Walk down the Engelberg Aa Gorge from Engelberg to Grafenort

Friday November 8th, 2024 -- Urs had this Friday off, and wanted to try a short hike again, so we picked Engelberg as our destination for the day, because a) we could see from the webcams that the region was free of fog and b) I really didn't want to travel far for a short hike of only two hours. (It takes just a little over 1½ hours to get there).

Our original plan was to take one of those small cable cars a short way up the mountain (one which we had not yet tried out), and walk down from there to the waterfalls toward the back of the valley, and take the bus back from there. (There would have been plenty of sunshine for this walk). But we then discovered that the "autumn bus" to the back of the valley runs only on weekends in November. 

So we changed plans and decided to walk the 2½ hours down the lovely Engelberg Aa River Gorge, a 9-km walk which we had done once before in 2015, but worth doing again. Granted, there was a lot of shade, but the forest was very pretty, and the air temperature mild, so we really enjoyed it. The gorge is lovely with the sound of the river, which is called the Aa, and there are numerous bridges (at least 10) crossing the river back and forth along the way, which is always fun. Another really interesting aspect is that we mostly followed the canton border between Cantons Nidwalden and Obwalden, crossing back and forth several times, which I always find fascinating. 

In retrospect, we should also have started this hike an hour earlier, as the gorge would have had more sunshine that way.  

We got to Engelberg at 11 a.m. Our original plan was to take a small cablecar up this mountain. But because the bus to the back of the valley currently runs only on weekends, we decided to head in a different direction. 

Various buildings near the train station in Engelberg

Heading west now from Engelberg toward the gorge. This lake is called Eugenisee (Lake Eugeni)

Lots of sunshine here! That large mountain is called the Scheideggstock, and the gorge runs down to the right at the foot of that mountain. 

A look toward the back of the Engelberg Valley. 

In October 2019, we did a really wonderful hike along the mountain behind me, about half-way up. 

It took about 20 minutes of walking along the main road to get to the top part of the Aa Gorge. The river here is called the Engelberger Aa. 

This section through the Aa Gorge is part of Trail no.40: "ViaSbrinz". It should take 2 hours to walk from here to the train station in Grafenort. It is now 11:30.

We started in Engelberg at 11:10, and got to Grafenort at about 2 p.m. This was a 9-km hike, and normally takes about 2½ hours to walk.  

Description of the Aa Gorge Trail from the Engelberg Tourism Website. 

We watched this little bird diving into the river. It is called a "Wasser Amsel" in German, or "White-Throated Dipper": these are the only songbirds who can swim and dive well, even in roaring rivers. 

The first of many bridges which we crossed. 

Even with less sunshine, it was lovely to walk in the forests here. 

Another bridge over the Aa River. 

You can barely see me on this photo!

This way you can see that both of us are on the suspension bridge!

Long suspension bridge over the Engelberg Aa River

It's actually an interesting trail with lot of variety. 

Because the river forms the border of Cantons Nidwalden and Obwalden, each time we crossed a bridge, we would cross the Canton border!

The forest was very pretty with all the leaves on the trail. 

I love it when the sunshine seeps through the trees in the forest!

A nice look at Mt. Scheideggstock. In September 2018 we did a hike below the cliffs there. From here we could even see the trail we walked. 

A small clearing with sunshine where a second river came down to join this one... a good place for us to have our picnic lunch at 12:15.

Continuing on down the gorge after our lunch break. 

This would be the seventh bridge we crossed, and one of my favourites

I love this bridge, it had a right angle bend in it!

A nice variety of narrow trails through the sun-dappled forest.

It was above those cliffs there where we did the September 2018 hike. 

THAT is a large boulder!

Yet another bridge!

This is a great walk for me, because I love bridges!

Getting close to the north end of the gorge. The colours are pretty. 

Some nice fall colours in the forests still. 

Far up the valley back in the direction of Engelberg, we can see the summit of Mt. Titlis, very popular with Asian tourists. This is a zoomed view of the summit tower. Up there, there is skiing year-round. 

Crossing the 9th bridge over the Engelberg Aa River, with a look up the valley. 

The Obermatt power plant

Water reservoir

Continuing along the river through a shadowy section. 

The farm on the left is called Mettlen, from where we took the small cable car to the Rugisbalm farm back in September of 2018 when we walked beneath the Scheideggtock. 

A final look up the Engelberger Aa River. 

The 13:38 train on the stretch from Grafenort to Engelberg. 

As we crossed the river again, we saw the little Rugisbalm cargo cable-car descending to the Mettlen Farm. 

From the junction at the Mettlen Farm, you then still have to walk about 20 minutes to the train station in Grafenort. 

In the past couple of weeks, there was fog here, so we were lucky this day that the fog had dissipated in this part of the valley. 

The forests on the west side of the valley (on our left side as we walk down the valley) are still somewhat colourful. 

Reaching the Herrenhaus Villa at the Grafenort train station at 2 p.m.  The Herrenhaus belongs to the Benedictine Monastery at Engelberg, and was built in 1690 as a "vacation" residence for the monks. 

Across the street from the Grafenort train station are two other buildings from the Baroque era: The Holy Cross Chapel built in 1689, and the Grafenort Restaurant built in 1778. Together with the "Herrenhaus", these buildings belong to the The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites.

I went over to have a quick look inside the Holy Cross Chapel. The date above the door reads 1689.

Details of the inside of the little Holy Cross Chapel. 

From the front door of the chapel, I see back across the street to the Herrenhaus Villa, and Urs waiting at the train stop. 

A look up the Engelberg Valley, as the sun moves low above the mountains. 

On the east side of the Engelberg Valley across from the Grafenort station is the summit of Mt. Brisen, a peak we summitted in August 2022 (photos HERE)

Also across the valley to the east are the Walenstock peaks. Most recently we did a walk beneath those cliffs in August of this year (photos HERE)

The 14:17 train to Luzern is arriving now, and we were home about an hour later. 

These are all the hikes we have done around the Engelberg Valley. The light pink trail is the one we did this day, starting at the train station in Engelberg and walking through the Aa Gorge to Grafenort. 

Location of Engelberg and the Engelberger Aa Gorge within Switzerland. This beautiful area is very close to where we live.