Mountain Hike at the Base of Mount Rossberg, from Sattel to Steinen

Tuesday, April 1 2025 -- Due to previous Wednesday commitments,  we swapped the midweek day off again to Tuesday, which actually turned out to be a pretty sunny day, although a cold wind was blowing. (Later we learned that there were gusts of 70 km/hr at the Zurich airport, making it difficult for the airplanes to land, and even up to 100 km/hr in Geneva!)

After months of fairly level or downhill hikes, we attempted our first "major" uphill hike of 400 meters, which wasn't nearly as strenuous as expected, probably because it really wasn't that warm! 

We did a 3-hr hike at the foot of Mt. Rossberg near Goldau--this was the site of one of the most catastrophic landslides in Swiss history--starting in Sattel and ultimately descending to Steinen near Lake Lauerz. For a large part of the uphill section, we walked on typical paved roads past mountain farms, but then descended the 700 meters on lovely footpaths, with views of the Schwyzer Alps and valley basin before us. 

Along the way we did an unplanned stop at an old farmhouse to have a long conversation with a fellow who was renovating old American roadsters and Ford cars from the 1920's! His collection was fascinating.

Heading south along Lake Zug toward Goldau by train, this view is across the Lake to Immensee on the west side of the Lake. Usually we get a good look at Mt.Pilatus, but today it's covered in a lot of clouds! 

From Goldau we take another train up the hill toward the east. From here we can see the summit of Mt. Rigi. There is still a lot of snow there. It is about a 50-minute trip for us from home to the starting point of our hike. 

We started shortly after 10 a.m. in Sattel and headed up the hillside at the foot of Mt. Rossberg. At the 1130 meter mark, we then turned to head back down the mountain, arriving at the Steinen train station at 14:45, just in time for the 14:55 bus to Goldau (and total 50 minute trip home). In the blue circle on this map, you can see where the Goldau Landslide of 1806 occurred, the largest natural catastrophe in the history of the Confederation. 

A large part of our uphill walk was on these small, paved roads, past several farms. 

Passing farms on our uphill walk. It was quite windy and somewhat cold, but nice with the sunshine. 

At this location, a previously sunken stream has been "brought back to life" and a pond created to protect some endangered species of crayfish. 

View south toward Mount Fronalpstock

Crossing a stream now on a section of trail with a trodden footpath. 

This stream is called Schäfbodenbach

A well-situated bench for a bit of a rest. 

View from the bench where we had a break. To our south past the Schwyz valley basin is the mountain range on the south side of the Muotatal Valley, with Mt. Fronalpstock. 

The view we had for most of our walk here at the foot of Mt.Rossberg. 

It's the time of year where the fountains are turned on and I can replenish my water bottle!

Here it was less cold and we had nice soft pasture paths to walk along, before returning to the paved road. 

At noon we reached a junction from where we could have ascended more toward the summit of the mountain (another 400 meters or so), but this is where we now made our way down. Most of the descent was on narrow footpaths, so it was fun. 

More nice narrow paths across clearings as well. 

These are all the new flowers, the first flowers we find in the forests at this time of year. 

This was the perfect place for our picnic lunch at 1 p.m. It was sheltered from the wind, and nice and sunny. 

The view we had from the spot we had picked to have our picnic. On the left are the Mythen mountains, and on the right is Lake Lauerz. 

The trail passed right down past this house on the right, but we spotted something interesting on the far side of the house, under the gazebo: It was a rebuilt roadster, and we asked if we could have a look. We spent quite a long time here visiting with the owner who showed us all the American memorabilia he has collected, and refurbished. He also told us the house is over 100 years ago. 

This is the interesting car we saw and asked about. It's not in working order, but has had some interesting things built onto it. The man loves to tinker. 

In the man's garden, he had three small trees: Pear, peach and apricot, which were just starting to blossom. This one was a peach tree with the most beautiful blossoms.  

A look back at the house we had just looked at, as we continue down the mountain. 

We passed under the railway tracks from the line we had traveled to get to Sattel to the starting point of our hike. 

A look to the west as we descend. We can see Lake Lauerz and the east part of the Rigi range. 

To the south are these fabulous peaks, part of both the Schwyzer and Uri Alps. 

Fields are full of dandelions now, and the old fruit trees are starting to blossom. 

We passed a barn full of sheep which were bleating like crazy! It was like they were talking to us!

VIDEO:

The sheep were talking to us really loudly!

Continuing down the mountain. 

These signs celebrate births of children on the farms. I have never heard of the name Ylvi before. Apparently it is associated with Nordic Mythology and means "Little She-Wolf". 

Down below is the town of Steinen, the end of our hike. 

Another nice section through a pasture, before we do the final descent through the forest. 

These large-growth fruit trees will blossom soon!

Lovely contrast on the mountains in the afternoon sunshine. 

At 2:30 p.m. we got down to the bottom of the valley and still had about 10 minutes to walk along the railway line to the station in Steinen. 

A quick peek at a small old chapel which we see every time we pass here with the train. We have not yet had a look at this one, but didn't feel like heading over there this time, as we had already walked for three hours!

Waiting at the Steinen train station for the bus which we will ride back to Goldau. 

This is what our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting in Sattel and ending in Steinen.