Senda Sursilvana Trail from Brigels to Trun, overnight in Cumpadials

(This post was created on August 20, 2025) 

Tuesday June 17, 2025 -- As Urs has a full week of vacation this week, we wanted to plan a trip with an overnight or two, so we could travel a bit further and save ourselves about six hours of riding the train. We had originally picked mid-June for this vacation week as the milder spring temperatures would mean we could do hikes in the foothills (for example the Jura range, which we don't often get to), but as it turned out, this week, although beautiful weather with no rain, has turned out to be one of the hottest June weeks on record. Lower elevations to hike were out of the question. 

The problem, though, is that the cable-cars and mountain buses don't start running till the end of June, so we didn't have a lot of options to get to higher elevations. What we ended up settling for was a trip to the Surselva in Canton Grisons/Graubünden, which is a long valley right in the center of the West-to-East stretch of the Swiss Alps, a valley were the Rhine River has its source near the Oberalp Pass. We hoped that by being higher up in the center of the Alps, it might be less hot.

We booked a room in a quiet village near the city of Disentis and chose for our first day's hike a 14-km stretch of the themed trail called Senda Sursilvana, a total 105-km trail of which we have done many sections. Never having been to the winter ski village of Brigels, we planned to start east of that one, and walk to the village of Trun, where we had ended another stretch of this trail back in October 2024. That way we could join two sections.

Although along the way we did feel the heat in some places, there was mostly a breeze, and we took lots of breaks in the shade, taking eight hours to walk an otherwise four-hour trail. When we got to Trun, a short train ride to Sumvitg train station and another kilometer to walk to our accommodation in Cumpadials, where our host (a professional baker and cook) served us a local specialty called Capuns, which we like to eat when we are in Canton Graubünden. 

Notes: As this section of the Senda Sursilvana is also part of the St.James Trail in Canton Graubünden, we passed and inspected several churches (for a couple we would have had to get keys locally, so we passed on that this time). Unfortunately, about 6 kilometers of the total walk was on paved roads. 

PART I:  15-km walk along the Senda Sursilvana Trail

The train from Chur heads along the Surselva Valley to Ilanz, from where we take the bus to our starting point west of a town called Waltensburg, where we ended another section of this trail back in October of 2021, where we started at Pigniu Lake. 

Because we ended the last section of Trail no.35 here at the western end of Waltensburg, we decided to start here this time, although it meant not having seen the actual town of Waltensburg (known as Vuorz in the local Romantsch language). Another day for that, then. We got here at about 10 a.m.; it's a three-hour trip to get here. From here now, 1¼ hours to walk to Brigels. (This is also part of Trail no.43: "St.James Trail Graubünden".)

Information about Regional Trail no.35: Senda Sursilvana, a 105-km trail down the entire Surselva Valley, starting at the Oberalp Pass and ending in Chur. 

This was a long, full-day hike, starting at 10 a.m. just west of Waltensburg, and reaching the train station in Trun at about 5:45 p.m. (from there a short ride to Cumpadials, where we had rented a room for one night). We did spent some time in Brigels, though, and also stopped often in the shade to rest along the way, and also to look at all the churches!

The first 45 minutes (2½ kilometers) to the lake at Brigels was along a wide road like this through farmland. (We could have started in Brigels, but I like to "join" trails, so sometimes a section is boring). 

Our first view of the church in Brigels, from far off  (zoomed view). 

Before reaching the town of Brigels, we first get to the beautiful lake here (a reservoir lake with a dam, but the colour of the water is quite pretty). 

A short break on a well-placed bench. 

Next to the bench was a suitcase on a post, so we looked inside. A mini library!

After following the lakeside trail, we took a detour above the town to view it from above. The little chapel on the hill was the first of many we passed, although we didn't take a detour to that one. 

A view of the town of Brigels from above. I love the daisies. And the snow-capped peaks of the Sumvitg Valley provide a very nice backdrop. 

Close-up view of a very nice-looking building in Brigels. It's called Casa Mirabella and is a typical Graubünden Manor House from the 17th Century. 

Approaching the town of Brigels from the north. We could have gone directly into the town from the lake, but this way we could walk down the entire village. 

First thing we noticed was another church building, and it was on our way, so we didn't feel too bad about not going to see the one on the hill. 

Pretty houses, lots of flowers. 

Above this very pretty house we again see the little chapel. It is a pilgrim chapel called St.Eusebius (or Sogn Sievi in the local Rhäto-Romanisch language). The bell tower dates from 1100, and there are apparently some nice frescoes and a Gothic Altar (1486) inside. We would have liked to visit it, but would have to pick up a key at a local hotel, and we didn't feel like backtracking. 

This cute building is part of a mini-museum here. 

This church, called St.Martin (or Sogn Martin) was open to visit, and we totally loved the inside, with its frescoes and thick walls. Above the little main door was a date of 1480 painted in the plaster. There were two town fires (1392/1492) and this chapel seems to have survived the 1492 fire (the main parish church did not). 

