Land Bridge along the St.James Trail from Pfäffikon to Rapperswil

Sunday May 17, 2026 -- More cold weather all week, and if there is sun in the forecast, then only for a couple of hours each day. On this Sunday the forecast was for sunshine until noon in a lot of regions, but after that expectation of thick cloud cover. We wanted to do a short walk but it had to be fairly nearby so as not to spend a lot of time traveling.

We settled on returning to Lake Zurich to walk the boardwalk between Pfäffikon and Rapperswil, the boardwalk we always see when the train passes across the land bridge from the Toggenburg region, where we often go. The only other time I walked on this boardwalk was in April 2014, and then only a small section from the town of Rapperswil to Hurden, which is about halfway across the land bridge.

We started higher up along the road to the Etzel Pass where I had once completed a hike in June of 2021 (that way I can connect trails again!), and walked down to the lake at Pfäffikon, then across the land bridge which separates the upper and lower lakes. This is part of the St.James Trail through Switzerland, and we were very surprised at the large number of people hiking this trail this day, but in the opposite direction, heading toward Einsiedeln (a major stop along the trail) via the Etzel Pass higher up (many of these people were sweating!). 

A lunch break in Hurden, then a walk along the busy boardwalk, we ended our hike in Rapperswil after only 7 kilometers, as the clouds now definitely started in, and as we have already walked the city several times. To get back home from here is only a one-hour trip. 

As we leave Zug at 9 a.m. heading north, a common sight looking south is a good view of the Bernese Alps, which we often see quite clearly and looming large, even though this is quite a way to the south. 

Having left home at 8:40 and only a 1¼-hour trip, we started our hike at the junction of the road above Pfäffikon and the St.James Trail to Einsiedeln (Trail no.4) at 10 a.m. 

This is the view from where we started our walk, which is actually where I had ended a hike from higher up from the Etzel Pass back in June 2021. (That was the reason we started here). Ahead of us in Lake Zurich near the land bridge to Rapperswil are two islands called Ufenau and Lützelau. 

The cruise boat on Lake Zurich stops at Ufenau Island. There is a church there, a chapel and a restaurant! (As well as a walking trail around the whole island).  Urs has been there, but I have not. So it is a plan to one day take the boat cruise to stop there. 

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And just as we started on our descent, 

a procession of the cutest little classic cars came around the corner, 

heading up to the Etzel Pass, I suppose!

(I'm not a car expert, but Internet research indicates these are MGA Roadsters)

This was another short walk for us, not even two hours, and only seven kilometers. But we hadn't really wanted to do a very long hike this day anyway. In particular, we wanted to walk across the wooden "boardwalk" from Hurden to Rapperwil, because the last time I did this was in April 2014. We started at 10 a.m. and caught the 13:10 train back from Rapperswil, only an hour's trip back home. 

Heading down the trail now toward the city of Pfäffikon, we can see up ahead the land bridge across Lake Zurich, and where we will end our hike in Rapperswil. 

This was a very nice walk down the hill. 

From the moment we left the bus and all the way down to the city, dozens of hikers passed us going uphill. We could only surmise that these are all pilgrims wanting to walk the Swiss section of the Camino de Santiago. (We have often see that the stretch from Rapperswil to Interlaken is quite popular). 

Looking behind us we can see where we left the forest to start on the very nice fenced pasture trail. 

We then came to this farmstead called Lützelhof, which, as it turned out, was one of the accommodation options on the St.James Trail, with small guest houses, a little farmer's shop, and playground for kids. 

The farm features a shop and play areas, and parking for campers and tenters. We assume that many of the people who passed us heading up the St.James trail, had spent the night here. 

We are pretty sure that these young people with backpacks are hiking the St. James pilgrim trail, which has become more and more popular. (This little huts at the back are probably accommodations for the pilgrims). 

A very nice old building and very pretty grounds here. 

This building, which I first thought was a church, is an Educational Center. 

A first very close-up view of the Rapperswil castle on the opposite side of the lake. 

An interesting sundial. The text reads "Sundials are always accurate..." This clock shows shortly before 10 a.m. As it is now shortly before 11 a.m., this is very accurate if you ignore the change to daylight savings time!

Walking through the city of Pfäffikon in the direction of the train station, we pass a bakery, where Urs has to get his mid-morning dessert!

