Around the Base of Mt.Giswilerstock at the Edge of the Entlebuch Biosphere

Sunday August 31, 2025 -- After a few days of rain and unstable weather, we had a single beautiful day this Sunday, this final day of August. Choosing a suitable hike this day posed the same problem we had a week earlier: Where to go where there will be few people on the trail, but not overcrowded public transport to get there?

There is a long hiking trail around the base of a mountain called Giswilerstock, located near Lake Lungern in Canton Obwalden south of Luzern, which is a hike I have long wanted to do. Starting point of this hike for us would be at a lesser-known but spectacular mountain pass road called Glaubenbielen in the Entlebuch region, acccessed from both Giswil in the east and Sörenberg in the west. We could only do this hike on a weekend, because we needed to end the hike on one of the bus stops on the Glaubenbielen Panorama Pass Road, and the bus runs only on weekends at this time of year (and only three times a day to valley bottom). But to get up to the pass we traveled via Sörenberg.... which would not have been a problem if not a large group of hikers had wanted to get to the Brienzer Rothorn cable-car which is on the way there! There were so many people, that before the bus could bring us up to the pass, it had to return to Sörenberg to pick up the rest of the group!

So we got to ride the bus twice (!) but made it to the pass not much later than planned. And were practically the only people walking the route over the Chringe Pass (which we had done once before, in the opposite direction). On the other side of the massif are a couple of farms, one of them (Fluonalp) very popular on a Sunday, but we stopped there anyway for refreshments, and to buy the best Sbrinz Cheese, produced locally here on the mountain. On the way, we also were able to look into the small storage huts where the wheels of cheese are stored, and to find out that this valley (Sarneraatal) is also part of the Sbrinz Trail which we had walked just a week earlier over the Grimsel Pass. 

After dropping off all the hikers at the Brienzer Rothorn cable-car station (with a second trip back to Sörenberg to pick up the rest of the group), our bus finally heads up to the Glaubenbielen Pass. Here we pass the Brienzer Rothorn crest, which can be reached from this side via cable-car, and from the other side via the steam train from Brienz. There is a popular ridge hike there that we have done in August 2019. 

A look down the Panorama Road on the Sörenberg side of the Glaubenbielen Pass. We did a winter hike here once in January 2022 as the road is converted to a hiking trail in winter. 

This is the bus that runs between Sörenberg and the Glaubenbielen parking lot on the west side of the pass. The actual pass is slightly to the east from this parking lot, and this bus is too large to run down the narrow winding road on the east side, so there is a small bus that does that run three times a day in each direction. We got here at 10:30 to start on our hike. 

At the start of the hike (at the large parking lot) is this map which shows that one can do a full loop tour arount this massif. It is called the "Bärgmännli Pfad" ("Little Troll Path") and there are many places with QR codes to read about local legends. Is this meant to make it more interesting for children? The entire loop takes at least five hours and almost 1000 meters total of ascent, and even we didn't want to do the entire loop at once!

As we start up the hill on our hike, a look behind us to the other side of the Glaubenbielen Pass road we can see a mountain called Nünalpstock, and the large farm called Alpwirtschaft Glaubenbielen, where we stopped for refreshments on the round-tour hike we did to that summit in October 2021 (those photos are HERE). It is a popular loop hike and of the 10 remaining people on the bus to the pass, all the rest of them went that way. 

Now we are heading to that pass up ahead, called the Chringe. It was a pretty easy walk even though it was altogether 365 meters ascent.  

To our south is the Brienzer Rothorn crest. We are currently in the Entlebuch region of Canton Luzern, and that ridge forms the border with Canton Bern. On the other side is the beautiful Lake Brienz. 

A close-up look at the Chringe Pass, past the little chapel at the Jänzimatt farm. 

They also make their own cheese up here at the Jänzimatt Farm, and sell it, along with refreshments, at a little stand down at the parking lot on the Glaubenbielen road. 

The main part of this massif is called the Giswilerstock, but the peak here up ahead is called Rossflue. We are going to cross the Chringe pass at the arrow. (Side note: We did walk on this section of trail between the Chringe Pass and Glaubenbielen bus stop once before, on that August 2019 hike from Brienzer Rothorn, but in the opposite direction). 

