Easy Walk in Seetal Valley in the Luzern Backcountry

Wednesday March 19, 2025 -- Another nice day with good visibility, and not wanting to travel too far, we did a 3-hour hike nearby again, in the Seetal Valley at Lake Baldeggersee, a walk I was going to do last summer on a day that turned out to be too hot for it. (The photos of what I did at the time are HERE)

At this time of year, walks in the lowlands are preferable as we would rather be high in the mountains in summer. So on this lovely day (and it did get quite warm toward the end of our walk), we headed back to Lake Baldeggersee to wander southwards, with the view of the Nidwalden Alps (south of Lake Lucerne) always ahead of us.

There were two main purposes in this walk: 1) To visit the Abbey Church at Eschenbach, a building we pass by train every time we head in that direction, and 2) Arranging the trail to pass through a hamlet called URSwil.... anything with the name "Urs" in it is worth a visit and a photo.

It was a day for "flying things": Besides all the fabulous storks (all fixing up their huge stick nests), I photographed birds of prey, and military jets, and something I had never seen before: A huge military drone.

Our 13-kilometer hike ended in Waldibrücke, a small train station on the Seetal railway line back to Luzern.

On our way by train from Luzern to Lake Baldeggersee, we pass via the train station in Eschenbach and get a view of the parish church which we will have a look at later on our hike when we pass through here.

We arrived at the former Monastery buildings in Baldegg (now a Canton School) at 10 a.m. Last time I was here in June 2024 (photos HERE), there were very many storks perched on the roof of this building.

This time there were about a dozen storks in a few large nests high up in the trees on the school grounds, seemingly doing some "spring cleaning". Even though there were fewer storks this time, it was fun to watch them fly around, some with branches in their beaks!

This one has a very large bunch of sticks in its bill!

More flying storks!

We started our 3-hour walk a the south end of Lake Baldegg (Baldeggersee) at 10 a.m., and followed the Ron "stream" to Eschenbach (via Urswil) to look at the site of the Cistercian Abbey. From there we continued to Waldibrücke, where we caught the 15:43 train back to Luzern. Each way was about an hour's travel time. In all, the walk was about 13 kilometers!

Heading south from the former Baldegg Monastery grounds, we passed the Ronfeld nature reserve, where there were several storks flying around.

More storks in the trees in the Ronfeld fields

Information about the protected areas around Lake Baldegg says that storks have returned to this region after an absence of 80 years.

Next to the Ron Canal, we could see that beavers have recently been at work!

A look past the Ron Canal to the landscape to our west. It was unfortunate that the first two kilometers (30 minutes) we had to walk a long straight stretch along the main road (although on a specially-created graveled walking path and next to the canal) before reaching nicer walking paths.

Past some industrial buildings, we reached a community called Ligschwil, where we got the first glimpse of the Central Alps to the south. The main mountain straight ahead is Mt. Titlis, popular with foreign tourists in Engelberg.

A cool structure at the former mill in Ligschwil. This was actually once a residence!

The buildings of the former mill. As we passed the first building, there was a date of 1745 engraved on the stone lintel above the main door.

The next little village we approached is the one called Urswil!

The Ron river/stream winds around the countryside here and we crossed it a couple of times on small bridges.

East of the village of Urswil is the pilgrim chapel of Urswil, where we had decided to stop for our picnic lunch, as it was now exactly noon.

First a look inside the chapel, built in 1564. (Apparently the chapel was hit by lightning in 1814 and then rebuilt. An old cross and a statue of the Pietà from the early Baroque area were conserved.

Urs at our lunch bench, with the village of Urswil in the background!

As the day was already getting warm, we were glad to find a convenient bench in the half-shade of a tree!

View south from the church grounds. The main mountain on the right is Mt.Pilatus.

Continuing on our walk at 12:30 after a 30-minute break at the church.

On the next three kilometers to Eschenbach, we always had such views of the mountains.

