Panorama Hike on our Local Mountain, Mount Zug

Wednesday August 12, 2026 -- We hadn't given a lot of thought as to what we wanted to do on this Wednesday (day off) and left it till spur of the moment.... but too late to travel far. So we thought, why not stay local, as our local mountain, Mount Zug, has a lot of forest on its western flank with trails we hadn't discovered yet. To get to the top with the funicular is a 40-minute trip, and we were able to start while it was still morning cool, with lots of shade as well.

And again, even once we got out of the forest into the open mountain farmland, we had a cool breeze, so it never got too hot, and walking down to Walchwil, we ended up doing a 2½-hour hike anyway (taking 3½ hours at our pace). Even with the less-than-ideal visibility, we had some spectacular views of Lake Zug, which was shining a bright turquoise this day. We actually enjoyed this hike very much, and as this area is full of high growth cherry and pear trees, we plan to walk here again next spring, when the blossoms are out. Furthermore, we often travel quite far for views like this, which is rather ironic. 

We were finished our hike by noon, and a 15-minute train ride and lunch in town, we were still home by about 1 p.m. 

A 40-minute trip by bus and funicular, and we were up at the summit station of the Zugerberg Funicular at 8:30 a.m., with the first of many wonderful views onto Lake Zug. 

A look back at the Zugerberg Funicular station as we head down the hill on our planned hike. 

We are headed down to that forested section below, where according to our map, there is an old trail through the forest, southwards on fairly level terrain. 

View to the west side of Lake Zug, to the city of Rotkreuz. 

Starting at 8:30 at the top of the Funicular, we headed south through both forested sections and open clearings, reaching the railway station at Hörndli at exactly noon. It was a perfect early morning walk before the sun became too hot. 

The view north to the city of Zug before we head onto the forest trail. In June 2024 we also did a hike along this side of the mountain, but heading north from here. This time we are headed south. 

There are many trails on this forested hillside which we haven't tried out yet. This is an older, less-used trail, but we enjoyed it very much, as it was cool and shady, had lovely footpaths, and many such wooden bridges. 

Enjoying our early morning walk through the shade of the forest. This is the west side of the mountain, so lots of morning shade, great on a hot day (But cold in autumn or winter!)

After a little over a kilometer on the old trail, we had a bit of steep descent to the forest road, right to this forest shelter, and a perfect place for our first picnic break. 

Tacked onto the shelter wall was this fun poem called "The Forest Pig", describing a creature that brings food into the forest to consume while listening to loud music, and heads back home leaving loads of garbage behind, not at all embarassed by its behaviour.... and reminds visitors to this shelter to please take all their garbage back out with them!!!!!

A clearing along the forest road with another view. The peninsula you can see from here is privately-owned and consists of a castle and castle park. 

Close-up view of the castle called "Schloss Buonas", which is privately-owned. They give public access to the park gardens for one weekend in May. 

Another such shelter. We passed a total of three of these. 

We also often come across these huge piles of cut wood in the forests. 

After a little over an hour, we emerged from the forest into the clearings above the town of Walchwil, and get our first look at Mount Rigi. 

Even though the visibility wasn't as ideal as I had wished, we still can see past the village of Immensee, to the Küssnacht arm of Lake Lucerne, and all the way to Mount Pilatus. 

Our trail then takes us along easy paved roads past several farms, with no vehicle traffic. 

More views of Lake Zug and Mt.Rigi

The wooded peninsula across the lake is called the Chiemen, and we have done the lakeside walk there back in April 2020, a very lovely walk which we really should do again. 

A photo cannot capture how large this tree was!

This whole hillside is dotted with fruit trees (mostly cherries), and although I had done a springtime hike during the blossoming season this year nearer to lake level (photos HERE), we are determined to return to this higher elevation to do a blossom hike next April. I can imagine this looks magnificent!

Only a short stretch along the busier road. 

Lots of pretty houses to admire here as well. 

You can also do a lake cruise on Lake Zug with the regular ship, which docks in various places all around the lake 

We found a view bench for another break. An interesting note: Although we are currently in Canton Zug, the Chiemen Peninsula is part of Canton Luzern, and south of that, Immensee and Küssnacht are in Canton Schwyz. At some point it was decided that all three cantons should have a part of Lake Zug. 

Down below the ship is now on its way to Zug (with probably a stop in Oberwil). 

Here is where we now start our descent to the railway line (we have decided to walk to a "suburb" of Walchwil called "Hörndli", instead of Walchwil proper). The descent is a combination of small paths and paved roads. 

Here a zigzag path which normally is not an issue, but with the long period without rain, the surface was very hard and somewhat "slippery". Also, we discovered here that a very long piece of this hillside property, along the road below, has been earmarked for construction of another very large apartment complex. Such a shame. 

We arrived at the Hörndli train station at exactly noon. 

Catching the 12:09 city train for the 14-minute trip back into the city of Zug, we had lunch in the city and then were back home by about 1:30 p.m.!!!

What this hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. (Including the hike I did in April). In terms of straight walking, it would be a 2½-hour walk, starting at the summit station of the funicular, and ending on the railway line at the lake near Walchwil. (We took 3½ hours). Much of the walk was through forested areas, perfect on another otherwise very hot day.

And these are all the hikes we have done in the region of Mount Zug and the city of Zug. There is still quite a bit of the forested region that we can walk on, as well at the cherry/fruit orchards above Walchwil. 

On this photo I took from the west side of Lake Zug in April 2026, this is a look at the hillside we walked down: 

On this photo I took from the west side of Lake Zug in April 2026, this is a look at the hillside we walked down