Hike to the Beringen View Tower in the Randen Hills near Schaffhausen

Monday January 29, 2024 -- I had to deliver something to Schaffhausen, in the very northernmost part of the country, and was hoping to do a nice walk in that region as we don't get there often... But unfortunately for me, it was a widespread foggy day and the whole way there (a 90-minute trip) I could not have found a nice place to return to walk in.

But webcams showed a lifting of the fog in the upper plateau above the city of Schaffhausen in the Randen Mountains surrounded on three sides by Germany, so I took a bus ride there to check it out, and I did manage about two hours of sunshine, climbing up from a village called Beringen to the view tower on the hill 200m higher up, and then walking back toward the city of Schaffhausen, from where I caught a bus just where the fog level started.

It wasn't the best day for a view from a look-out tower, but it was the only place I didn't have to travel too far for some sunshine.

Passing the Rhine Falls (largest by volume in Europe) on my way to Schaffhausen, this is a view I always like to photograph, with the castle on the hill. This day it was all shrouded in fog, and even worse on my way back. 

The fog had lifted by the time the bus from Schaffhausen reached the upper elevations, so I got out in Beringen with the intention of walking up to the Beringen Tower (at the arrow). 

A closer look at the Beringen Tower. Even if the day wasn't great for a view, at least I'd have sunshine up there! 

This is the Evangelical church in Beringen. A metal plate at the gate claimed there was more information inside the church, but I checked all the doors, and they were locked. 

As with so many churches in Switzerland, there are records of a church standing here since the 13th Century, probably made of wood, and whose remnants are gone. A church here is also mentioned in documents of 1462, but this one received expansions and renovations from 1580 onwards, basically obliterating the original build. 

Cool airplane passing low overhead, and flying very slowly!

Starting at 12:20 in Beringen, I had to ascend 200 meters to the Beringer Randenturm, which I reached at 1 p.m. Had my lunch there, and then continued in the direction of Schaffhausen at 13:35, and got on the bus at 2:30 p.m. So I was up here for about two hours. 

I got to the tower at 1 p.m. after a 30-minute uphill hike (200 meters). 

Details of the tower: Built in 1998, the tower is 26 meters high and has 137 steps. It cost 260,000 Fr. to build. Here we are at only 676 meters above sea level. 

The view to the northwest from the top platform across this upper plateau. This north-south valley has the unfortunate name of "Lieblosetaal", which means "Loveless Valley". This whole plateau here, which is still in Switzerland, forms the southwestern end of the German "Schwäbische Alb"

To the west and below is the town of Beringen where I started my hike. We had a much nicer day when we did a previous hike to two other view towers in these hills. (Those photos are HERE)

And to the south, the fog is pressing over the hills onto the plateau. So no hiking through those hills for me! Way in the distance I could see the profile of the Alps above the fog, but it was very hazy. 

And in the far east, that peak is called the Hohenstoffeln, which is actually a peak in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. (It is 841 meters, has volcanic origins). 

Back off the tower, I had my picnic lunch in the sun here (the small kiosk-restaurant here is not open at this time of year) and continued on my walk in the direction of Schaffhausen at about 1:30 p.m. 

Even though I had sunshine here, you can see the light fog still lingering on the plateau. 

Here was a small stream and large pond I wanted to look at: The "Eschheimer Weiher". It is a protected nature reserve of national importance because it is a delicate spawning ground for various amphibians. 

I walked along the edge of the pond to get a good look, but it was mostly hidden by a thick border of bushes and trees. 

As I got closer to the city, the fog got thicker. 

Fog rolling in

On the final kilometer of my walk and the 100-meter descent to the bus stop, I got back into the fog blanket. 

They are also enjoying the milder weather! (My phone battery died about here, and I had no back-up. It is surprisingly difficult to navigate without my phone, as I lost my orientation and had to ask several road workers where the bus stop was!)

Back at the train station platform in Schaffhausen at 14:45. . No let-up of fog here. 

These are the hikes we have done in the Randen Hills above Schaffhausen. The pink one is the one I did this day. 

Location of the Randen Mountains in Switzerland. This region has weird and convoluted borders with Germany, and is actually the southwestern end of the Schwäbische Alb 

By the time I got back to Zurich, the fog had lifted here. One of my favourite views traveling south along Lake Zurich. 

Traveling south along Lake Zurich shortly before 4 p.m. 

And here is the view shortly before reaching Zug. 

The Northernmost Point of Switzerland and the Purple Lady-Slipper Orchids

Wednesday June 1st, 2022 -- Again due to a previous appointment (Urs this time) we could only start on our excursion rather late in the day, a bit of a disappointment as we knew it would get very overcast in the afternoon. We could have stayed closer to home as the weather was better here, but we had long wanted to go see the endangered purple lady-slipper orchids in the protected region called Tannbüel and a call to the local forest ranger indicated that the time was ideal.

(Note, we have been in other regions before, where the lady-slippers are more abundant than in Tannbüel as it turns out, but it was a region we also wanted to visit, as the trail takes you to the very northernmost tip of Switzerland, and that was a fascinating idea as well).

There is an official 14-km loop trail called the "Nordspitze Panoramaweg", or "Northern Apex Panorama Trail", starting and ending in the tiny community of Bargen (Canton Schaffhausen) and which encompasses the area along the German border in the northernmost part of Switzerland. From the trail you can take a detour to the Tannbüel protection area, but since we thought we would not have time to do the whole loop, we headed straight to the flowers, and then to the northern tip of Switzerland, returning via the "Border Trail". (As it turns out, we ended up walking 13 kilometers anyway).

