Panorama Trail from Braunwald Gumen to Oberblegisee in the Linth Valley

Wednesday July 22, 2026 -- A beautiful day with great ambitions to hike uphill 650 meters to the summit of Mt.Sassauna in the Prättigau (from the top of a cable-car station, of course.... not all the way up!), which is not something we do often. There is a small bus that gets you to the base station of the cable car in Fanas, but it runs only every two hours and you have to reserve ahead of time.

So leaving home at 6 a.m. for the earliest possible start of our hike, we were on the way to Zurich when the train stalled due to technical difficulties. This seldom happens to us although we travel so much, but the delay meant we missed the bus connection (had to cancel) and had to quickly think up a Plan B.

So we went to the far back of the Linth Valley to the car-free mountain village of Braunwald, where we have been very many times. There is a lovely mountain lake nearby called the Oberblegisee, a popular hiking destination and fairly easy to get to on a 6-km trail from the Grotzenbühl cable-car station, a hike we did in November 2015, so we figured it would be a good time to go again, especially as the landscape is more colourful at this time of year.

But we did not take the regular trail there (where dozens of people were walking) but took a cable-car to the higher station of Gumen, and descended from there on a trail we hadn't done before. And after a short lunch break at the lake (some very bold young people even went swimming) we headed down a rather less-attractive and rather uncomfortable trail to the Luchsingen cable-car, all part of the themed trail called "Braunwald-Oberblegisee-Weg". Catching the 14:51 train at the valley bottom, we were back home by just after 5 p.m. 

As our train heads up the Linth Valley, the mountain called Tödi looms over the valley. (This was just after 9 a.m., although we had left home at 6 a.m. Normally it takes a little over 2½ hours to get here, but our train had technical difficulties on the way to Zurich, and we lost 30 minutes on the trip.) 

By 9:30 we were headed up to the car-free mountain village of Braunwald with the little red funicular. 

We first have to walk 15 minutes from the funicular station to the cable-way which we are planning to ride. This hotel is new, it was just being built the last time we were here. 

Village chapel on the way (we didn't look inside). 

The main mountain here at Braunwald is called the Ortstock. In July of 2022, we hiked over the saddle to the right of the mountain i.e. between the mountain and the pointed horn. Up ahead is the base station of the Grotzenbühl cable-way, which is the cable-way that most people take to start on the hike to Lake Oberblegi (Oberblegisee). 

We continued on to the Gumenbahn cable-way, which takes us higher up to the Panorama Trail, from where we will descend to the lake after a lovely high alpine walk. 

The cable-way is a combination of gondolas and sideways chairs. We are riding on one of the open chairs for better views!

Better view of the saddle next to Mt. Ortstock which we crossed in July 2022. We have done many hikes in this landscape to the south, most recently on a solo hike in October 2024. 

Reaching the upper station of the Braunwald-Gumen cable-car at 10:06, about a 10-minute ride. 

This is the side-ways chair we rode up on! 

View down into the back of the Linth Valley as we watch the gondolas travel up and down. 

Gumen mountain restaurant. I stopped here once for French Fries while waiting for weather to clear on that solo hike I did in October 2024. 

From here at Gumen, it's a 1¾-hour hike to the Oberblegisee Lake. There are all kinds of trails you can hike on starting from here.   

Heading off on the Panorama Trail. 

Starting at the top of the Gumen Cable-way at 9:10, we arrived at the lake at 12:20. After spending 40 minutes at the lake, we then continued down to the Brunnenberg-Luchsingen cable-way which we reached at just after 2 p.m. Ultimately, we caught the train back home in Luchsingen at 14:51. 

It's that time of year for fireweed in the higher elevations!

Mt.Tödi dominates the landscape here at the back of the Linth Valley. This is a close-up view of the bench I also stopped at on my October 2024 hike. 

To the south, Mt.Tödi on the left, Mt.Ortstock in the center, and the passage to Glattalp which we hiked over in July 2022. 

Far to the east we also catch a glimpse of the Engelhorn peaks near Elm, at the center of the UNESCO Heritage Site Sardona Tectonic Arena. 

A short tunnel to walk through!

Down below we can see the summit station of the Grotzenbühl cable-way. That is where most people start their hike to the Oberblegisee. We did that hike from there in November 2015. 

From the Gumen cable car, we had been following Trail no.816: "Braunwald Panorama Trail", a total 9-km loop trail which we had first walked in November 2015.

After 30 minutes on the upper Panorama Trail, we get our first look at Lake Oberblegisee

A close-up look at the lake from up high, before we start on our descent toward where the more commonly-used path comes around the mountain from Grotzenbühl. 

First a snack-break. 

And now a look back as we make our way down. 

There was a mountain farmer here busy cleaning all the cow poop in the barn. It's a lot of work!

