Hike down from Klewenalp to Beckenried on Lake Lucerne

Thursday June 18, 2026 -- Another beautiful but very hot day, as is forecast for the next 10 days or so. This was supposed to be the day with most sunshine this week, and I really wanted to do a memorable hike in the mountains, but absolutely didn't feel like traveling six hours for a hike in the heat. I also didn't want to do a really long hike. 

So I did something I've wanted to do for a while—and which doesn't interest Urs that much—the descent from the summit station of the Klewenalp cable car back down to the lakeside town of Beckenried, on the south side of Lake Luzern. This is only a two-hour trip from home (each way, although less on the way back because I took the boat across the lake from Beckenried to Vitznau, and from there it was only a 25-minute bus ride to home). 

The lovely alpine plateau at Klewenalp is high enough that it wasn't hot when I started there at 8:45 (having left home at 6:45); in fact, being on the north side of the Nidwalden Alps, the snow takes a long time to melt here in spring. I had several cool forested sections on the way down, (2½-hour descent) with fabulous views of the lake, and never too hot. I did have to walk quickly, though, as the plan was to catch the 11:32 boat, otherwise I'd have to wait another hour for the next one. 

PART I: Downhill hike from Klewenalp to Beckenried on Lake Vierwaldstättersee

The train ride from Küssnacht to Luzern is always a treat, with such nice views of the Nidwalden and Bernese Alps. 

Having left home at 6:45, I got to Beckenried on Lake Lucerne at 8:15. The cable-car station is a 5-minute walk from here, and scheduled to leave at 8:30 a.m. This is right across from the ship station on the lake, and my hike ended right here, in time for the boat ride across the lake. 

Lovely house and beautiful roses....  on the way up to the cable-car station. 

As it was relatively early, there were not a lot of people headed up at this hour. I think there were about 10 people on this large cabin. 

The cable-car is headed up there! It's at an elevation of 1593 meters, i.e. over 1000 meters higher than lake level!

Heading over the highway which runs along the south side of the lake. 

View down to the lakeside town of Beckenried as the down-traveling cable-car passes us. 

Down below I can now see the hillside where I will be walking later!

Close-up view of Mt. Bürgenstock. Past there is the Küssnacht arm of Lake Lucerne. 

Up top at 8:40

Summit station of the Beckenried-Klewenalp cable-way. The Alphorns represent a world record of 1006 musicians playing their alphorns all together at a 2024 event up here. (Link to the story HERE)

View from the large terrace at the summit station, directly to the north. My plan is now to walk back down to Beckenried. 

Looking along Lake Lucerne to the east. The Rigi range stretches along the north side of the lake, and you can see the Mythen peaks at the far back. 

The restaurant up at Klewenalp

Klewenalp is the start of very many wonderful hikes. Back in May 2023 I did another hike on my own, starting here and hiking for almost three hours over Musenalp to Niederrickenbach cable-car to the west. We also ended a couple of hikes and also did a winter walk up here. From here it's about 2½ hours to walk down to Beckenried. 

This is also a great place for families, with playgrounds and a restaurant, and also a fairly easy walk to the Stockalp cable car to the east. 

Starting at the Klewenalp summit station at about 8:45, I walked downhill for about 2½ hours and reached the Beckenried ship station at 11:25, in plenty of time for the 11:32 ship to Vitznau. 

Heading off on my hike now, I look up to the peak called Mt.Brisen to the south, a peak we hiked up to (and all along that crest) in August 2022. 

At one point I heard a lot of cow bells, and saw what looked like a herd of cows being let out of the barn. They were headed up the road, but the farmer was at the barn! So it looks like they know where they are supposed to be going!

VIDEO:

The cows have just left the barn, and seem to know where they are going!

Then a welcome stretch through a dense forest with lots of cool shade!

Always looking for a convenient place to set up my camera, so I can be on some of the photos!

And here are some more cows, I have to walk past them!

VIDEO:

The cows are friendly, and want to know what I am doing here!

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After leaving the forest, I come to a wide open clearing called Eggenrüti, with some fantastic views of Lake Lucerne to the north. The entire range across the lake is Mount Rigi, with the highest peak, Rigi Kulm, directly in the center. It is 9:35 now, about 45 minutes after starting on this walk, and exactly the amount of time that had been indicated at the trail markers on Klewenalp. 

Rounding a corner, I was surprised to see a couple of pigs camping out up here! They were very eager to greet me. 

Now I have to cross a little ravine through more forest to continue along the clearing on the other side. 

Directly to the west is the summit of Mt.Buochserhorn, a summit we climbed up to in September 2018. 

I then came across a little pond called Staldiseeli (it was totally green with algae), and a really nice picnic area where you can make a grill fire. I sat here for a bit and calculated how long the rest of my hike would be, and if I'd have to hurry to catch the 11:32 boat. 

I realized with dismay that I still had an hour and 10 minutes to walk, and as it is now 10:15, that would be a pretty tight window to catch the 11:32 boat at Beckenried! (There were plenty of bus and train connections to back home, but I wanted to get the boat, which only runs once an hour, because it was a quicker way to get home). 

Lovely meadow flowers. 

I then crossed the Lielibach river to the clearings on the other side of the ravine. This is another one of those rivers with hundreds of built-in "steps" like this, to prevent mudslides in the town below at times of excessive rain. We recently followed such a river with 100 such steps in the Toggenburg Region (Photos HERE).