On all our hikes in the lower regions, we always see various birds of prey, especially right now as the farmers are plowing their fields.

A large part of our walk this day was on small, paved country roads. This is not a problem as there is little traffic.

A final look back at the little Urswil Chapel.

We got to a farm called Reckenbrunnen. There was a typical display celebrating the children who live here and when they were born. We were surprised at the variety of unusual names: Andrin, Maliyah Ewa, Sofia, Mario, Thibaud, and most surprising: Kenechukwu, certainly not a Swiss name! (Internet research reveals this name is of Nigerian origin and means "Thank God").

At the farm was this cute little self-serve farm shop, with pinic tables, inside the barn! We had a look but didn't stop here, which we regretted later. Among other things, you could make a cup of coffee with the little capsule machine, and it would have been ideal to take a coffee break here at 1 p.m.!

Up ahead is the town of Eschenbach, where we can see the twin towers of the town's parish church. The mountain on the left is Mt.Rigi, and the snow-covered Alps are a beautiful backdrop.

Close-up look at the towers of the parish church in Eschenbach.

At 1:30 p.m. we got to the main portal of the Cistercian Abbey. This is the Abbey's church which we were able to access. (The town's parish church is on the far side of this one). The grounds of the Abbey behind the walls is large, and includes several other buildings and large gardens. We are unsure if the public is allowed to visit the site.

This is the portal to the Abbey's church. The convent was originally grounded in 1290 for Augustine nuns. During the time of the Reformation, the nuns were forced to convert to the stricter Cistercian order. The nuns received a new and larger church building in 1627 (not sure if this is the original?), and then an even larger one was built next to it in 1912, also the parish church.

Interior of the Abbey Church, accessible to the public

Interior of the Abbey Church, accessible to the public.

We then went next door to the larger, parish church, St.Jakobus, which was the new church built in 1912 in the Neo-Baroque style.

Interior of the St.Jakobus Catholic Church, completed in 1912 in Neo-Baroque style.

This is the Abbey's guesthouse, built in 1683. We found out later that there is an Abbey shop inside, selling artwork and other products, open 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. (We left here just before 2 p.m.)

Daffodils are now blooming everywhere!

This pretty building on the Abbey grounds is the rectory / parsonage.

A final look behind us as we cross the railway line heading east on our walk. This is the same view we saw earlier from the train on our way to Baldegg.

As the afternoon wears on, the view of the mountains becomes clearer.

Ahead of us, Mt.Rigi looms large!

A look back at the church in Eschenbach.

I have to imagine how beautiful these large apple trees will look when they are in full bloom!

This is the funniest self-serve "shop" we've come across to date! You could buy home-made jams here.

As this is pretty close to the military airport in Emmen, you can often see the pilots practicing flying the Swiss military jets. (I think the military has a fleet of 36 such airplanes)

Great view past one of many large farms here.

That building behind us was once a small castle.

Every farm along the way has a farm cat, many of which we spot sitting in the middle of a field!

Final stretch to Waldibrücke with Mt.Pilatus ahead of us.

Lovely farmhouses

Another "Spycher", an old building historically part of a farm for elderly parents once they can no longer run the farm and the kids take over.

We were certainly not disappointed in the view we had this day.

More large fruit trees which will look great once they blossom!

Then this weird flying vehicle passed us. I'd never seen something like this before. It was quite large as well. Urs says it's a military drone (it has a Swiss flag on its side).

By 3:30 p.m., the Nidwalden Alps are lookking fabulous (Mt. Titlis on the right). This photo was taken from the bridge over the railway line.

End of our hike at the Waldibrücke train station (train stop). We had to cross a bridge to get there. Mt.Pilatus looms large ahead of us. We got here with about 10 minutes to spare for the 15:43 train back to Luzern (and then altogether a one-hour trip home).

From the bridge in Waldibrücke, a close-up look at the summit of Mt.Rigi (i.e. Rigi Kulm), and Seeboden Alp, the large clearing on the north side of the mountain.