A Walk across the Vättnerberg Alpine Pastures in the Tamina Valley

Friday May 30th, 2025 -- As this day promised to be another hot one, we did want to go up into the mountains, and remembered that there was a remote cable-car we wanted to try out, in the valley of the Tamina River in the midst of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Sardona Tectonic Arena.

Back in May of 2020, we did a hike over the Kunkels Pass from Tamins in the Rhine Valley, then walking down the long valley ending at the village of Vättis at the junction of the Calfeisen Valley. So it made sense to start here again in the town of Vättis, and continue down the Tamina Valley toward the villages of Vasön and Valens, which I had visited in August of 2024, as I walked out the rest of the valley via the Tamina Gorge. (This way I could join up two existing trails).

Along this stretch is the Vättnerberg cable-car which we wanted to ride, first a 30-minute walk from the bus stop in Vättis, which is currently the furthest that the bus goes up the valley at this time of year. The cable-car, which cost us 9 Fr. for a one-way trip, took us up a very steep 625 meters to an lovely upper alpine pasture with several farms. After coffee and dessert at the little cabin at the top station of the cable-car, instead of descending right back down to walk along the lake (the trail looked like it was quite exposed to the sun) we walked along this upper pasture with glorious views of the Calanda Mountains, and with a cool breeze blowing. So we managed to make it through another very hot day. 

To get into the Tamina Valley, you take a bus from the train station in Bad Ragaz in the Rhine Valley. This view is of Bad Ragaz as the bus heads into the valley. To get to Bad Ragaz takes just over 1½ hours, and the bus ride to the back of the valley (final stop at this time of year) is 45 minutes. (We left home at 7:50).  

Passing through the village of Pfäfers on the way into the Tamina Valley. The large Baroque building (17th Century) used to be a Monastery, but now serves as a psychiatric clinic since 1845. 

At shortly after 10 a.m. we pass through the village of Vasön, which is where I started on my hike out of the valley last August (photos HERE), and where we ended today's hike, coming down from further up the valley. 

Once again I am riding in the bus on the single seat next to the driver, for good views up the valley as we continue toward Vättis. 

The bus travels along the east side of the reservoir lake, created by damming the Tamina River. Originally we were planning to walk out of the valley along the West side of this lake, but the day was hot and the trail looked like a wide road exposed to lots of sunshine!

We arrived in Vättis at 10:18. To get to the Vättnerberg cable-car (Waldafan) was a 30-minute walk, and the cable-car runs only every two hours at uneven hours (i.e. in this case 11 a.m.), so we couldn't dally too long. (We had looked at the village back in May of 2020 when we did the hike over the Kunkels Pass, ending here in Vättis). 

I'm not fond of dogs, but this one was cute!

Gasthof in the center of Vättis

As the little parish church in Vättis (St.Anian) lies on the road to the cable-car station, we popped in for a quick look. More typical of the Reformed Churches in Canton Graubünden, the interior has a lot of wood, and such beautiful ceilings. The date of 1695 is pretty impressive! (There is a mention of a church here since 1274)

Vättis, which is the most southeastern village in Canton St.Gallen, lies at the junction of the Calfeisen Valley, where the Tamina River descends from. That region is the very center of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tectonic Arena Sardona. We have long wanted to go up that way, but we want to do a two-day trip with overnight in a mountain hostel, and the time hasn't been right for that yet. 

What a lovely meadow full of daisies!

From here we get the first glimpse of the summit station of the Vättnerberg cable-way. We have never ridden this one before, so that was the main goal of the trip here. 

We got to the cable-car station at 11:50, and there were already at least 15 people waiting here, and the car park nearby was full of cars!

This is the little cabin which goes 625 meters up to the alpine pastures at Vättnerberg. We timed the run, which was about 7-8 minutes, and at the rate of four people per run, we figured we'd have to wait at least 30 minutes for our turn!

But then the "opposite" cabin showed up, which was like a cargo cabin, and eight people piled into that, and we were told we'd be able to take the next one when the little red cabin came back down again!

By 11:06 we were on our way up the steep mountainside, with a view up the valley past Vättis toward the Kunkels Pass. 

I like to get a photo of me with each new cable-car we ride, but I we could barely get the camera ready, and the cabin was on its way down again!

The cable-way runs continually until all the people who show up for the 11 a.m. run are transported up the mountain, and then the cable-way rests until the next scheduled run at 1 p.m. and every odd hour.

At the top station of the cableway is a little cabin (called Seilerhütta) whose owners run a small restaurant. We lingered here for a while over coffees (and Urs had a dessert), enjoying the sunshine and the view, and debating whether we really wanted to walk straight down 600 meters and continue as planned along the lakeside path or rather pass up the lake altogether for a mountain walk!

The view from our little table at the Seilerhütta Patio!

I think this was the last run of the cable-car, which arrived at about 11:30. 

VIDEO:

The final 11 o'clock run of the Vättnerberg cable-car.

A final look back at the little restaurant patio and the summit station of the Vättnerberg cablecar, as we head out on our hike for the day at 11:50.

From here we could have taken a very steep trail right back down toward the base station of the cable-way and to the Tamina River (700 meters, 1¼ hours) to walk out of the valley along the lake, but it was much cooler up here, and the views were better, so we by-passed the lake trail and headed straight to our destination of Vasön, a two-hour walk from here. We still had to descend the 700 meters, but at least could enjoy the mountain walk.  

