Idyllic Hike to Mt. Hörnli in the Tössbergland near Steg

Saturday July 25, 2026 -- The weather forecast for the weekend was for possible thunderstorms in many parts of the country, with cloud cover starting already at 9 a.m. The best prognosis was for eastern Switzerland around the Zurich Oberland and Toggenburg regions, which suited us well as we could not afford to travel a long distance. i.e. we needed to start our planned outing early in order to be done before the thunderstorms expected in that region at about noon.

The very eastern region of the Zurich Oberland (also known as the Tössbergland because of the Töss River) is a lovely area for hiking with lots of rolling hills, valleys, waterfalls, meadows, cows and more. Plus, from the top of many of these smaller mountains, you get some fantastic panorama views.

In October 2020, we did a hike to the highest peak in Canton Zurich, called the Schnebelhorn, having started at a small pass called Hulftegg. This time we wanted to start at the same pass but heading north, with the main goal a peak called Hörnli, where there is a mountain restaurant with a view! And what a view! 360-degrees from Lake Constance to Mt.Säntis, the Glarus Alps, the Bernese Alps, the Central Alps and back to the city of Zurich (no view of Lake Zurich, though). Unfortunately, the prognosed cloud cover started early over the Alps, so we'll have to return here on a clear day.

The hike then continues down the mountain to the train station at Steg in the Töss Valley. It was a short hike of only 2½ hours, and having started at 8 a.m., we were back on the train home by noon!

Leaving home once again at about 6:15 to get a very early start before the heat of the day, we were already traveling down the Jona/Fischenthal Valley by 7:45 a.m., enjoying the morning light here in these rolling hills in the eastern region of the Zürcher Oberland. At this point, we have great visibility of the Alps, as the clouds have not moved in yet. 

After less than two hours, we arrive in Steg at 8:00, and board the bus for the 10-minute ride to the Hulftegg Pass, where we are going to start our hike. 

The Gasthaus Hulftegg at the pass is a popular stopping point for motorcyclists. Here we are actually in Canton St.Gallen, in the Toggenburg Region, as the bus had crossed the border from Canton Zurich on the road from Steg to here. 

It's now 8:15 as we prepare to head out on our walk. The first part of our walk takes us along both the Regional Trails no.69: "Züri Oberland Höhenweg" and no.48: "Toggenburger Höhenweg " ("Höhenweg" = "High Trail" and usually includes many panorama views!). This is the same themed trail we took in October 2020 when we hiked to Mt.Schnebelhorn, the highest peak in Canton Zurich. Today we are headed to "Hörnli", just over an hour from here. 

Across from the Hulftegg Gasthaus was a huge parking lot for the many motorcycles that pass through here, plus this interesting sculpture reflecting the popularity of the pass for motorcycles!

Heading off on our hike at 8:15 a.m.

This was a fairly short hike for us, not quite 8 km and only 2½ hours, but it fit in perfectly with our plan to not travel far (2 hours) and be done before noon when thunderstorms were expected. We started at Hulftegg Pass at 8:15, and got back down to Steg at just before noon, after taking a break at the Hörnli Gasthaus.  

The view to the east across the Toggenburg region of St. Gallen. Early in the morning, the air is always hazy toward the east. 

Trying to get a clearer and close-up view of the mountains to the southwest. This little hill with a single barn at the top has the fun name of "Johannenbööl". 

Toggenburg landscape directly to the south. You can just make out the summit of Mt.Tödi, the main mountain at the back of the Linth Valley in the Glarus Alps. 

Close-up view of Mt.Tödi in the Glarus Alps to the south (very distinctive due to its flat snow cap). Just three days earlier we had done a hike very close to the back of the Linth Valley, in Braunwald, where we got good views of this peak. (Photos HERE).

And to the north, we can just see a bit of Lake Constance (Bodensee). 

After 20 minutes on a comfortable dirt road, we get the first glimpse of the summit called Hörnli, which is our main goal of the day. 

Up ahead a line of cows is headed somewhere. We can't tell if they are going on their own, or if they are being led to another pasture by the farmer. 

8:50 and it's already time for a snack break in the shade! (And mainly to change into shorts, as the day is already starting to warm up).

