Short Walk from Rothenflue to Alptal near the Mythen Mountains in Canton Schwyz

Thursday June 19, 2025 -- After our two-day trip to the Surselva Valley, we didn't want to travel far this day. We also wanted to start early again to beat the day's heat.

We traveled just 90 minutes from home (leaving at 7:15) to reach the summit of the Rothenflue gondola cable-car station at the base of the Mythen Mountains in Schwyz, from where we did a relatively short, five-kilometer walk down to the road in the Alptal Valley. We enjoyed cows newly let out of the barns onto these upper pastures, and walked mostly through forest and marsh landscapes with lots and lots of meadow flowers again, to my delight. There was a lovely breeze blowing and it wasn't at all too hot.

It was only a 90-minute walk to the road where the bus heads down the Alptal Valley to Einsiedeln, and originally we were going to walk for another hour on a trail following the Alp River, but the next bus out wasn't till two hours later, and we didn't feel like spending another two hours in the heat of the valley bottom. So we took the 11:13 bus (which we just reached with five minutes to spare) to Einsiedeln, and went to visit Urs' Aunt on the way home. Then we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon at home. 

The view of the Uri Alps from the 10-minute bus ride from the Schwyz train station to the Rothenflue cable-car station. 

We left home at 7:15, and got to the cable-car station just before 8:30 for the first run up the mountain. As the gondola ascends, we look down at the city of Schwyz, and can just see Lake Lucerne in the back. 

Directly to our north is the magnificent Greater Mythen mountain. (Grosser Mythen). You can see the zigzag trail that goes up to the summit. (We climbed this once in 2014, maybe it's time to try again?)

At the top of the gondola cable-way is a restaurant and a look-out platform. From here you can also see Lake Lauerz on the right, and the summit of Mt.Rigi behind it. 

Here is a photo I have to take every time I am here!

A close-up look a the summit of Mt.Mythen. There is nothing up there but a restaurant! The trail up to the summit is very popular, though. Interesting fact: The red rock at the top of the mountain is older tan the gray rock below it, proof that at some point Earth's crust flipped over. 

Starting out on our hike now, with a look to the north into the Alptal (Alp Valley) where we will ultimately catch a but to Einsiedeln in the north. 

There was a little shop inside this old cable-car cabin! You could buy locally-made cheeses here, but we didn't buy anything this time. 

Leaving home at 7:15, we got to the summit of the Rotenflue cable-car at about 8:45. After a short five-kilometer walk, we caught the bus in Brunni on the road in the Alptal (Alp Valley) at 11:15, heading back home via Einsiedeln and Goldau. 

Heading down the hill on the first part of our hike with a view of the Schwyzer Alps to our south.  

And the cows were heading up the hill toward us.... but as it turns out, we had just passed by their water trough, and that's where they were headed!

We love the cows in the mountains. 

I took this photo by accident, but I love it!

VIDEO:

Walking past a parade of cows heading to their water trough!

First the cows were keeping an eye on that little dog, and then they were curious about us! These are not the typical Swiss Brown Cows we usually see here. I checked the Internet, and I think they are Jersey breed of cows. 

They always watch Urs!

From here we can see the "Grosser Mythen" on the left, and the "Kleiner Mythen" on the right. ("Greater" and "Lesser" Mythen). 

More cows

View to the south. Behind the first stretch of lower hills is the Muota Valley (Muotathal). 

Here at the saddle with the cutest name: "Müsliegg", we headed north, and the rest of our walk was downhill into the Alp Valley. 

This hillside is quite wet with lots of marshy landscapes. The people who keep up the trails lay down wooden boards in the wettest areas to make walking easier. We had lots of shade which was great on this hot day. 

Several little bridges

A couple of sunny spots were welcome as well. It wasn't at all hot here as there was a breeze blowing.

In this clearing (which was kind of a marshy area) were loads of little yellow flowers. And we could just see the summit of the larger Mythen mountain. 

Pretty cornflowers. 

Another soft trail through marshy meadows. 

A close-up view of the summit of the large Mythen mountain, where the upper and older rock glows red! And the single building at the top looks so out of place!

As it was now 10 a.m. and we were looking for a bench to sit and have a snack, we were pleasantly surprised to find this cute covered sitting spot in the woods, perfect to enjoy a few minutes of cool!

 In fact we only found this by accident as we were walking down the road, because two other hikers emerged from the forest onto the main road and we wondered, "What in the world were they doing in the dense forest where there is no hiking trail?"

On a hot day like this one, we are glad for any forest trails which we can walk along!

More boards on the trail!

Ahead of us here we can see the peaks of the other part of the Mythen mountains. These are called the "Kleiner Mythen" (or "Smaller/Lesser" Mythen). 

A field full of wool-grass, although already kind of collapsed, unfortunately. They look so pretty when they are all fluffed up. 

Back down at the road now waiting for the bus at the Brunni Gasthaus. We got here with six minutes to spare before the bus came. That's a lot of extra time for us!

Here's the 11:12 bus (starts at the Brunni cable-car station one stop closer to the Grosser Mythen), right on time!

This is what our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. We started at about 8:45 the top of the Rothenflue cable-car line, and walked five kilometers via Müsliegg to the vehicle road in the Alptal Valley (11:15) . 

On the bus down the Alptal Valley toward Einsiedeln

On the bus down the Alptal Valley toward Einsiedeln

From Einsiedeln, we take the train via the Rothenthurm High Moors to Goldau. Down below is a really long cargo train heading south. 