A very attractive ceiling

Behind the altar is a very old (late Gothic, 1508) winged altar piece. Some very nice fresco paintings adorn the simple chancel. 

Details of the fresco paintings

An absolute treasure in this chapel is the original-painted Late Gothic winged altar-piece from 1508. It is believed that this altar-piece was created by a man named Jörg Leerer from the south-German town of Kaufbeuren. Apparently, the back side of the altar-piece is also painted, but we did not look behind it. 

Another fabulous painting inside this little church (I could not find any information about it). 

Even though the building is old, the painting of St.Christopher on the outside was done only in 1927. The old wooden door with a sunshine motif was very pretty as well. 

After visiting St.Martin's church, we headed into the center of Brigels looking for a restaurant or place where we could take the next break. 

We found a bakery called "Gabriel" together with a Café, and convenient tables in the shade outside. As it was now close to noon, we ordered some cheese quiches and had a nice light lunch here! We got here at 11:45. 

The view from our little table in front of the bakery/café

By 12:15 a large group of Dutch hikers showed up, and their conversation was at too high a volume for us, so we headed off again, to look at the town's main church, which was right here at the main square. 

Here at the main square in front of the pretty fountain is the Hotel Alpina, where we could have picked up the key for the Sogn Sievi Chapel on the hill (now we know for the next time). 

The parish church of the Assumption is a rather modern building. Along with most of the village, the original early Medieval building burned down in a fire of 1392. A new church built in 1397 was once again burned down in a village fire of 1493(or 1492?) (one quarter of the village burned). In 1504 it was rebuilt with four new altars.

Four altars dating from 1504 after the church burned down twice. The rest of the building looks pretty modern. 

We then walked around the church cemetery admiring the iron crosses. The grounds were unusual in that the cemetery was elevated, but there were no protective walls. 

From the church cemetery grounds we could see that the bakery/café had gotten quite busy (it is now 12:30) so we were glad we got there when we did! (Inside was too warm to sit, so we had been glad for the tables in the shade outside). 

This was another "mini-museum". I always say the museums here are collections of things found in people's attics, saved up from long ago!

We pass another restaurant as we leave the town. 

A look back at the town of Brigels as we head downhill. It's 12:45 now. 

Heading down the hill to continue on the Sursilvana Trail to the next village called Dardin. 

All the way we passed properties where the roses were in full bloom. 

This next village is called Dardin, and of course there was a village church to inspect. The parish church St. Sebastian is somewhat outside of the village. (Note, as of here, we ended up walking about 3½ kilometers along a paved road from village to village).  

It took us just under an hour to walk here to the next village, and first we had a look inside the church, and then we took a break on a bench in front of the house on the left, nicely in the shade, because it was warm to walk on the road here, and we needed a lot of breaks in the shade.

A quick climb to the balcony to get a photo of the church interior from above. St.Sebastian is a Baroque church built at the end of the 17th Century. 

A look back at the St.Sebastian church as we continue on our walk. 

Up ahead we can see the church roof of the next community of Capeder

On this house, I liked the window flower boxes. Each one is a little different!

From up here we get a look down at the valley bottom. The Vorderrhein River flows down this valley. 

More very pretty roses. 

Some really neat and very old houses. 

Entering the village of Capeder at about 2 p.m.  

Here is the little chapel in Capeder. (On the left is an old village community oven!). The name of the chapel is "Kapelle Nossa Dunna dallas Dolurs", or "Our Lady of Sorrows". 

Interior of "Our Lady of Sorrows" Chapel in Capeder. 

More beautiful roses!

The fields of Red Poppies are also very pretty!

And also lots of pretty butterflies. 

The next village along the road is called Schlans. Just before we got there, we found this bench to take another break!

This is the view we had from the bench. The chapel is called "Maria of the Snow" and a quick look in the Internet shows that it is locked. The Sais Tower is just a square tower...and since we've been to such before, we figured we would save ourselves the walk up to the site this time. 

More roses

Even more roses

Walking down the road into Schlans. 

Then we got to my favourite church of the whole stretch: This is the Schlans parish church of Sogn Gieri, or St.George Church. The church in its current form is from 1671, but the tower and foyer are much older, from the 11th Century. 

During restorations in 1928, this fresco of St.Christopher on the west side of the tower was discovered. It dates from the early 1300's. 

Even before going into the building, we could see that there was a lot of impressive artwork to admire. These frescoes around the main entrance were also discovered during the renovations of 1928.

That door is pretty small, though!

I was able to access the balcony via this pretty staircase. 

View of the lovely church from the balcony. 

Very ornate main and side altars from the 1671 construction of the main part of the church. 

A look at the church building from below the road. 