Still heading north parallel to the Canton Border, currently still in Canton St.Gallen. Up ahead is a farm with cows grazing in the pastures, where we had seen the other cows head west. 

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We caught up to the cows that had been heading west earlier.

Enjoying the sounds of cowbells that belong to this countryside.

Another view south to the little Johannenbööl hill, and the snow-covered summit of Mt.Tödi. 

Mt.Hörnli ahead of us. You can just see the communication tower at the top.

View to the north. 

At 9:15 we reached the junction where the borders of three different Cantons meet: Zurich to the west and south, St.Gallen to the east, and Thurgau to the north. It is called "Dreiländerstein", a stone monument demarking the exact point where they meet. Here we are now continuing south along the National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi", i.e. the St.James Pilgrim Trail. We have come 45 minutes from Hulftegg, and have another 25 minutes to the Hörnli Summit. 

This is the "Dreiländerstein", i.e. the "Three Canton Stone". From this side, SG = St.Gallen, TG = Thurgau, and on the far side were the initials ZH = Zurich. The three Cantons meet here!

The rest of the way was uphill through the forest (nice and cool) with many such steps along the trail. We have now crossed into the Zurich Oberland Region. 

By 9:40 we had reached the Gasthaus Hörnli, where they have a "self-serve" window, i.e. you order your food there and then pick it up when it is ready. Urs decided he felt like a cheese/sausage salad as a mid-morning snack (besides our traditional Panaché).

Berggasthuas Hörnli. While Urs waited for his order, I headed to the other side of the building, to check out the view. 

On the lower side of the building was a large view terrace, so we decided to sit here! It was actually rather "cold" here! But the view was superb. 

This is the view from the terrace on the bottom side of the Berggasthaus Hörnli. Down below is the valley where we rode by train to get to Steg, and where we are going to walk down to. The larger village is called Fischenthal. And at the far back you can just make out the entire stretch of Alps from the Glarus to the Bernese Alps. But the clouds are already moving in there, so the view is not as clear as it might be on, for example, a crisp autumn day!

Enjoying a mid-morning "Käse-Wurst Salat" (Cheese-Sausage Salad) with a view!

By 10:20 we are now on our way down the mountain, following the St.James trail to Steg, where we are taking the train back again the same route we have come. 

A look back at the Hörnli Gasthaus from the view-point up on the hill. 

There is the communication tower we had seen at the top of the hill on our way here from Hulftegg Pass. 

To the east we see the summit of Mt.Säntis, although it is very hazy.

Down below to the northeast is the city of Bauma, and on the far right at the back we see all the way to the city of Zurich, although you cannot see Lake Zurich from here. 

Part of the St.James Trail follows a winding road down the hillside, where we will later pass by that farm below, called Tanzplatz.

Down at the Tanzplatz farm they were just unloading a trailer of massive straw bales!

10:45 at Tanzplatz. From here we could have taken a shortcut, but we wanted to complete the walk to Steg along Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi". The train we want to catch at Steg leaves at 11:54, so this is just the right amount of time to get there. 

This cool rooster was very proud of himself, crowing away at mid-day!

Another close-up view toward the snow-covered Bernese Alps past the Bachtel look-out tower. Unfortunately you can barely see the mountains!

Now we leave the road for the final section along pasture and forest trails. In the back on the right you can see the communication tower up on the Hörnli summit. 

Reaching the outskirts of Steg at 11:40

His and Hers "Audi R8 Spyders" parked along the main road through Steg!!!

Near the train station. 

Arriving at the Steg train station at 11:44, with another 10 minutes to wait for our train. 

Before noon, we were on our way for the less-than-two-hour trip back home via Rüti and Zürich. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting at Hulftegg and ending in Steg, passing over Mt. Hörnli. 

All the hikes we have done in this region of the Zürcher Oberland. 

Location of the Tössbergland within Switzerland. 

Easy Walk from Steg to Wald in the Zurich Oberland

Wednesday March 5, 2025 -- We didn't feel like traveling far this day for our weekly Wednesday hike, and based on Sunday's experience on the mountain trail in the Bernese Oberland, still not ready for a really long hike with lots of uphill!

