Ridge Hike from Piz Mundaun in the Surselva, between Rhine and Lumnezia Valleys

Saturday October 11, 2025 -- After the huge dump of snow we had in the mountains in September, we are now enjoying some wonderful Indian Summer weather, with warmer temperatures and very nice visibility in the mountains. 

Most of the Postauto runs into the mountains stop about mid-October, as do many of the cable cars (which close for revision in preparation of the skiing season), so we were able to take advantage of another weekend of mountain hiking, using some of the cable-cars still available.

In June of this year we had done a long hike in the Surselva Region of Canton Graubünden, basically starting in the town of Brigels which we really loved (photos HERE). We were one day too early for the start of the summer season of the cable-cars, and determined to return here, especially to do a hike up to the beautiful Frisal Valley north of Brigels. If you spend one night in the region near Ilanz, you can ride the cable-cars for free, so for this weekend we took advantage of the weather and the offer, and spent a night in the Rhätia Hotel in Ilanz. (As it turns out, we saved 82 Fr. on cable-cars, so our hotel accommodation worked out to just over 40Fr!)

For the arrival day we chose a shorter hike than the Frisal Valley hike (planned for Sunday) and walked a crest trail from Piz Mundaun with spectacular 360-degree views into the Lumnezia Valley, the Surselva, north into the Rhine Valley at Chur, and even all the way to the Bernese Alps. As only the "upper" chairlifts run in summer (accessible by car, but we don't have one), we had to first walk 45 minutes from the bus to the chairlift, and after 90 minutes of walking along the crest and taking another chairlift partly down the mountain, we once again had to walk another 90 minutes back to the bus route.

In all, it was a stunning hike, almost too warm on the crest. We may have started an hour too late, though, just making it in time for the final 2:30 p.m run of the second cable car, and the city of Ilanz falling quickly into the evening shadow of the mountains by 6 p.m. (Train and bus delays, difficulties activating our guest card, longer hike to the cable car than expected....)

As the train reaches Reichenau-Tamins (where the two Rhine Rivers join to make the main Rhine River), the fall colours are really starting to show up now!

To get to the Surselva Region, the train follows the Rhine River through the Rhine Canyon. 

Having left home at 7:35 for the 3+ hour trip to Surcuolm Village, (rather late for this kind of long trip), we were finally headed out of Ilanz by bus (at 10:40 with a 10-minute delay) for the villages along the north flank of Piz Mundaun 

As the bus heads westward, we get a good view of the valley where we will be walking the next day, ending just below that magnificent rock wall where there is a 3-kilometer valley called Val Frisal, one of the most beautiful high alpine valleys in the entire Alps. 

We finally got to the village of Surcuolm with 10 minutes delay at 11 a.m. , but still had a 45-minute uphill walk from here to the Cuolm Sura chair lift. 

First we have to hike 260 meters uphill (45 minutes) to the first cable-car, passing the parish church of Sogn Gieri, which we of course will first have a look at. 

The first village church in Surcuolm was built in 1604 in honour of Virgin Mary. The building was enlarged in 1856. 

Front part of the church with main altar (1740) and two side altars. 

Back of the church with organ and lots of nice wood finishings. 

The little cemetery had ornate iron crosses, possibly fashioned by hand. 

Now we are headed up the hillside, looking back down over the roofs of the village of Surcuolm, and directly to the north into the Pigniu Valley where we also once did a superb hike around Lake Pigniu in October 2021, and then out through the villages of Andiast and Waltensburg on the left. (Photos HERE). 

At 11:50 we got to the base station of the Surcuolm-Mundaun chair lift and lost some more time because we hadn't correctly activated our guest cards on our phone! (new electronic features to learn!). We were then on our way about 5 minutes later for the 10-minute ride up the hill. 

A look around the countryside as we head up on the chair lift!

I never take phone calls when I am hiking (not that I get any) but Urs does!

A look behind us as the chairlift heads to the summit. 

We got to the top at just after noon. There is a restaurant here, as there often is at the top of cable-ways!

From the summit, we can look down into the Lumnezia Valley on the other side from where we came up from! We have been only once in this beautiful valley, and that was a winter hike in February 2023. Additionally, in the center at the very back is where we crossed the Valserberg in August of this year. (Photos HERE)

We hadn't factored in the time required for this detour, but I first wanted to see the view from the platform and from the end of this rise. 

A fantastic, far-reaching view to the east, past the town of Ilanz below, and to the Rhine Canyon and all the way to the city of Chur in the back (on the right) 

And this is the view into the valley of the Rhine River. This region is called the Surselva. In June of this year we walked along the Senda Sursilvana trail from Waltensburg on the right, via Brigels in the center, and continuing on toward the left. (Photos HERE).

This was a surprise! Far away to the west we could even see the peaks of the Bernese Alps: This one is Mt. Finsteraarhorn, the highest peak of the Bernese Alps! (We know this from the panorama placards on the viewing platform). 