This is the view up the Surselva Valley from the church grounds in Schlans

A close-up view of the village of Zignau, with a church that might be worth a look one day when doing a walk on the valley bottom!

This is an interesting-looking building!

From Schlans, the road heads up the hill and soon we will be leaving the paved road (which we had to walk along for over three kilometers) to end up back on the mountain trail.

Another cool house. 

More roses!

Back on the mountain trail now with a view down to the rooftops of Schlans. 

Down below we get the first look at the town of Trun, where we are ending our hike. (We ended another hike there in October 2024, also walking along the Senda Sursilvana Trail, but starting from further up in the valley. This time we decided to END in Trun instead of starting there, to avoid this long uphill climb in the heat!)

Crossing one of many side streams which flow into the Rhine River below. 

This clearing was FULL of very high-growth ferns! It looked really neat. 

Another fun bridge

We had to descend 100 meters to a little hamlet called Cartatscha, where we once again spotted a chapel we were hoping to have a look at. Unfortunately, the little chapel was locked. Information on the panel states that this is St.Valentine's Chapel, dates from at least 1712, and supposedly has some nice artwork inside. We were disappointed that we could not get in. 

This is the final descent to Trun. It's now about 5:20 p.m., and we want to catch the 17:54 train to Cumpadials (where we had rented a room for the night). But it's an almost 30-minute walk from here, so we have to hurry!

View above us as we head down to Trun. 

Making our way down to the town of Trun. We wouldn't have had time to look at the town, but it didn't matter, as we had seen most of it back in October 2024 when we ended our walk from Sumvitg. (Photos HERE). (Except at that time we did not go into the parish church)

Across from the train station in Trun is St.Anna's Chapel. The interesting thing about this site is that at the courtyard next to the church, the "Alliance of the Grey League" was created in 1424 to form the free state of the "Three Leagues". The Free League joined the Confederacy only in 1803 as the Canton of Graubünden. The frescoes on the front of the church depict the forming of the alliance.

Right on time for the 17:54 train to Cumpadials, a 24-minute ride from here in the direction of Disentis. 

What our 15-km walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps, including all the churches and chapels (or most of them) we passed (or saw) along the way!

PART II -- Overnight in Cumpadials

(We could easily have returned home the same day, but as we wanted to do a walk to the largest suspension bridge in Canton Graubünden, we figured we could save ourselves at least five hours of riding trains if we spent the night in the area. We had found a room via the Internet in an old farmhouse in a very small and quiet village at the valley bottom, called Cupadials, easy enough to access even though we still had a 20-minute walk from the Sumvitg train station). 

Here is a view southwards into another side valley called Val Sumvitg, where I have not yet been. The little village here is called Surrein. 

A close-up look into Val Sumvitg, a valley I have yet to discover. 

Arriving at the train station in Sumvitg (where we actually had started our October 2024 hike but also ended a November 2018 hike), the sign indicates a 10-minute walk into Cumpadials. As our rented room was at the very west side of the village, it took us about 20 minutes to walk there. (We also didn't take the most direct way). 

Cute little train station in Cumpadials. We got here at about 6 p.m. 

This was the path we took from the Sumvitg/Cumpadials train station to our BnB accommodation on the west side of the village of Cumpadials. It was just over one kilometer and another 20 minutes of walking.  

Walking through the village of Cumpadials and admiring the houses here. 

Passing this display of a very old fire engine brought back memories of having actually passed through here once before on the November 2018 hike! (Not one of my favourites, as it was very cold at the time). 

All the beautiful flowers (and more roses) add so much colour to the towns!

This is the little village church in Cumpadials, so we have to have a look inside. It is called St.Josef's Chapel, built from 1641 to 1643. 

The little church, which was expanded in 1841, has three wooden Baroque altars. 

Details of St.Josef's chapel in Cumpadials. The painting behind the main altar, depicting the family of Jesus (parents and him as a child), dates from 1700. 

We got to our accommodation at about 6:30 p.m. It was a very nice room at the top of the old farmhouse (the host/owner also lives here) with a shared bathroom, but we were the only guests. We had heard that the owner was a baker and cook by profession, so we had asked him to make us us a local specialty called "capuns" (sort of like cabbage rolls) which we like to eat when we travel in Canton Graubünden. (Unfortunately I did not enjoy the, and found the price of 30 Fr. per person for this small portion (plus salad) to be outrageously expensive, even though he uses all ingredients out of his own garden). Also, we mwere inundated with flies in his dining/living room as we were eating dinner. He said it was a short-lived event.... 

View out of our bedroom window down the Surselva Valley. The fact that there was a fountain / trough right outside the window was the best part. We spent a very quiet night here (it cost 120 Fr. for the night). 

Location of the Surselva Valley within Switzerland. 

These are all the connected sections of the "Senda Sursilvana" which we have done in the region between Lake Pigniu on the right, and Oberalp Pass way on the left off the photo.