic landscape. The most distinct is Hohentwiel, the site of the massive Hohentwiel Fortress, accessible from the town of Singen. (I have visited these ruins before). 

Heading by bus through the Zurich Back Country

Our hike started in a village called "Buch am Irchel" (i.e. Irchel is the name of the mountain, and this would be like saying the village is called Buch, so "Buch near the Irchel")

Heading up the road to the Irchel Tower. It's not that far

There's a cute way to stack wood!

A look behind us as we head up the "mountain" called Irchel

It took about 30 minutes to walk up to the tower, another 90 minutes along the top of the hill (mostly through forest, with a few viewpoints) to the west side of the hill to Hochwacht (one of many Medieval signal points in the region), and another 30-40 minutes to the bus stop in Teufen. We started at 10 a.m., and caught the 15:30 bus in Teufen for the 90-minute ride home. 

The Irchel Tower. It is 28 meters high and has 150 steps. It was built in 1983.

Urs heading up the Irchel Tower

View of the village of Buch am Irchel where we started our hike (this is the view to the north)

And far to the east you can make out the Churfirsten mountains. Too bad it was somewhat overcast and not too clear of a day. 

Behind me is the forested top of the Irchel, which we are going to walk along. 

Looking up the winding staircase of the Irchel Tower

Most of the trail along the top of the Irchel was like this, through sun-dappled forest, with a few look-out points. 

A view back to the Irchel tower. When I enlarge the photo, I can see a lady on the platform, taking a selfie!

The first "look-out" spot, a clearing in the forest with a view. It's 30 minutes from the Irchel Tower, and one hour from the Hochwacht at the other end of the hill. 

View from Schafhuser clearing. This is still overlooking Buch am Irchel, but from slightly to the west. 

Another look at Buch am Irchel

The second clearing and look-out point is called Rütelbuck (20 minutes after the first one)

To the north and past the Swiss/German border are the dead volcanoes of the Hagau region. In particular you can really see the mountain called Hohentwil, it really stands out. There is a large ruins atop that one. The other two are somewhat to the left. 

Zoomed view of Mt. Hohentwil, a dead volcano in Germany, with a large fortress ruins atop it. 

At Irchel Hochwacht we have reached the far west part of this mountain. "Hochwacht" means a high position in which to guard and observe the countryside. 

Looking westward from Hochwacht to the Rhine River and the city of Eglisau

The Hochwacht was set up in 1624, with line of sight of 9 or 10 other such sites in the Zurich area. Each site was equipped with signal fires and cooking utensils! 

On the way down the mountain we passed a cave called the Lienhart's cave. 

There is a tale that two of "Richard the Lionhearted"s successors had found refuge in a cave on Mt. Irchel after having been taken prisoner in Vienna during the third crusade, and having escaped. They apparently settled here in Teufen and changed their name to Lienhart. 

Heading down on a nice forest trail

Open pastures on the north side of Mt. Irchel

This region between the two towns of Freienstein and Teufen is the largest wine region in Canton Zurich. There are 25 different types of grapes grown here, and plenty of wineries offering wine tasting!

A close-up view of the Churfirsten mountains in the far east of Switzerland

Heading down the road into Oberteufen

These fountains are always welcome for washing hands and filling water bottles. 

So many pretty flowers in the gardens and in the meadows

They always come to Urs for some cuddling!

Continuing along the vineyards toward Unterteufen

A look up the hill where we descended from

There are so many of these bushes full of pink flowers. An Internet search tells me it is called Kolkwitzia

A few geraniums on the window sill make all the difference. 

Lovely roses

We did a small loop walk along the main road in Teufen before going back to the bus stop, as we had some time to wait. 

Here's someone enjoying the afternoon sunshine!

So many lovely flowering meadows everywhere. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

On the bus ride back to Zurich, we first passed the Teufen Castle (view out of the bus window). 

We had to change buses at the cutest town called Rorbas on the south side of the Töss river, and had enough time for a quick look around. 

Fountain in Rorbas

Town hall in Rorbas

Location of Mt.Irchel in Switzerland, between Zurich and Schaffhausen