Walk down from Pilatus Fräkmündegg through Forests and Wetlands

Sunday October 4, 2026 -- A decently nice day but not as clear views as on other days, yet good enough for a mostly forest walk on our local Mt.Pilatus, a short trip from home for us. 

For a sunny Sunday morning there were surprisingly few tourists headed up the mountain at 9:45 a.m., so there was no waiting for the gondola ride to Fräkmündegg from Kriens, from where we first enjoyed the hazy views to Lake Luzern, and then headed down through the forest to walk back toward Kriens (although we did end the walk in Obernau, two kilometers earlier). In October 2023 we did a similar hike, but actually ending in Kriens that time. 

As the day was getting hot again, it was nice to walk through the sun-dappled forests, although the first part was a bit of a steep rough trail. Later we passed several very green marsh areas, and we also stopped for lunch at a wayside restaurant called Dorschnei, located in the middle of nowhere but rather popular with local hikers. The last stretch was along a stream with typical retaining walls to prevent mudslides when there is a lot of rain, structures which we often see in steep mountain terrain. A pleasant surprise was a very steep concrete stairway built along a vertical cliff where a waterfall came down. That added a bit of excitement.

At the end, we followed the trail on the edge of the forest which we had already walked once on a different hike in August of 2023 from the Eigenthal Valley nearby  ... This was just a short Sunday outing for us, 9 km and 2½ hours mostly downhill.

The excursion starts with a train ride from Küssnacht to Luzern, with views of Mt.Pilatus and the approximate spot where we are starting our hike at the Fräkmündegg cable-car station. 

In less than an hour we were at the Kriens bus stop and headed to the cable-car station. (On our October 2023 hike down the mountain, also from Fräkmündegg, we stopped at this church for a good look inside. In particular, HERE is my photo collage of the details).  

The Pilatus cable-car station up ahead is about a 10-minute walk from the bus stop. There are two cable-ways that take you to the very top (Pilatus Kulm), with a transfer at Fräkmündegg, which is where we are starting our hike. 

View over the city of Kriens and Luzern as we head up now with the gondola cable-car, a ride of about 20 minutes. (This time we didn't have to wait at all. When we rode up to Pilatus Kulm once end of September 2023 on a Friday morning, there was a long line-up way out of the building. But we were still worried about more people showing up, so we joined two other people in one gondola car, not sure they were happy about it). 

The views this day were quite hazy, but also this is a morning view to Lake Luzern and Mt.Bürgenstock to the east, also affected by the low position of the sun. 

View of the gondolas up ahead of us. 

Now we are passing over a farm called Mülimas, which we then walked past on the way down. 

Views across the Mülimas Farm and the road we are walking down later, as well as across the Central Plateau to the north. You can just make out Lake Sempachersee on the far left. 

A closer look at Lake Sempachersee in the Central Plateau. Just visible is the pretty church at Hergiswald, which we walked past on a hike in August 2023, coming from Eigenthal in the west and ending in Obernau. This time we are also ending in Obernau, but walking down into the valley below Hergiswald. 

By 10:15 we disembarked at Fräkmündegg station and watched the next batch of gondolas arriving. On our way up there were lots of gondolas with only two people, then a long time empty ones, then another batch of full ones as the next trains were arriving from Zurich. 

Around the corner is the second cable-car station, with the large-cabin cable-way to the very top of Mt.Pilatus. 

Before heading off on our hike down the mountainside to the north, we enjoy the view eastward for a few minutes. There were surprisingly few people up here at 10:15. (We were expecting more on a Sunday morning). 

Now the larger cabin arrives from the summit to take the next visitors up to Pilatus summit. Not the best day for views, but nevertheless, there are views!

At 10:20 we started on our descent from Fräkmündegg, first through a small forested section, then via Mülimas Farm down the steep forest trail to the marshlands at Dorschnei where we had lunch. From there we passed more marshlands and descended along the Rotbach stream, ending up at the Obernau bus stop by 3 p.m. for the short trip back home (about an hour). 

Emerging from the forest to the road we had seen from the gondola cable-car, we get to enjoy once again the views over the Central Plateau past Lake Sempachersee to the Nuclear Power Plant at Niedergösgen. 

Approaching the Mülimas farm which we had seen from the cable-cars. 

Once we got to the Mülimas farm, this was the view we had toward the gondola cable-way, the summit of Mt. Pilatus (with the second cable-way line visible), and the forested section we had just descended through. 

