High Above Lake Walensee from Arvenbüel to Amden

Wednesday April 30th, 2025 -- On another beautiful day after a rather surprisingly nice April, I headed out on a final hike, the 17th hike of the month!

In less than two hours I can be at one of my favourite places, a mountain town called Amden on the sunny side of the mountain north of Lake Walensee. We have done many hikes on this hillside, but there was one trail I hadn't walked yet, an 8+-kilometer walk starting from the final bus stop in Arvenbüel (there were only two of us on the bus until the end), first heading out to a look-out point called Chapf for the most fantastic view toward the western end of Lake Walensee and into the junction with the Linth Valley.

From there I walked down the hill via the town of Amden, past the community church which we had never actually been to before, and then down to a bus stop along the winding mountain road to where we had started another great hike parallel to the lake, back in 2018 (photos HERE).

The weather for this walk was ideal, not hot, perfect visibility, lots of cows out in the meadows now, still many trees in full blossom, and the smell of freshly-mowed grass as the farmers can already harvest the first batch of hay and dry it in this long stretch of sunny days.

All of our excursions start with a train ride out of Zug (in this case heading north) with some beautiful views of the mountains. This is looking south past the town of Baar with a spectacular view of the Bernese Alps this morning.

Heading toward Lake Walensee in eastern Switzerland, the train passes the side valley called Linthal (Canton Glarus) with more spectacular mountains.

Having left home at 7:50, it takes 1¼ hours to get to Ziegelbrücke, from where you take a bus up the mountain on the north side of Lake Walensee, passing through Weesen and Amden to the final stop at Arvenbüel, a 35-minute bus ride. The view is toward the east along the Lake.

Continuing with the bus through Amden toward Arvenbüel higher on the hillside, I look back at the village church, which we have never yet been to, even though we have done many hikes in the area.

Starting at 9:35 at the final bus stop in Arvenbüel, I first walked 15 minutes to the look-out point at Chapf, and then continued on an easy walk down the mountain, via Amden to a bus stop along the main road up the mountain, a place where we had started a hike from in November 2018. I caught the 13:30 bus back to the train station in Ziegelbrücke, in all just over 90 minutes' trip home.

After a 15-minute walk from the bus stop in Arvenbüel, I got the look-out point called Chapf, a place we had not ever been before.

This is the view from the look-out point at Chapf, to the west end of Lake Walensee, the town of Weesen, and the Linth Valley (Linthal). The Linth River enters the lake from the Linth Valley on the south side of the lake, and leaves it again at Weesen, heading toward Lake Zurich.

Panorama view from the Chapf look-out point.

Beautiful day and a fantastic view. The prominent mountain south of the lake is called the Mürtschenstock, and those mountains are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Sardona Tectonic Arena".

This is the trail back to Arvenbüel. The mountain ahead is the westernmost peak west of the Churfirsten Range: It is called the Leistchamm.

Heading back along the trail from the look-out point, to start heading down the mountain. (Not back to the bus stop).

Old farmhouse where I left the main path to head down the mountain.

My map showed that there was a trail I could follow here, albeit I had to find my own way down through the pasture. (Also, there were no actual trail markers, so I am never sure if the situation has changed from what I see on the map!)

Passing another lovely house.

What an unusual house!

So nice to see the cows in the mountain pastures now! There were no bells on these cows, so the landscape was "quiet"!! On the left is the town of Amden which I will walk down to from the hillside on the right. The massif up ahead is called the Mattstock, and we did a very nice hike below the crest back in June of 2023 (photos HERE).

A look at the town of Amden.

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The chirping of the crickets was so loud, it was just like in high summer!

Taking some self-timed photos along the way.

Another close-up look at the St.Gallus Catholic Church on the hillside below the town of Amden.

So nice to see some trees still full of blossoms!

I had to walk along the main road for about one kilometer before getting back onto official trails.

After leaving the main road (in a hairpin turn), I found a bench with a great view, where I took a 20-minute lunch break, as it was 11:20.

The trail continued into a small ravine called the Vorderbergtobel.

Fantastic view! The blossoming trees here are spectacular.

Most of the walking trails here are top to bottom, so I followed the paved road again for a while to find the path I wanted to descend on. This is a look behind me to where I decended from on the right. The line of trees is the little ravine I crossed on the bridge. I could have descended there, along this side of the ravine.

A look up the hillside.

This is where I decided to descend, with the view of Mt. Mürtschenstock and the Glarus Alps ahead of me the whole time.

Beautiful!

Just to my right on the way down is the chairlift which we have used a few times! The groundhog is a mascot here, and it rides the chair lift all day. We saw him riding the chairlift on the June 2023 hike as well (photos HERE).

More nice farmhouses.

Another look to my left as I head down the hillside. The mountain at the back is Mt. Leistkamm

Cute barn

As I approach the village of Amden from above, I take a detour to a small church called the "Bergkirche", or "Mountain Church". This Evangelical church was built in 1972 and is rather modern inside.

The main attraction of the Evangelical "Mountain Church" is its unique design, made to mirror the mountains in the background. (The dominant mountain here is Mt. Mürtschenstock).

There is always a cat trying to hide in the meadow grasses!

Making my way downhill now below the main part of Amden, I arrive at the Catholic Church St.Gallus, a church we see from the bus every time we come up here, but have never been into yet. The church exists here since the 13th Century, but has its current build since 1794.

Before entering the church building I had a quick look at the cemetery. There were three such interesting buildings, which seem to be repositories for urns (as opposed to burying them).

As I entered the church building and made my way toward the altar, the interior didn't look quite like most Baroque churches we usually visit, possibly because the building in the current form is from the end of the 18th Century, and thus more "modern".

On the other hand, in the apse behind the altar was an obviously older part of the building with some very nice fresco paintings on the ceiling and around the room just below the ceiling. The pictures depict a variety of animals.

There is a date of 1589 inscribed on the ceiling, indicating that these frescoes and this part of the building date from the end of the 16th Century, 200 years older than the rest of the building. These valuable paintings were extensively damaged in renovations done to the bell tower in 1859.

Other interesting details which I found in the apse. In particular, that older organ is very pretty. According to historical documents, the oldest artwork in the church is most likely the Late Gothic Pieta (bottom left), dating from 1531.

After spending about 15 minutes looking at the features inside the church, I continued on my walk down the mountain.

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Up to this point, all the cows I had passed had no bells, so the hillside was quiet.

Here the cows had bells, a beloved sound in the mountains.

Everywhere the farmers are busy mowing the pastures!

Looking up the hill toward the church as I head down the mountain.

I love the Japanese maple trees!

Another place to set up my camera for a self-timed photo!

The farmers are busy mowing the pastures

The cows always watch curiously.

I got to the bus stop on the bus route down the mountain at 13:27 and had to wait another 10 minutes till the bus came.

Unfortunately, I can rarely escape the noise of the leaf-blowers. (A necessity for the farmers who gather the hay by hand; it's much less work than raking it down the hillside).