After a 30-minute walk from Vättis to the cable-car station, and a coffee-break at the summit station of the Vättnerberg cableway, we started on our walk at 11:50. We still had a long and steep descent to Vasön, which was along a gravel road and rather "hot" after all (we could have gone through the forest, but thought we'd have better views on the "unofficial" descent). We got to Vasön at 14:50, with just a few minutes to spare for the bus back out of the valley. 

And this cute sign directs us to another farm called Alp Findels, a 30-minute walk from here. 

Starting out on our leisurely walk in these upper pastures on the Vättnerberg. The mountain in the back is called Muntaluna, and some of the hikers were headed up there, a 2-hour and 40-minute hike from here!

On the east side of the Tamina Valley are the massive mountains of the Calanda Range, which separate this valley from the Rhine Valley and the city of Chur.

Another beautiful peak to the southwest, I think it's called the Vättnerchopf. 

To the east you can see how massive the Tamina Gorge is, a 600-meter drop from here! 

It was very pretty up here, and we enjoyed this walk along these upper alpine pastures. 

Always a view into the deep valley where the reservoir lake is. 

VIDEO:

Panorama of the Calanda Range and the Tamina Valley

So idyllic. 

Up ahead we can see where the trail continues along this mountainside. In the far background are the mountains of the Prättigau region of Canton Graubünden, which form the border with Austria. 

Enjoying the view. 

We even caught sight of the first marmot of the season!

Always a view into the deep valley where the reservoir lake is. 

A perfectly-placed bench along the way, where we enjoyed our sandwiches!

At shortly before 1 p.m. we reached the farm at Alp Findels, which is a real cozy spot with lots of picnic tables and a playground for the kids. This is most likely where most of the people who rode the cable-car walked to (30 minutes from the cable-car) for refreshments before heading back again. 

My favourite part of this walk: A parking lot full of tractors, waiting to be "borrowed" for the afternoon!

This is the view from Alp Findels, past the town of Valens and all the way into the Rhine Valley. (Behind that mountain in the center is Austria).  Our descent starts here, passing by that farm on the left. 

A close-up view of the fabulous bridge over the Tamina Gorge. This bridge is the highest arch bridge ever built in Europe (200m above the gorge bottom) and has a main arch span of 259 meters. The bridge was only just recently completed, in 2017. The bridge won the 2018 International Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence.

Cute wild pansies. 

Instead of heading straight down through the forest from Alp Findels, we decided to continue on the higher farm road and descend via that zigzag road, thinking it would be less steep and less strenuous. (In retrospect, the forest trail would have been better as there would have been more shade. The farmer's road was more gravely as well). 

Up ahead is the "farmer's road" we are headed to. It looks inviting, but we ended up running into a problem before getting there, as there was avalanche debris in the couloir ahead of us. 

It looked like some avalanche debris had come down through here (the Bachberg Tobel), so we couldn't cross. We had to find a place to cross further down. 

Not an easy crossing, and the big adventure for the day!

Back there at the arrow is where we came down the mountain and had to cross the "waterfall". 

A long stretch of downhill along this zigzag road, over one kilometer like this. There unfortunately wasn't a lot of shade and also no breeze here. What amazed us is that this entire road exists only for one farm (called Bachberg) further up the mountain. 

Walking through their territory, the cows are checking us out carefully!

And it's not very often that we also walk among free-range donkeys!

VIDEO:

The donkeys followed Urs for a bit

Another view into the Tamina Gorge and the arched bridge at the back. 

Close-up view of the arched bridge over the Tamina Gorge. The large town is called Valens, and there is a rehab clinic there. I also walked through this town (and then down into the gorge) on my August hike last year. 

And a zoomed look at the village of Vasön where we are going to end our hike. From here, though, we still have to walk 30 minutes to get there!

From here it's still a 30-minute walk to the village of Vasön. 

Another river to cross, but not as difficult as the other one!

Having just crossed that river. 

And the final stretch into Vasön

I guess the heat is getting to these little ones, as they all crowd into the shade of the boulder. 

We got to the little church in Vasön with just 7 minutes to spare for the 14:53 bus. This is a bit early for us to be heading home, but we'd had enough walking for the day, and we don't usually feel like just sitting around. 

What this hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. First we walked 30 minutes from Vättis to the cable-car station, and from the top it was another 2 hours to Vasön, with a total descent of almost 800 meters. 

On the bus now on the way back out of the valley, the town of Pfäfers is on the other side of the Tamina Gorge. 

Crossing the stupendous concrete arched bridge, completed in 2017 at the cost of 36.7 million francs. This is the largest arched bridge in Switzerland, with a reach of 260 meters.  

A final look up the Tamina Valley as the bus crosses the bridge. 

And in the other direction, a view down into the Rhine River valley, with the entrance to the Prättigau region directly across the way. 

And another view of the city of Bad Ragaz as the bus winds its way down to the large Rhine River basin. 

The bus gets to the train station at Bad Ragaz at 15:24, and from here the rest of the trip home takes an hour and 40 minutes. 

These are all the hikes we have done in the region of the Rhine River Basin and the city of Chur. In 2020 we started in Tamins and crossed the Kunkels Pass, ending that hike in Vättis. In 2024 I started in Vasön and walked via the Tamina Gorge to Bad Ragaz. And this day we connected those two trails via the higher trail using the cable car in Vättis. 

Location of the Tamina Valley within Switzerland