Behind me is the town of Brigels and the entrance to the valley where we would be walking the next day. 

Time to get going now on our hike, as it is 12:20 and the other chair-lift we want to ride back down a piece has its final run at 2:30 p.m.! Here we are headed back to the summit station of Piz Mundaun, where we had come up on the first chair lift. .

Starting now at 12:20 from the summit of Piz Mundaun (quite a bit later than we had calculated), we headed along the ridge for the approx. 90-minute hike to the summit called Stei, where we knew we could take another chair-lift partway down the mountain. The last run was going to be at 2:30 p.m., so we only had just over two hours to do this. We got there at 2:15.

Looking back at the trail we have covered from the Piz Mundaun summit station of the chair lift. 

Behind me a look into the Val Pigniu. 

Down below we can see the bottom station of the Surcuolm-Mundaun chair lift which was the one we rode to get up to the crest.  

Panorama look into the Lumnezia Valley to the south. 

After the first ascent we reached the peak called Piz Plauncas, where we found a convenient bench with a view into Val Lumnezia, and a good place for our picnic lunch at 1 p.m. We stayed here for at most 15 minutes, because we didn't have a lot of time to spare to get to the final chair lift. 

Continuing on: Ahead is another chair lift into the Lumnezia valley to the south. This chair lift was also part of our guest card, but we had no need to use it. This is called Hitzeggen. 

Looking down over the wide Lumnezia Valley, it was interesting to see all the little barns dotting the hillside. 

From the Hitzeggen Chair Lift: Looking behind us to see how far we have come, from the chair lift at Piz Mundaun on the left, to the peak at Piz Plauncas where we had our lunch.

Up ahead is the final peak which we are walking to this day. It is called "Stei", and there is another chair lift there going down to a large pasture called Wali, from where we still will have to walk another 90 minutes to a bus stop further down the mountain. It is now 1:15 p.m., and according to the schedule, the final run of the chair lift is at 2:30 p.m.!

Down below are two little reservoir lakes, probably used to make snow in winter!

As we head further west, we get more and more views into the valley which we want to walk the next day. The large village on the hillside is Brigels. It gets sunshine till quite late in the day!

A close-up look at the backdrop of Val Frisal (The large massif is called the Tödi Group). The dotted line shows approximately the way we walked from the top of the chair lift and into the valley. 

Now heading up the final ascent. Even though it was only about 200 meters ascent, it was the toughest part of the hike, fairly steep. And it was very warm up here! I was glad that I had brought my shorts to change into. Now we can see the entire ridge which we had walked over, from Piz Mundaun at the far back. 

Goal reached at 14:05!!! Stei peak at 2172 meters. We hadn't really needed to hurry that much, for the final 14:30 chair lift run. 

We saw that the chair lift was running, so we headed down there right away to see if we could descend earlier. (We were told that they would keep running it as long as there were people up here). 

By 2:15 we were headed down to the Wali Alp below. It was a long, 25-minute ride! (In winter, this is part of the large ski region, and I can't imagine having to sit for 25 minutes in the cold each time you want to go up the hill for a ski run!). The red line shows where we continued our walk. 

Normally this should have been a peaceful 25-minute ride on the chair lift, but a family of six people with small children boarded right behind us (two to a seat) and kept calling out to each other for the whole ride! (We should have let them board first, and then waited a few seats before boarding. After all, there weren't any other people at this point!)

Wali base station at 14:35, and on to the third section of our hike, heading back down to the main road where we can catch a bus back to Ilanz. 

Starting in Piz Mundaun at about 12:25, we reached Stei at 14:05. A 25-minute chair-lift ride to Wali, we then walked for another 90+ minutes down to Obersaxen, where we caught the 16:52 bus back to Ilanz. With the 45-min. walk to the Cuolm Sura chair lift, this ended up being a four-hour hike after all!

Always interesting when there are boardwalks over wet ground

A rough stretch through a forested section (because of forestry work) we got the first look at the village of Obersaxen, where we are ending our hike. 

Close-up look at the village of Obersaxen. 

We still had a bit of extra time to take a break on this bench and admire the wonderful landscape. We got here at 3:45 p.m. and sat here for about 15 minutes. 

View from our bench directly across from the town of Brigels and the valley we want to walk the next day. We also watched the farmer call his cows to the barn.

VIDEO:

The farmer calls his cows and they come running to him, 

and then know the way into the barn!

Beautiful fall landscape as we continue our walk. 

Up ahead is the town of Obersaxen, end of our hike. First, though, we are headed down into the village called Tobel, also on the main road. 

Our walk takes us down into the little village called Tobel. (Urs wanted to see a couple of villages before we headed back to our hotel in Ilanz). 

A fun photo!

Various houses in the little village of Tobel. 

