Geissboden Loop Hike and a walk down to the Back of the Isenthal Valley

Saturday, June 14th, 2025 -- Another hot day with forecast of thunder storms in the afternoon in the mountains.... so we chose a short 2½-hour walk in one of our favourite valleys nearby: Isenthal Valley in Canton Uri.

After a 90-minute trip to the back of the Isenthal Valley (a hidden side valley off the south end of Lake Uri arm of Lake Lucerne), we got on the first little cable car up to the wide alpine plateau called Gitschenen, with the intention of walking back down to the valley bottom, as we had never done this before. There aren't many buses running in the valley, so our plan of catching the noon bus back out of the valley gave us three hours to do a hike.

But because the downhill section of the hike was only 90 minutes, we planned to first do a one-hour loop walk (called Geissboden Rundweg) on the upper plateau, before making the descent. It turned out to be a super decision, as the meadows here were thick with flowers (unexpected, as the hills lower down were already mowed clean), cows were already on the upper meadows, the back-drop of mountains was as stunning as always, and it wasn't unbearable hot. We loved this hike very much, and made it with enough time for the noon bus for the always fabulous trip out of this valley.

As the train heads south along Lake Uri, we can see across the lake, the zigzag road which the bus takes up into the Isenthal Valley, behind the arrow on the photo.

Bus heading up the Isenthal Valley.

At the village of Isenthal is a side valley called the Chlital. We have been up in that valley twice. (July 2020 and September 2023)

Near the St.Jakob cable-car station is a scattering of houses and farms (this is called Stettli). We are going to be coming down the mountain on the right of this photo.

Having left home at 7:10, we were already at the cable-car station at 8:55, and were first off the bus and into the little cable-car by 9 a.m.! This view is up another side valley to the south, called Grosstal.

Passing a waterfall on the way up to the upper alpine meadows at Gitschenen. The cable-car saves us an ascent of 600 meters.

Nearing the summit station now. We were a bit disappointed that all the grassy hillsides have already been mowed!

Watching the little cable car (transports maximum 8 people) head back down to the valley bottom in the Isenthal valley.

And WOW, how happy I was to see that the meadows up here are NOT mowed! That first peak on the left is called Alpeler, then we have the Hoh Brisen, and the one at the furthest back is simply called Brisen, a peak we summited in August 2022 coming up from the other side. (Those photos are HERE).

Since the walk back down the mountain would only take 90 minutes, we decided to start with the loop trail called "Geissboden Rundweg". (According to this sign it should be a 40-minute walk, but it was closer to one hour!)

Starting at the top station of the St.Jakob-Gitschenen cable car at 9:05 and first doing the Geissboden Loop, we got to Chneuwis to start our descent at 10:10. We reached the nearest bus stop on the road below at 11:50, but since the bus was coming at 12:03, we still had time to walk along the river to the next bus stop, a nice additional walk.

Looking toward the mountains to the north. Lake Luzern is on the other side.

There is a cute little chapel up here. We didn't make a detour to see it, though.

Heading out on a lovely walk.

Up there at the arrow is a pass called the "Vorder Jochli", which I crossed on a fantastic solo hike last October, a hike I would do again. (Photos HERE).

This farm is called Hinter Gitschenen, and the trail passes right between the barn and the house.

Along the mountains to the south of us is an interesting hole in the rock on the ridge.

Beautiful

At the very back of this "cauldron" is another pass which we crossed in October of 2023. At that time it was a very hot day, and I can hardly believe that we made it all the way up there! (Those photos are HERE).

I am so excited about all the flowers!

Next to daisies, these are my favourites. They are called Globe Flowers.

Getting toward the back of the loop, we look eastward, and see the road we will be taking back toward the Isenthal valley (it's the one higher up on the left).

Here at the Geissboden Alp, we are at the very back of the Geissboden Loop trail, and will head eastward again from here.

From the Geissboden Alp, you can also continue westward toward the Steinalper Jochli Pass, a 90-minute hike from here, and one we did in October 2023, on a day as hot as this one! (Photos HERE). From that saddle you can continue up to the left to the summit of Mt. Brisen, but we headed down on the other side to Klewenalp. We also ascended to the summit of Mt. Brisen once in August 2022, but we did it from the other side. (Those Photos are HERE).

Following this road now to get back to the houses at Gitschenen.

We were almost alone up here, but another couple was doing the Geissboden Loop Tour as well.

It's nice to see the cows up in the alpine pastures again.

Mt. Alpeler seen from the north side. The first part of the Geissboden Loop Trail was along the base of that mountain.

Looking behind us again as we pass more buildings from the Hinter Gitschenen Farm.