These are all the hikes we have done in the region around the two Mythen Mountains in Canton Schwyz.

Hiking along the Schwyzer Höhenweg on the East side of Mt. Mythen

Sunday October 23, 2022 -- Not wanting to travel far today, we settled on a 3.5-hour hike along the "Schwyzer Höhenweg" (Schwyz High Trail), covering a small section of Stage No.5 between Mythen Mountains and Einsiedeln. (The entire panorama trail is 65 kilometers long encompassing the regions of Mt. Rigi and the Mythen Mountains in Canton Schwyz.)

The section of trail between the summit station of the Rotenflue Gondola and the city of Einsiedeln takes about 6 hours to walk, something we are not able to do in one stretch. Our main plan was to get to the summit of Mt. Furggelenstock from where you can look into the Alptal Valley to the West and the Hoch-Ybrig mountains to the East. From there, most people descend to the village of Brunni in the Alptal Valley, but we wanted a longer hike, so we continued along the ridge and descended to the village of Alpthal, which gives the valley its name.

Unfortunately we had little sunshine but the air was clear so we had some nice views, although not nearly as nice as if the sky had been blue. Furthermore, the area is a boreal "rain forest" region with lots of peat bogs, and so the ground was pretty muddy and wet. Along the ridge past the Furggelenstock, we didn't get much of a view any more. 

Upside is that we did get another 3.5-hour hike done, and were home pretty early, as the trip back took only 90 minutes. AND we spotted a chamois, confidently grazing on the hillside, observing us but not afraid! 

On the way by bus from Schwyz Train Station to the Rotenflue cableway. It looks like the clouds might be lifting at this point.

These are the two Mythen mountains seen from the West side. They are the distinctive peaks in this area, recognized from afar

Heading up to the Rotenflue summit station with the gondola cableway. The city of Schwyz (capital city of Canton Schwyz), is on the right.

To the west is Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstättersee), the Rigi Massif on the right, and Mt. Pilatus in the very back. 

To our south on the other side of the Muotathal Valley is the upper alpine pasture called Stoos, a popular local skiing area, and the location of the equally popular Fronalpstock/Klingenstock ridge hike. Also, the line that you see on the photo here at the red arrow, that is the Stoos Funicular, completed in 2017 and the steepest funicular in the world. 

From the summit station of the Rotenflue gondola cableway (completed in Dec.2014), we first walked down to the Rotenfluh Restaurant to get a better look into the valley

The region north of Schwyz (i.e. where we live!!!) is still covered by fog. Even though we didn't have a lot of sunshine, at least we weren't in the fog. 

Panorama view including the south side of the Gross Mythen

The interesting thing about the Gross Mythen is that the red rock on the upper section is older than the rock beneath it, another proof of the earth's thrust millions of years ago. This summit is popular with hikers (you can see the zigzag trail and the restaurant at the top). We did that hike in 2014, unfortunately it was totally in the fog at the time. 

Down below on the meadow is a single chamois

The chamois watched us, but knew we were no danger. Plus this whole area is a non-hunting zone, so the animals feel safe. 

Taking the longer way to Müsliegg from the Rotenflue station, we rejoined Trail no.63 "Schwyzer Höhenweg" near Müsliegg. From here it's an hour to the summit of Mt. Furggelenstock, the main goal of this hike. 

Our 3-1/2 hour hike (11 km) along the "Schwyzer Höhenweg" from Rotenflue. A popular loop hike starts and ends at Brunni, but we didn't want the uphill climb, but needed a longer hike... that's why we descended to Alpthal

A look south at Stoos in the middle and Rotenflue on the right as we hike up to Mt. Furggelenstock

An interesting view to the West, past the pyramid of Righ Hoflue (part of the Rigi Massif) to Mt. Pilatus in the background

We have a fairly clear view of the mountains to the east, but blue skies would be better. Below is the village of Oberiberg, from where we also started a hike once. 

We didn't stay long at the summit of the Furggelenstock, as there was no sunshine, and only a cold wind blowing. All the way at the back we could see the peaks of the Uri Alps

Continuing north along the ridge to descend from Mt. Furggelenstock

A popular little mountain restaurant at the Furggelen Alp. Most people descend back into the Alptal Valley from here. We had lunch on the red bench near the barn, and then continued along the ridge

From our lunch bench at the barn (protected from the wind), this is the view we had of the Mythen mountains from the east side. We have hiked along those peaks several times already, including descending to the other side between them. 

That's the summit of Mt. Fuggelenstock, from where we descended. On the right is the barn where we sat and had our picnic lunch.

The rest of the hike along the ridge was either full of roots or wet and soggy, without a lot of view

First glimpse of the village of Alpthal below, the end of our hike. 

Starting on our 500-m descent to the valley bottom, we had a good laugh at the arrow on the tree indicating that we should follow the trail to the right. Going straight ahead meant a vertical drop.... who would do that?

A small tricky section

Bridges are always a hit

Most of the way down was along a wide gravel road. I walked mostly on the grass next to it. 

Last stretch before reaching the village of Alpthal

A zoomed view of the church, school and a few buildings in the village of Alpthal

A cute little farm on the hill opposite

Crossing the Alp River into the village of Alpthal

A quick look into the inside of the church is part of every hike. 

The cutest schoolhouse in Alpthal!

Details on the school-house in Alpthal. Such a pretty building!

A common sight everywhere where there are farms here, especially when the grass is being mowed: A Red Kite

What our 11-km hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

All the hikes we have done in this area.

Where the region of the Mythen is located in Switzerland, it's very close to where we live in Zug.