Passing via the train station, we reach the trail along the railway. We are following both the National Trail no.4: Via Jakobi (St.James Trail) and Regional Trail no.84: "Lake Zurich Trail". From here it's only another hour to walk to Rapperswil, the end of our hike. 

The trail doesn't exactly follow the lakeshore. Between the trail and the lake is a large marshy region called the Frauenwinkel, one of the most significant lakeside reed landscapes in Switzerland. 

That is a HUGE tree! It is a linden tree, and we pass many of these on our hikes. They aren't quite in flower yet, but I am looking forward to that, because I love the smell!

The land-bridge across Lake Zurich consists of a walking trail, a railway line, as well as a vehicle road! It was also a popular walking trail on this Sunday. 

Before reaching the village of Hurden along the land bridge is a canal which allows boats to pass under the railway and road from the main Lake Zurich to the southern part of the lake called Obersee.

As we crossed the bridge, we saw that one of the Zurich cruise ships had just left the Island of Ufenau, so we waited to watch it come through the canal. 

I waved to the people sitting in the front of the boat, and they all waved back to me! (That's me on the bridge on the left)

Enjoying the sunshine. 

Views from the walking trail over the reed landscape and to the Ufenau Island. 

We got to Hurden at about noon and decided to walk through the village instead of continuing along the land bridge. It was time to look for a place to stop for our picnic lunch!

Heading down the main road in Hurden

View south across Lake Obersee to the mountains of the Schwyzer Alps (up towards the Wägital Lake). 

Village church, worth a look!

The original chapel is from 1497, with lots of changes and repairs due to damages from various wars and skirmishes over the centuries. 

We found a couple of benches on the lakeside of the little chapel, perfect for our picnic lunch!

View across Lake Obersee from our picnic bench!

Also from our bench, we can see across the reeds along the lakeshore to the castle and church in Rapperswil, where we are now headed after our picnic lunch.  

Close-up view of the old town of Rapperswil on the east side of the lake. 

Back on the land bridge we continue eastward with these views to the south. That smaller hill in the front is called Buechberg, and we hiked across that in October 2020. 

Along this stretch there were a lot of people, enjoying a Sunday stroll just as we are! We have now reached the boardwalk. 

The western end of the boardwalk. 

From the Boardwalk we watched several trains crossing the land bridge between Rapperswil and Pfäffikon. Urs says this is the most-traveled single (one-way) railway-line in Switzerland. 

We really enjoyed this short walk to Rapperswil. 

There are lots of water birds here! Usually swans and coots, but we were surprised at the storks!

A view westward toward the little church in Hurden where we had our picnic lunch, as well as the road above Pfäffikon where we started on this hike. 

What an interesting way to scoot across the surface of the lake!

The eastern end of the boardwalk at Rapperswil

Now we are headed toward the train station in Rapperswil with a view of the city. After only 7 km of walking, we decided not to continue along the lakeshore, and not to go into the city either, as we have been here many times. (The first time I visited the city and the boardwalk was in April 2014, an excursion I did on my own). 

We came across another one of those "Grand Tour of Switzerland" signs, which made me happy because I am collecting photos of them! We usually run across them by accident, and not planned. 

A close-up view of the St.Johann parish church. Due to a massif fire in 1882, most of the original gothic church from 13th to 15th Century, except for the towers, was destroyed. It was then rebuilt in the original Gothic style. 

Also a close-up view of the town's castle. It was built between 1220 to 1230 by the bailiff Rudolf of Rapperswil.

Arriving at the train station at 13:05 for the 13:10 train back to Pfäffikon, and ultimately a one-hour trip back home. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting somewhat higher than the city of Pfäffikon, and ending in Rapperswil. 

Every time we ride the train over the land bridge between Rapperswil and Pfäffikon, I photograph the boardwalk! For some reason, I didn't think to do it this time, although this would have been a logical thing to do! This is the view of the boardwalk from the train on the trip we did a week earlier. 

Also from the train, we pass the canal where we had watched the cruise ship earlier. Below is the trail we walked. 

Also from the train just before the Pfäffikon train station, we can see the trail we had walked earlier. 

Pfäffikon castle which we visited in November 2023.

These are all the hikes we have done around the area of the upper part of Lake Zurich (Obersee). These are all on the west and south side. We have not done a lot of walking along the east side of the lake, because it is mostly built-up residential areas.