Prättigau Gorge Hike from Seewis to Fanas on a very hot day.

Thursday June 12, 2025 -- With the particles of smoke in the air from the massive fires in Northern Canada (reaching all the way to Central Europe), there was no point in going into the mountains where we would hope for some nice views. Still, we wanted to do a hike this day on Urs' day off, but the air temperature is quite hot at the moment, so ideally, a forest walk would be the best solution. But we still wanted to go into the mountains.

We decided to travel to the Prättigau region of eastern Switzerland, as it's within a 2½-hour trip from home. On our hiking map we could see a deep gorge with a suggested hiking trail in the forest, requiring little ascent and less than three hours of walking. The walk started in the mountain village of Seewis, where we have started hikes on two previous occasions in two different directions (2020 and 2021), and this time we walked into the gorge, crossing a river called the Taschinasbach, climbed up a series of ladders and a zigzag path out of the gorge, and headed back out toward Fanas, a mountain village we had not yet visited before.

There was plenty of shade on the mostly forest trails, and we also had several breaks on benches in the shade. We only had to put up with the heat on a short stretch. Descending to the train station in Grüsch, there was a breeze blowing, so the heat wasn't too bad. Having started in Seewis at 9:15 a.m., we were on the train back to home at 2 p.m. already. Also, even with the hazy air, we still had some views!

Leaving home at about 6:45, we got to Seewis shortly after 9 a.m. It was already hot at this time of day! This is the final bus stop along the route from the Grüsch train station to this mountain village.

From the main town square, a look below at the town's church.

The very hazy air is due to smoke particles which have made their way all the way here from the massive fires in Canada. We knew we wouldn't have the best views, so that is why we chose to walk into the gorge instead.

On this day we saw lots of roses!

Beautful roses.

This is a mailbox! As we were admiring it, the owner came by and said "Ya, it needs a bit of renovation"!

And now we head northwards out of the village, along the paved road for about 15 minutes before the trail descends into the forest. It was quite hot already, even though it was only 9:15!

Starting in Seewis at shortly after 9 a.m., we walked into the gorge, then to Fanas, which we reached at about 12:15. After a long break on a shady bench there, we looked at the pretty houses in Fanas, and then descended to the train station, which we reached at 2 p.m. We were home by shortly after 4 p.m., so only about a 2-hour trip to this beautiful region!

A cute little self-serve shop. Urs went in, but this time he did not buy anything.

Very attractive houses in this region

Up ahead is a saw mill

A look back at the village of Seewis.

After 15 minutes on the paved road, we followed a forest road into the gorge.

A view across the gorge, where we will be walking later.

More beautiful roses.

A nice 15-minute walk through the forest heading down to the river. It's so pleasant and cool here!

After about 15 minutes of walking on a narrow path through the cool forest (the sun hasn't reached down into this steep gorge yet), we reach the bridge over the river called Taschinasbach.

Crossing the bridge over the Taschinas River

This looks like it might be exciting!

VIDEO:

Starting on our ascent out of the gorge toward the two sets of stairs!

The chain hand-holds weren't really necesary.

This makes the walk interesting!

Nice sunlight in the forest now.

Two more bridges...

We always find some pretty interesting fungi in the forests.

A wide soft road through a shady forest, just perfect on this hot day. The road has a name: Dalfazzaweg, because it runs through a farm called Dalfazza, which we are headed to.

At one point on this forested section, we get a glimpse again of the church steeple in Seewis across the gorge. The large mountain at the back is actually on the west side of the Rhine Valley near Landquart, and I believe is part of the Calanda Massif.

We found a perfect bench with a view and in the cool shade... in fact, almost too cold for me, but Urs is perfectly happy! This was our lunch break at 11:30.

The view from our picnic bench. Mostly it is looking right into the lush flowering meadows! To the south on the other side of the valley (the Landquart River runs through this valley from the direction of Klosters) is the mountain called Furna. (Furnerberg)

Down below us is the Dalfazza farm. The trail goes right past the farm buildings there.

Soft narrow trails are the best kind!

Past the Dalfazza farm, this wide road (Dalfazzaweg) runs for 1¾ kilometres right to the outskirts of the village of Fanas. There are no other farms here. This road is laid out only for that one farm which we passed by. We walked on this road for 30 minutes.

An opening in the trees at a point on the road called Sass gives us a view all the way back along the Taschinasbach Gorge, to the mountains of the Rätikon Range which form the border with Austria. The gorge goes far back and is very deep, but the only place you can access the river is where we crossed on the bridge earlier.

A zoomed view of part of the Rätikon mountains. The saddle in the center is called Salarueljoch, and you can hike across there into Austria. The peak on the left is called Hornspitz, and the one on the right is Schafsberg, the western end of the Alpstein Range.

A bend in the road and we get a really good look at the mountain town of Seewis. You also can kind of see how deep the gorge is.

A neat wooden house with attached barn. It has a name: Lumadu

And now we are out of the gorge and on the south side of the mountain, looking down at the farmland along the Landquart River.

Look at all the little barns in the fields below! The Landquart River runs down from Klosters and enters the Rhine River at Landquart.

Now we can admire lots of pretty houses, as we have reached the outskirts of the mountain village of Fanas.

All the vehicles neatly parked!

Heading up the road into Fanas. It was quite hot to walk along this section.

At 12:50 we found this wonderful bench near the Trügli bus stop at the west end of the village. We sat here for a long time, as it was a nice respite from the heat, and the view was better than we had expected.

The view from our bench, which ended up being better than we had expected. Below is the town of Grüsch, where we are going to end our hike. And across on the other side of the valley is another side valley called Valzeina, which we discovered in October 2020 (those photos are HERE)

More pretty houses.

Another pretty house.

Cool, a covered passageway above the road between two houses.

Wow, the date on this beautful door is 1666!

And now we are getting into the main part of the village.

They even have a grocery store here! (Closed from noon to 3 p.m., and since it was now 1:15 p.m, we couldn't even go in to buy something cold to drink!). Also, the church was locked. A sign on the door read that we could get the key at the grocery store, which doesn't help when the grocery store is closed! So we didn't see the inside. Information on the Internet indicates that the church dates from 1755 and its most prized possession is a gold-plated copper chalice from 1450 (thus the reason the church is locked, I guess).

More beautiful roses

There were several really nice old houses around the main square (and a really nice fountain). This particular house dates from 1761.

The date on this gorgeous house reads 1727

And this one is even older. The date above the top window reads 1705

The windows of these old houses are always painted so artistically! The date on the top reads 1705, which is the date this house was built!

More roses

Heading back to the church and the west side of the village, from where we will descend to the town of Grüsch in the valley bottom.

A final look behind us at the village of Fanas as we head down the hill now.

Heading down the hillside to the train station in Grüsch (a 35-minute walk from the village of Fanas).

A nice combination of meadow and small dirt paths (which were partly wet).

And I am loving the many meadow flowers!

Looking down at the town of Grüsch

Close-up look at some pretty buildings in Grüsch.

The nearer building is called the "Haus zum Rosengarten" (Rose Garden House) and the building behind it is the old city hall.

We passed by this church on our way down the hill, but it also was locked.

When we got to the train station in Grüsch at 2 p.m. (our train was to come in at 14:06!), an older model locomotive of the Rhätian Railway went flitting by!