A look behind us now past the Jänzimatt Chapel again, toward the Karst Landscape of the Schrattenflue massif west of Sörenberg. Instead of walking the same trail here, we took a different and much nicer mountain trail parallel to the road. 

The little mountain trail passed above a small ravine. 

We joined the main trail here at the junction with a trail heading up to a different pass called Furgga, which would have shortened our hike a bit. It's the same height as the other pass we are crossing, and something we might do another time. 

It's nice to see the cows still up on the alpine pastures! (Soon they will go back to the valley barns!)

The trail heads up to the pass at Chringe, below the mountain called Rossflue. It was on the flanks of this mountain where we saw a herd of Chamois when we walked down along this path on the August 2019 hike, but this time there weren't any.

The trail up to Chringe, an easy hike. There were only a couple of other people on the trail this day, and none of them walked close to us. 

This is the view behind us to the west as we got to the pass. In the far back is the Schrattenflue. 

We got here at 12:15, and there was a convenient bench for our picnic lunch!

What a view for our picnic lunch! To the east are the Obwalden Alps (including Mt.Titlis and the geographical center of Switzerland). Later we are descending past those farm houses below in the center of the pastures. 

A look behind us as we continue on southward from the Chringe Pass. 

Our trail passes by those farm buildings later, coming from the dip on the right and headed left. 

A first look at Lake Sarnen to the north around the corner from the mountain. We kept having that view for the next hour or so. 

As we continue along, more of the lake comes into view! This is called the Sarneraa Valley, with the town of Sarnen at the north end, then later Lake Alpnach (Alpnachersee), and beyond that Lake Luzern and Lake Zug. Also below on the right is the town of Giswil where we will catch the train later. 

A close-up look at Lake Alpnachersee, and the village of Küssnacht on Lake Luzern, as well as the city of Zug where we live.  

And to the east, a close-up look at the summit of Mt.Titlis.

To the south we can see into the Hasli Valley on the other side of the Brünig Pass, and to the Bernese Alps. The snow-covered peaks here would be Mt. Wetterhorn and the Rosenlaui Glacier. What is also interesting to see from here is a small hamlet straight ahead (Breitenfeld), which we had passed through on a winter hike we did there in February 2023. 

A close-up look at the Rosenlaui Glacier on the left, and Mt. Wetterhorn on the right. (In July of this year I did a hike in the Reichenbach valley below the Rosenlaui Glacier. Those photos are HERE). 

Looking slightly to the southwest, we can see the Schönbüel restaurant on the upper right where we had lunch on the August 2019 hike (and coming down to about this point before heading on the trail toward the Chringe Pass). On the winter hike in February 2023, we walked almost up to the restaurant. And far in the back we can see the peaks of the most famous of the Bernese Alps: Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau. 

Close-up look at the peaks of the Bernese Alps which we could see from here. 

The trail here descends next to a steep drop to the south, protected by a fence, and with all those great views into the Bernese Alps and the Hasli Valley!

Here now we head down toward the farms in the "basin" we had seen from the pass. From here you can also walk to the summit station of the Turren-Schönbüel cable-car, or stay up along the crest for a while. 

Our path goes past the two farm houses down there. 

Past those cows we can see Mt. Stanserhorn and Mt. Rigi. 

Continuing northwards always with a view down the Sarnenaa Valley. 

Up ahead are two cute little buildings; we were wondering what they were for..... 

It turns out that both of these buildings were storage for large wheels of cheese, which are produced up here at the Fluonalp where we are headed to. The doors were open and inside we could look through windows to admire all the cheese wheels!

 There was all kinds of information about the manufacture of cheese up here on the Fluonalp. This information here is about Sbrinz Cheese, which was so popular over the centuries that the market trail from Central Switzerland to Italy via the Grimsel Pass got the nickname of "Via Sbrinz" (Which was the hike we did just one week earlier). There is documentation from the 16th Century, that this cheese was so beloved, that the Sbrinz from Central Switzerland was transported to Northern Italy at the request of Pope Klemens the VIII.