We could have managed with overcast skies, as there was no rain in the forecast, but as it turned out, for the entire second half of the hike walking along the Swiss/German border back to the town of Bargen, we had to contend with a light drizzly rain, annoying really, and also preventing us from the otherwise nice views we should have gotten over the pasturelands of Germany all the way to Lake Constance....

Heading North by bus from Schaffhausen, we pass through the village of Merishausen. Between here and the northernmost community of Bargen where we are headed, the bus passes through a small section of Germany

The borders here north of Schaffhausen are so convoluted, that you are often crossing from one country into the other and back. Here the bus crossed a small section of Germany (less than 1 km), before re-entering Switzerland. The bus stops are in Switzerland, though. 

After the bus stop at the border, we cross for a few seconds into the hamlet of Schlauch in Germany. Perhaps the security personnel are guarding the border crossing?

We arrived in Bargen at noon. This is the northernmost community in Switzerland 

It seems like every village or town in Switzerland has a hotel called "Löwen" (Lion) and one called "Krone" (Crown). These two in Bargen are no longer in business. 

Before we headed out on our hike, we did a small tour of the village of Bargen

A very pretty colouring of this columbine

Schoolhouse in Bargen

Instead of doing the entire Panorama trail, we took a direct route to Tannbüel to see the lady-slippers (in the circled area), then headed to the northernmost point of Switzerland (through German territory) and returned on Trail no.593 along the German-Swiss border. The thick pink line shows the border between the two countries.

There is always something interesting to see along the way (???)

A lot of agriculture here. The farmers were very busy...

We took a shortcut through a farmer's property (he said it was OK) on our way to the Tannbüel forest, and this deer came bounding out of the tall grass near where we walked. We figured she might have been luring us away from a small one in the grass.

There were several of these forester observation posts, which means there are usually a lot of deer to observe!

It hadn't started to rain yet, and we could see Lake Constance (Bodensee) in the distance

We arrived at the Tannbüel park on its South end (the regular way is from the North along the official path, whereas we crossed the farmer's fields.) Apparently a large variety of orchids grow here. 

The park is done up very nicely with looped walking paths where you can admire patches of lady slipper orchids without actually walking over them and damaging them. 

Bunches of the protected purple lady-slipper orchid. The plant is an endangered species because of loss of habitat and people picking them to transplant (unsuccessfully) in their gardens

Looking across a stretch of meadow to the forester's seat which we had passed earlier

Another looped side-trail showcased even more of the unique flowers

The endangered purple lady-slipper orchid. This is really quite a unique-looking flower. 

And a whole bunch of them! They look like spiders...

The Tannbüel protection area is partly in Switzerland and partly in Germany. This is border stone number 611, erected in 1839 which was the year when the border here was fixed. Urs is standing in Germany, and I am still in Switzerland. CS stands for "Canton Schaffhausen".

Below us is the customs building for entry into Switzerland from Germany on the left. The fields behind that are all in Germany, and we are going to walk along the trail to the point in the circle, which is the northernmost point in Switzerland. 

Some beautiful grain fields (rye maybe?)

As we got to the top of the hill near the northern tip, a look back across the fields, all in Germany. We will head back along the border, which is the road in the center of the photo at the back. 

Last few steps as we approach the northernmost part of Switzerland from the north. Basically, the table, information sign and border stone are in Switzerland, whereas the forest road ahead once again forms the border between Switzerland and Germany. 

My favourite photo: Urs with his finger on the northernmost point of Switzerland. I am still in Germany, and behind him is also Germany. "GB" stands for "Grossherzogtum Baden" which was what this part of Germany was called in 1839 when the border was officially set. Border Stone no. 593 (also the number of the trail) was called the "Black Stone", as undesirable people were expelled here from Canton Schaffhausen at the time. 

A coffee break at the northermost point of Switzerland. This is when it started to rain. I had a nap in the protection of the forest, and then we returned to Germany along the road on the right (the official panorama trail no.593)

This tree, an official natural monument, is a 500-year old oak tree, which broke apart in 1955 and was repaired with trusses. It has a name: "Buchener Stumpen".

Even with the rain, it was a very lovely landscape. 

Here at the small smattering of houses called Neuhaus (in Germany), we continued along the border trail, part of the official Northern Apex Panorama Trail (Nordspitze Panoramaweg)

Climbing up the road away from Neuhaus, a look back again at the Northernmost point of Switzerland on the left (the rest of all that's in this photo is Germany)

Heading east on the higher trail now, a look back down at Bargen where we started on this hike. We are doing a loop now and coming back down to the village from the left. The entire forest South of here is called the Randen. 

Borderstone no. 622. GB means we are on the German side of the border. 

I was definitely happy to have my plasic "cape" along! An inexpensive gift from my sister, it is always in the backpack. Sometimes it is used on a wet bench. For rainy hikes I've used it four times in the past 9 years!

From afar I thought this was just a piece of the branch, until it flew away....

Even though this road along the German (to the left) and Swiss (to the right) border was paved, it was comfortable walking, as it wasn't a hot day. 

Our final approach back to the village of Bargen, the northernmost community in Switzerland. The entire forest south of here is called the Randen. (Side note, we made it back to the bus station with two minutes to spare). 

The northernmost point of Switzerland, as seen on the Google Satellite Maps

The northernmost Point in Switzerland  (We've already been to the southernmost).