We got to Obersaxen at 16:25, in plenty of time for the 16:52 bus. So first: A look into the parish church (St.Peter and St.Paul Meierhof), of course. The oldest remaining part of the building is the tower, from the early 13th Century. The rest of the original building burned down in the village fire of 1740. The church was rebuilt after the fire, but this current building is actually from 1902. 

The organ is a restoration from 2005, but the beautiful gilded high altar is from the late 19th Century. 

From the site of the church, a look at the buildings in Obersaxen. As we had enough time, we headed up the road on the right to view a little chapel which we had seen from earlier on our hike down the hill. 

St.Georg Schnaggabial Chapel: The chapel was built in the early 17th Century, but the valuable winged altar is from 1473, and was originally located in the parish church, but moved here by the mid 17th Century. After renovations in 1990/91, the building was put under monument protection. 

Back at the bus stop by 16:48, to catch the 16:52 bus back to Ilanz. 

What our day's excursion looks like on Google Satellite Maps. First a 45-minute walk from the bus in Surcuolm to the chair lift, then 1hr40mins. from Piz Mundaun to Stei, then another chair lift ride and another 1hr40mins. walk to the bus stop in Obersaxen. 

On the way by bus back to Ilanz, we can see the crest where we walked, starting at Piz Mundaun on the left.

And now at 17:10 the bus descends into the town of Ilanz, which is already in the shadow of the mountain here. We decided to get out of the bus at the upper gate, and walk down to our hotel which is close to the train station. 

We got back to Ilanz at 5:10 p.m. and as there was still a bit of sunshine on the city, we walked down from the upper city gate via the large church and museum and town hall buildings to our hotel (Rhätia) near the river and train station. After checking in, we got a take-out pizza which we finished off in our room, and were already asleep by 8 p.m.! The room was so quiet and comfortable that I actually slept for 10 hours! I can't remember the last time I slept for 10 hours!  

(For next day, the plan was to take the 8:33 train to Brigels and have breakfast in the village bakery before heading out on our next adventure to the Frisal Valley). 

Side Note: The city of Ilanz received "town" status over 700 years ago, and was the first city on the Rhine River. It has the local name of Glion as well.  Also, we had already done a walkthrough back in July of 2024, when we also spent a night here. (Photos HERE). 

This is the "Obertor" (Upper City Gate), where we got off the bus to walk through the town. The lower part of the gate dates from 1513. (The town of Ilanz received "city" status 700 years ago and was the first town on the Rhine River). 

Very nice paintings on the upper part of the city gate. 

We then headed to the large Evangelical church of St. Margarethen. The St.Margarethan Tower was the residence of the Administrator of the Bishop of Chur in the Middle-Ages, and then the bell tower of the St.Margarethen Church since 1438. It is one of the few Medieval structures in Ilanz which survived the town fire of 1483. 

Documents of 765 mention a church in Ilanz, and a St.Margarethen church is mentioned in 1385. After the town fire of 1483, the new church was completed in 1518. Originally Catholic, the church was converted shortly thereafter during the Reformation. 

Interior of St.Margarethen Church in Ilanz. Usually the organ is on the balcony above the entrance, but in this building it is above the altar. 

Interior of St.Margarethen Church in Ilanz. Usually the organ is on the balcony above the entrance, but in this building it is above the altar. 

Other details inside the large church. There were renovations done in 1934, and the building was placed under Federal and Cantonal Monument Protection in 1986-1990.

The large building next to the church is called "Casa Gronda", built in 1677 by an influential family in the region. 

One of several pretty buildings near the church. 

City Hall in Ilanz, ("Casa Cumin" in the local Rhätoromanisch Language) was built in 1892. 

While Urs was ordering our take-out pizza, I popped into the Catholic Church "Maria Himmelfahrt", which is near our hotel. As the original Catholic Church St.Margarethen was converted to an Evangelical church at the start of the Reformation in the early 16th Century, the Catholic community built a new church in 1877-1879. 

The church was originally built in Neo-Gothic style, but during renovations in 1954, the church was outfitted with a Baroque interior. 

We took our take-out pizza to a sunny bench near the train station, but the sun disappeared before we were done, so we ate the rest of the pizza in the hotel room. 

Our hotel for the night: Hotel Rhätia. We spent a night here back in July 2024, and they ended up giving us the same room! On the right is the view from our window. Once the windows were closed, we heard nothing from the road, and slept long and well!

VIDEO:

6 p.m. church bells ring across from our hotel room!

This picture was downloaded from the website: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/001437/2016-12-07/. It is a painting from 1811 depicting the Medieval city of Ilanz, i.e. what the walled town would have looked like 700 years ago as the first town on the Rhine River. The valley behind it is the Lumnezia Valley. 

Location of Ilanz within Switzerland. 

These are the other hikes we have done around Ilanz and the Val Lumnezia. (Lower Surselva).