We are totally enjoying this walk!

At 10:10 we got to the houses at Chneuwis, and past these houses is where we started our descent.

Our trail heads down the valley on the right, but the more popular trail, where those other people are going, heads up to two other mountain passes, both of which we have crossed more than once.

It never gets boring up here.

Looking down the valley now where we are descending. (In the very center of the photo is a "saddle" which you can access with a small farmer's cargo cable car. We did this ride with friends back in September of last year).

It must have been a very hot climb for these people! Also, they were not the only people we passed as we were going down.

Nice zig-zag forest trails.

It's always a treat to come across a waterfall

Looking behind us at a farm we passed shortly after starting our descent. The farmers were working hard here.

A river called the Lauwelibach runs down this valley in a kind of ravine, and we had to cross it a little further down from here.

This is the bridge we had to cross!

Crossing the Lauwelibach River. From here we had a nice long walk on the shady side of the ravine!

A view of the mountains in the Grosstal as we walk through a clearing in the forest.

Heading away from the ravine now, the trail was a zig-zag forest road all the way back to the road at the valley bottom. Or that's the only one that was marked on our map, anyway.

After walking a long section on the forestry road, Urs noticed a smaller trail heading off the road, which cut across all the zig-zags. This trail was not marked on our map, but it was obviously a well-walked trail. We were glad to have found it.

And now out of the forest and nearly down at the road, we pass through a hamlet of houses called Stettli, which we had seen from the bus heading up to the cable-car station.

Down here they are also busy with getting the hay dried and put into the barns.

A beautful view into the back of the Grosstal Valley.

The chapel here is called St.Jakob, and it was built in 1861-1862. We didn't make the detour to this one. It is apparently a favourite for weddings.

So many daisies!

Again, a look into the back of the Chlital Valley. On the right next to that pointed mountain, is where the cable-car goes up.

At 11:52 we crossed the Isentalerbach river (There was a bus stop here, but we had enough time to walk along the right side of the river to the next bus stop, another 1/2 kilometer of a very pretty trail through the forest. (The bus was expected there shortly after noon).

A look up the valley from the bridge as we cross the river.

The Isenthalerbach River

Our bus stop is at the little garage building up ahead.

The last section of trail before getting to the bus stop.

Here's our bus, at 12:08. He was running about five minutes late.... and ended up making up time by driving quite quickly on the roads out of the valley! (He wanted to make sure we got our connection in Altdorf train station). There were only four of us in the bus at this time of day, and the bus didn't have to stop often on the way.

Passing through the village of Isenthal again on the way back out of the valley.

The road out of the Isenthal Valley.

The worst part of these roads are the cyclists. They take up more space on the road so that the vehicles cannot pass, and the bus can drive only as fast as the cyclists can ride. Additionally, because the roads are so narrow, no other vehicles (and not cyclists either) are allowed on the road in the 15 minutes it takes the bus to make the run. So these cyclists are actually an illegal hindrance.

If there are bikes on the road, the bus cannot pass as he cannot see what is around the corners!

Way down below we get a glimpse of Lake Uri.

From high up, a look at the south end of Lake Uri.

VIDEO:

The Isenthal road is so narrow, that cars are not allowed to start driving the 15-minute stretch while the bus is on this route. There are signs to this effect both at the top and the bottom. Yet some cars ignore the signs, possibly not even seeing them as long as their SAT Navs give them the directions. In this case, this car was lucky that there was a lay-by close by, to back up into, otherwise they would have had to back down the entire, winding road.

The road makes a turn tighter than 180 degrees.

VIDEO:

For 90 seconds, join me on the front seat of the Post Bus, for the bottom part of the Isleten-Isenthal road! (The ride was much faster than I was comfortable with, but the connections are tight on this route, and if the bus is delayed for any reason, it cannot make the connections. So the bus was trying to make up time!)

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Back down on the main road that runs along Lake Uri, and before the bus enters the tunnel, you can see how the road into the Isenthal Valley was blasted into the cliff face to create a road access into the valley. (Until 1901, there was no road into the valley).

Heading south along Lake Uri, this is a view to the east side of the lake. The little town on the lake is called Sisikon.

This cute church is in Seedorf, on the way to Altdorf train station.

Also along the way to the train station in Altdorf is the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Lazarus. There are only seven sisters living in this large building!

All the hikes we have done in the region of the Isenthal Valley. It is too bad that the Google Satellite Maps currently show lots of snow-covered mountains, so you can not get a really good idea of the trails.

From Altdorf the train heads north again along the east side of Lake Uri, and we get another look into the Isenthal Valley, directly across the lake. It is now 12:50, and we were back home at 1:45 p.m.!