Also, when the fog isn't lying low in the valleys, it's a good time for valley walks, which we don't do in summer. In the valleys the grass is usually green, and if we walk through sections of forest or along rivers, we see more because the trees don't have leaves yet.

So this day we traveled to the Zurich Oberland east of us (near the Töss Valley), less than two hours of travel time each way, to walk along the Mühlebach and Jona Rivers from Steg to Wald. It was an easy walk always just slightly downhill through a lovely valley and a short section of ravine as well. It is a walk we did in the opposite direction in 2014, which we really enjoyed at the time, but at which time I only took three photos!

In all, it was an 11-kilometer walk which took just under three hours to walk. Most of the trail is part of National Trail no.4: "St.James Trail", or the Switzerland part of the popular "Camino de Santiago" and a lot of the walk was also parallel to the railway tracks, so the local urban trail passed several times throughout the walk. And BRIDGES! We must have crossed 15-20 of them, most of them back and forth across the streams. 

We started in Steg at 10:30 in the morning, with the most beautiful weather

Our plan is to walk from Steg to Wald via Fischenthal and Gibswil, just under three hours. 

We walked a short section through Steg past buildings we had seen once before at the end of a hike we did when we walked over a nearby peak called Hüttchopf, back in January of 2024 (see photos HERE), but the town was somewhat in shadow at the time when we descended from the mountain. 

Before leaving the village of Steg heading south, we passed a little Bio farm shop and Urs bought some very expensive dried meat. (But very good!).

This Gasthaus called "Landgasthof und Metzgerei zum Steg" has a nice history. As this town is on the St.James Trail, the building has served as an accommodation for pilgrims since the middle of the 16th Century. (We found this out last time we were here from an information placard at the train station). 

We started in the town of Steg at 10:30 (Steg i.T. = Steg im Tösstal, because there are other towns named Steg, but this one is in the valley of the Töss River) and arrived in Wald at about 2:30 p.m. So we took about four hours to do the approx. three-hour walk. 

Heading out of Steg, we cross the Töss River three times (it makes a couple of bends here).  

Much of our walk was near the railway line. 

This trail is part of the international trail called "Camino de Santiago" (The part through Switzerland is called the Via Jakobi, or St.James Trail). A sign on a house wishes the walkers a good "walk"!

Lots of nice houses along the way. The half-timbered houses are the prettiest. 

Lots of bridges! We crossed 15-20 of these, back and forth over the various rivers and streams (and railway tracks) along the valley. This stream is called the Mühlebach, and it runs northward to join the Töss River at Steg. 

A pleasant trail along the Mühlebach stream. 

Crossing the Mühlebach for the fourth time! From here the river flows west of the railway tracks all the way to Fischenthal, so we walked next to the railway tracks instead of the stream for the next 15 minutes. 

It took us 45 minutes to walk to Fischenthal (we got here at 11:30, just as two trains were crossing). This is where we ended this same hike in 2014, when we walked from Wald going in the opposite direction. 

After Fischenthal, the stream returned to the east side of the railway tracks, and we continued on this lovely footpath. 

Perfect late winter weather for this kind of a walk. 

A look back at the village of Fischenthal. (We did not make a detour to look at the church). It was here that we started another very nice hike in 2016, heading up the hill behind the church and continuing in the northwestward direction to Bauma. (Photos are HERE). 

(This photo from January 2024 is from our hike on the Hüttchopf trail, a view down to Fischenthal from the summit of Mt.Hüttchoft on the west side of the valley). 

On the other side of this bridge is a large pond called Fistelweiher

Our first look at the snow-covered peaks to the south, part of the Schwyzer and Glarus Alps. The large flat moor area on the other side of the railway tracks is used as a cross-country ski site in winter when there is snow!

On our left (to the east) a small peak comes into view, which is called the Hüttchopf, the peak we walked over in January 2024 when we walked the Hüttchopf trail from the south, and descended to Steg at the end of that hike (photos HERE)

We are walking along National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi", or "St. James Trail", part of the "Camino de Santiago" Pilgrim Trail which passes through Switzerland. 