From far up the hill we heard the cow bells, but in particular a very low, sonorous tone, and we knew one of them had to be wearing a huge bell. I'm not really a fan of this (i.e. leaving the cows in the pastures with such large bells). She could barely walk without tripping over the bell.

VIDEO:

Cowbells! You can really make out the sound of the very large one.

Here is a chair lift which operates in winter as part of the winter ski region here. The last few years have seen too little snow, and the region has decided to shut down their winter ski facilities. (The chair lifts will run in winter only for winter hikers). 

Down below we get a look at the Bächi Mittelstafel farm, along the river called Bösbächibach. From there a small trail heads up to the restaurant, and continues to the lake. 

Crossing the bridge over the Bösbächibach, looking up the valley, which is called Alp Bösbachi. 

Here the more commonly-walked trail from Grotzenbühl joins the trail we had come down on, so we met up with a lot of other hikers here. 

This is part of the description of the themed trail "Braunwald-Oberblegisee Weg", which most people walk starting in Grotzenbüel summit station, and ending the same way we did at the Luchsingen-Brunnenberg cable-car station. We did part of this trail in November 2015, but started from and returned to the Braunwald funicular station at the time. (We have never actually started in Grotzenbüel). 

It is well-known that pigs are raised here at this mountain farm. They are known as "alpine pigs" in the description of this hike!

A look down at the farm as we continue up the trail toward the restaurant. 

I can understand why this mountain restaurant (called Bächibeizli) is so popular! It's now just noon-time. 

After another 20 minutes of walking (1 km) we get the first look at Lake Oberblegisee. 

As this is a very large lake, the many people who come up here spread out quite nicely. We walked along the eastern shore of the lake for a while, looking for a good spot for our picnic lunch. 

There was no shady spot, but we found a little hill with a bit of a breeze, and a view of the whole lake. 

At the back is the trail that comes up from the Bächi Farm. Some people are getting brave and going into the cold water for a swim!

Some brave young people! Many people also brought their dogs up here for a swim. 

After about 40 minutes at the lake, we decided it was time to continue on to the other cable-car station, another 45-minute walk along a gravel road, with about 350 meters of descent. 

Panorama view of Lake Oberblegisee as we head down the hill now. 

Mountain pond in a bit of a marshy area. 

Another look behind us. 

The rest of the trail was along a winding graveled mountain road, another three kilometers to the Luchsingen cable-car station at Brunnenberg. Many people start the hike there and head up to the lake, but I wouldn't want to walk these three kilometers uphill. 

It is always interesting to us to see were we had walked earlier! Up at the arrow is were we came down the mountain toward the Bächi Farm. The more common trail is on a wider road around that peak on the left. 

Nice views down into the Linth Valley. Across the valley are trails that come over the mountains from the next valley, i.e the Sernf Valley, where Elm is located. 

Several people passed us on the road to the cable-car station, including a family with young hikers!

This is a brand new water reservoir built in 2024. Past this one is another reservoir, which was the original one up here. The power plant here now provides electricity for 5000 households. 

We got to the Luchsingen cable-car station at 2:05 p.m. We have ridden this cable-car once before, in January 2017, when we did a pleasant walk to Glarus town on the sunny side of the valley (photos HERE). The little building is newer compared when we were here last. 

We had to be at the train station at 2:50 p.m., so had a bit of time to still enjoy the views from up here (also cooler than waiting down below), and watch two runs of the cable-car before we joined five other people for the third trip down. 

Down at the bottom now at 2:30 p.m. after about a 3-minute trip. We still have to walk 10 minutes to the train station, but there is still enough time for that till the 14:51 train. 

Watching the next cable-car coming down the mountain. 

A look at the Luchsingen village church steeple on our way to the train station. We didn't make the detour to the church. 

View toward the cable-car route from the train station. The lake would be up there below those peaks. 

Luchsingen village at the back of the Linth Valley. 

Looking north along the Linth Valley, where we will now be traveling by train. 

The 14:51 train arrives right on time, from the town of Linthal at the very back of the valley! From here, we have a 2-hour, 20-minute trip back home. 

In November 2015 we did two hikes here within three days of each other. First we did the Panorama Loop starting in Grotzenbüel and returning to Braunwald on Saturday Nov.7. (They were running the cable cars for an extended weekend because the weather was so great). It's from there that we first caught sight of Lake Oberblegisee, and wanted to return with a friend a few days later as the weather was still great. But the cable cars were not running during the week, so we had to walk from Braunwald to the lake and back, which was quite long, at 15 km. 

These are all the hikes we have done around Braunwald. 

And a final look at Mt.Tödi as we head northwards down the Linth Valley. 

Where Braunwald is located within Switzerland. 

What the landscape looked like in November 2015 (it was a long warm autumn that year and they kept the cable-cars running 1-2 weeks longer than normal, on weekends) from the same place along the Panorama Trail, from where we started our descent this time.