It's a very nice walk so far and not at all too hot. 

Only one other person along the way, and they are taking a break in the shade! I, on the other hand, am heading to the left, into another section of forest. 

This was the worst part of the hike. Roads like this might be good for the farmers to access their mountain pastures, but are hard to walk down: Uncomfortable incline and "slippery" surface. It was only 500 meters in distance, but 135 meters "downhill", and I was glad when I was back out in the next clearing!

Ah, so much better!

"Pretending" that this isn't a staged photo!!! Still, it's nice to have photos with people on them. In any case, it's not far into Beckenried now!

This is a fairly new wall built over the Lielibach River (the one with all the waterfalls) to catch debris in case of flash floods, to prevent all that stuff from coming down into the town. 

Information about the project (2022-2024) to build the wall here above Beckenried, which should prevent flooding and debris from reaching the town. 

More lovely views across the Vierwaldstättersee on the final stretch into Beckenried. 

There's the Klewenalp cable-car on its way down to Beckenried. 

Outskirts of town

Some pretty nice properties here. It's always nice to see palm trees!

Also many nice old houses

This is one of the old granaries we usually see more in the Emmental region. 

And now at 11:15 I'm back down at the cable-car station. I made good time on the way down, and have now walked 2½ hours, and still have 15 minutes before the arrival of the boat to Vitznau! 

There's the large-cabin cable-way, ready for the 11:30 run up the mountain to Klewenalp. 

And this is the pretty house I saw earlier in the morning, the one with the roses going right up the whole side. 

And now back on the main road at the "Hotel Rössli" ("Rössli" = "Small Horse") where I started my hike this morning. 

Still plenty of time now at the boat dock to watch first the ship coming from Luzern and heading eastward (not the one I am taking). 

I have taken this ship a couple of times before, it is called the "Diamant". It is not my favourite ship on the lake, as there are fewer outdoor spots than on some of the other ships. 

And from the other direction, here comes the ship I am going to board to cross the lake. It is much smaller than the other one was!

What my hike from Klewenalp to Beckenried looks like on Google Satellite Maps. From Beckenried I caught a boat (15 minutes) across the lake to Vitznau, and from there a bus to Küssnacht. 

PART II: Boat Ride across Lake Lucerne to Vitznau, and waiting 30 minutes for the Bus. 

VIDEO:

The "Diamant" is leaving Beckenried, and then the "Flüelen" arrives

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Here comes my boat, it is the "Flüelen". 

In the background, the "Diamant" continues on eastward, as our boat docks. 

There are not very many people getting on this boat, which is nice.... I guess it's not the tourist route. 

Leaving the dock in Beckenried to head across the lake. 

To the west, Mount Pilatus looms large

Looking back toward Beckenried, you can see where the cable-car runs up to the summit (i.e. the corridor cut into the forest) and I descended via the forests and clearings in about the center of the photo. 

It was a pleasant and cool 15-minute boat ride directly across the lake, from Beckenried to the next stop in Vitznau. 

View to the south side of the Rigi Range and the town of Gersau below the peak called Hoflue (I believe that's correct). 

Straight ahead and slightly west of Vitznau is the very posh Park Hotel Vitznau. 

And closer by is another cute hotel, called the Vitznauerhof, which we pass on the way to docking in Vitznau. 

I could have stayed on the boat till the next stop at Weggis, another 15 minutes, but I chose to disembark here in Vitznau (at 11:45) and sit on a bench for 30 minutes till the next bus to Küssnacht. Here is also the base station of the Vitznau-Rigi cogwheel train, a popular train with the tourists. 

I tried to make it to the bus for the earlier bus run, but the connection is too tight and the bus drove off right at this point. So instead I walked past the church and to the lakeside park. 

Church building in Vitznau (I had a look inside on the way back to the bus stop 30 minutes later)

I got back to the lakeside park in time to see my boat, the "Flüelen" head out to the next stop in Weggis. 

Sitting on the bench, I then observed the large steamship "Stadt Luzern" coming into the Vitznau dock from Lucerne. It looked like it was listing quite a bit, which could be, as there were hundreds of people waiting on this side of the ship to debark!

This is such a beautiful steam ship. It is called the "Stadt Luzern", and can transport 1200 passengers!!!

It took forever for the hundreds of people gettting off that ship! All those people are tourists doing the popular trip with the boat to Vitznau, and then the train up to Rigi Kulm!

At 12:15 I headed back to have a quick look at the Vitznau church before catching the 12:22 bus, for the 26-minute ride back to Küssnacht. 

Details of the interior of the Vitznau parish church, dedicated in October 1843. 

If the bus would connect better with the boat, this would have been a 45-minute trip home, instead of an hour an 15 minutes! (i.e. there is a 30-minute wait here). It's still better than the two-hour trip back with bus and train via Luzern!

These are all the hikes I have done in the region around Klewenalp and Mt.Brisen. 

Bus ride along the lake from Vitznau to Küssnacht. 

Mt. Pilatus on the west side of the lake, and the north side of Mt.Bürgenstock on the left. There is a fabulous cliff-walk there (which we did in August 2025), as well as the highest outdoor elevator/lift in Europe (which we rode in June 2019)

It almost looks like this could be on the Mediterranean!

And this is the village of Greppen, one town over from Küssnacht. 

Location of the Klewenalp region within Switzerland.