Somehow a large hiking group of seniors caught up with us, so we stopped for our lunch break here and let them pass. 

The place we found to have our picnic lunch while waiting for the hiking group to get far ahead of us!

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Watching the trains go by as we eat our picnic lunch

Often we spot herons in the pastures or marshes. 

A large moor area called Fischentalerriet. 

Still following the railway tracks. Shortly afterwards we reached the next town called Gibswil, where we left the St.James trail, as we were planning to head down into the Jona Ravine, a river which has its source in the hills to the west of Gibswil. 

It is so lovely to get a view of the mountains! Also, up ahead is the next bridge to cross (and a second one behind it), over the railway tracks this time. 

This sign on the bridge over the railway tracks states that in the next few days a frog migration will begin, and the road will be closed between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m! Only ambulances will be allowed to "run over frogs"!!

From this bridge crossing east to west, we see the next bridge where we have to cross again from west to east! From the second bridge I just caught the train passing under the first bridge! This here is now is a new river called the Jona, which has its source in the hills to the west of Gibswil. 

A section of forest next to the Jona River, still a small stream here. (The river laters flows westward at Wald where we are ending our hike, and ultimately empties into Lake Zurich at the town of the same name: JONA). 

Every half hour or so a train passes!

More lovely half-timbered houses 

At the top of the hill to the west we can see the Bachtel tower, a tower we climbed back in November 2016 when we hiked up there from Wald headed northwards, and ultimately also descended to Steg. (Those photos are HERE).

Close-up of the Bachtel communications tower with viewing platform (180 steps to climb!)

Last stretch before we head into the ravine. 

Now starts the season where the fountain water runs and I can fill up my water bottle!

A couple more bridges once we got into the Jona ravine!

A few more bridges once we got into the Jona ravine!

Following the Jona River

Here a long set of steps led down to a spot near some waterfalls!

Heading down the steps into the bottom of the ravine

A look at the steps we just descended. This is a picnic spot which surely is very pretty on a hot summer day!

The Jona River falls over the cliffs here!

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Waterfall in the Jona Ravine.

Heading out of the ravine now along the river instead of returning to the upper trail. 

Already the river is wider here. 

This was the final bridge we crossed over the Jona River. 

For the next kilometer, the trail is a wider road until it meets the main road in Wald. 

Following the main road through Wald as we head to the railway station. A stop in the town's church is a necessity. 

The interior of the Evangelical Church in Wald. 

Some of the houses in Wald. 

Main road in Wald. We got to the train station at 2:30 p.m. We could have caught the 2:38 train but decided to take the next one at 3:08. At the train station in Wald is a small barn where a team of train lovers are restoring an historical train. As Urs also helped out several years ago, he went over to have a look at the progress and chat with his fellow train lovers. 

This is the old train being restored, since about 20 years now!

Urs made a donation in my name (and his) to the project, which means that once the historical train is finished with its restoration, we get a free ride on it every year on our very own reserved seats!

What our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps, starting in Steg and walking to Wald. 

These are all the walks we have done between Wald and Steg, as well as along the range to the west of the Steg/Wald valley. 

On the way back home, our train passes through Rapperswil on Lake Zurich. The castle here is quite impressive. 

As the train crosses the isthmus across Lake Zurich, we get a view of the mountains to the south. There is a really neat boardwalk here, which we walked on only once before. 

Seagull island! The south part of Lake Zurich here is actually called Obersee (Upper Lake). 

The canal between Lake Zurich on the north side of the isthmus, and the Obersee on the south side. 

As the train heads north along Lake Zurich, we pass the vineyards at Au. 

Location of Steg and Wald in the Zurich Oberland. 

Back in 2014 when Urs was still actively involved in helping with the restoration of the historical train in Wald, I met up with him there one day in May, and we did an afternoon walk in this valley heading northwards through the Jona Ravine and ending our walk in Fischenthal (not all the way to Steg). I don't know why, but I only took four photos on that hike, and not one of them was from the actual ravine. But we did enjoy that hike, and wanted to repeat it now, over 10 years later. These are the photos I took at the time. 

When it is green in the valley between Wald in Fischenthal (May 2014)