Heading down toward the next longer forested section. 

It was a pleasant walk through the forest with the sunshine breaking through the trees. 

On steeper sections, steps have been added to the trail to make it easier to descend. 

On this mountainside are various smaller streams which combine to form the Renggbach. As the slopes are steep, many of these streams and rivers are fitted with dams, or retaining walls, to prevent massive mudslides in times of heavy rainfall. 

We are really enjoying forest trails this day. 

Now we've come into the large open clearing called Dorschnei (the land here is reedy marshland) with one single building up ahead, which is the Dorschnei Restaurant, where we are planning to stop for lunch. (It is now 11:50)

There were a few people at the restaurant already, but still several tables free, and we found a good spot to enjoy the best french-fried potatoes. It was almost too cool here in the shade, though. 

After a one-hour lunch break at the Dorschnei Restaurant, we were on our way again at 1 p.m., through more lovely green marshlands. The entire region looked like one large, evenly-mown carpet. 

A surprise discovery near the road was a brown spot in the large green expanse. At first we thought this poor rabbit (or hare?) might have died here, but it was breathing.... and yet we could not figure out why it didn't run off when people were passing by. Perhaps it had been frightened by something beforehand? (I once had a pet rabbit exactly like this one, which came to us as a wild rabbit). 

(Once in a while a photo of me!)

This road wasn't actually marked as the hiking trail, which wound around the other side of this small hill and descended from there, but we preferred this stretch, as did other people (probably because there was a car parking lot nearby). 

We often have to find our way across streams without bridges. We now have a long descent next to the stream called Rotbach. 

What a lovely series of steps through the forest, always parallel to the stream. 

It was a surprise to find a rockfall warning here. 

And this was the next surprise! On the right is a small but steep waterfall, and this steep concrete staircase leads to the bottom of the waterfall!

Heading down the staircase to rejoin the river after the waterfall. 

The concrete staircase is built along the cliff next to this waterfall. 

Now the trail continues on another lovely stretch through the forest. 

Along the way we can admire the retaining walls along the stream. What a lot of work! Each wall had a little blue number next to it, like an address, indicating which wall we were passing along the stretch. 

Another retaining wall. 

A nice walk along the Rotbach stream. 

Views to the Rotbach stream. 

Now we have reached the main road that comes down from the Hergiswald Church, and the junction where the Rotbach Stream enters the Renggbach River, which we now follow for 10 minutes to the Hergiswald wooden covered bridge. 

A little detour to the Renggbach River. 

By 2:30 p.m. we have now reached the historical Hergiswald Bridge over the Renggbach River. (At this point we have joined the trail that we descended on the August 2023 hike when we visited the Hergiswald Church further up the hill to the west). 

This lovely bridge was built in 1791 by one Josef Ritter who was deemed to be one of the best bridge builders in Switzerland in the 18th Century. Since 2009, this bridge is under Monument Protection and in the inventory of Swiss Historical Transport Routes. In order to accommodate the increase of traffic, several structural changes took place over the decades. 

Lovely historical Hergiswald Bridge over the Renggbach River.  

We had a pleasant surprise as we passed a regular house in clearing with three Valais Black-Nosed Sheep grazing in their garden! The adults were recently shorn, and are not nearly as pretty as they are over the summer with their long woolen coats. But the babies are always adorable!

A look back at the house and garden where we saw the Black-Nosed Sheep!

At this point we could have headed on the trail to the right, to end up back at the bus stop in Kriens (near the church). But that would have taken 35 minutes more from here, so we opted to once again catch the bus in Obernau, only seven minutes from here, along another pretty stream. 

Along the way to the bus stop we passed a farm called Oberfeld, with a large self-serve shop in the fourth garage. We had a look and were surprised at the sale of quail's eggs in mini egg-cartons, and a bin full of lovely apples and quince. (I wonder if those have worms? I have a quince tree in my garden, but all the lovely fruits have worms). 

And now at 3 p.m. we reach the Obernau bus for the 20-minute ride to the train station in Luzern, and ultimately about an hour's trip back to home. 

And now another view of Mt.Pilatus on the other side of the Luzern Arm of the Vierwaldstättersee (also known as Lake Lucerne), in the afternoon light at 3:45 p.m.

These are all the hikes we have done around Mt.Pilatus, with the one in pink being the one we did this day.