At 13:50 we got to the Fluonalp restaurant and were astounded by the number of people here! (We later learned that it is always like this on Sunday! There is a road up to here, and the parking lot was full of cars). In the back we can see the other pass that we could have crossed from the other side. 

At first we were going to keep walking because there were too many people here, but we looked inside and saw plenty of room inside to sit, so we ordered refreshments and dessert. Also, they sold cheese here, some from other farmers in the area, but a lot that they make themselves here in the summer (the wheels we had seen on the way here). So we bought some Sbrinz from here, which was very fitting. The best cheese EVER, no joke.

The train station in Giswil is too far for us to walk, an additional 3½ hours from here. We are headed to one of the bus stops on the Panorama Road, about 90 minutes from here (not marked on these trail markers).  We left here at about 2:30 p.m., after a 40-minute break at Fluonalp. 

Passing another farm called Hinter Brosmatt, as we continue northwards on the eastern flank of the Giswilerstock. 

A final look at Lake Lungernsee (the pointed mountain behind it is Mt. Stanserhorn) and the town of Giswil below (too far to walk to from here) as we now head along the north side of Giswilerstock, mostly through the forest, to one of the bus stops along the Glaubenbielen Panorama Road. 

There was a whole section of fallen rock which we had to pass through. 

Another look at the lake from a small look-out point. Here at 3:45 p.m. we are already in the shadow of the mountain because it's the north side. 

Out of the forest and a short stretch along the paved road, and we get to the bus stop. Normally, we would catch the 17:05 bus coming down from Glaubenbielen Pass, but as we got here at 4:30 p.m. already, we were able to catch the little bus on its way UP to the pass, ride it to the pass and then down again to the train station in Giswil. This was the last bus of the day on either side of the pass. 

This is what our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. Starting at the Glaubenbielen parking lot, and walking around the east side of Mt. Giswilerstock. The red line is the panorama road from the pass to Giswil, and we caught the bus along the road. 

The bus picked us up along the road at 16:41, and a few minutes later we were passing Mörlialp on the way up to the pass. There was only one other passenger in the bus. 

Looking down at Mörlialp, and this is the northwest side of Mt. Giswilerstock. 

Right about here is the actual pass. The road was very narrow, and even though the bus was small, there was some manoeuvering to do with oncoming traffic. 

This is the bus which travels this side of the pass road back and forth to Giswil three times per day (on weekends). We had a few minutes break up here, and then the bus headed back down just before 5 p.m. We were the only passengers for the 33-minute ride down to the train station in Giswil. 

The beautiful hills of the Entlebuch near the Glaubenbielen Pass. 

Heading down the panorama road toward Giswil. To the right, the valley goes up toward Lake Lungernsee and the Brünig Pass. 

Near the bottom now, but we can still see Lake Sarnensee. 

17:30 train to Luzern, a 34-minute trip, and in all just over an hour to get home from here. 

A look behind us as we ride along the east side of Lake Sarnen. The pointed peak in the center is the Giswilerstock, which we walked around this day. 

VIDEO:

On this train there is a window into the driver's "Cockpit" and

I watched out the front window for a while.

This is the view that the locomotive driver has! We are traveling along the east side of Lake Sarnen, and the mountain up ahead is the Stanserhorn. 

There was a baby crying in the front wagon, so we moved to the cargo wagon where the windows open. Although we had to stand with the bicycles, this was much more pleasant!

And now we travel along Lake Alpnach, with a look back to the south toward the Brünig Pass. You can even see the Eiger from here. 

Always a favourite view as the train passes Lake Rotsee between Luzern and Zug. 

All the hikes we have done in the area around the Glaubenbielen Pass and the Brünig Pass.

Location of Mt.Giswilerstock within Switzerland. 

On every train ride with the Luzern-Interlaken Panorama Express train toward the Brünig Pass, we pass the town of Giswil below and get this view of Mt. Giswilerstock. 

Back in August 2023, on a hike east of the Brünig Pass, we could see the Giswilerstock from here.