Kleine Melchaaschlucht

Route:

Giswil – Melchaadossen, a vantage point - Cholplatz – EWO factory - Lochkeller - Rinderhüttli – return to Cholplatz - grosse Schwendi - Aecherli - Giswil

From the Giswil Railway Station hike for a short while back, in the direction of Sachseln. At the foot of the Melchaadossen the trail begins to ascend rather steeply and winds through the forest up to the vantage point. A strikingly beautiful view awaits you here. After a short ascent you will reach the little Tobel Road. The entrance to the gorge begins on the Melchaaboden. Deep below, the water of the Kleine Melchaa brook roars and squeezes itself through old and narrow glacial mills and channels with many small deepblue rapids.

At the Cholplatz charcoal was produced in ealier times. Hiking alongside the Wildbach brook and through tight passages with tall, vertical rock faces we reach the Bettlernest (Beggar’s Nest) and the “Böse Stieg mit dem Dom”, and finally the power plant of Obwalden. Here the two water channels unite and the water from the Grosses Melchtal flows into the Lungern Lake (Lungernsee). At Rinderhüttli our hiking tour ends and we take the same way back, up to Cholplatz. After taking a left turn, hike to the Grossen Schwendi. Via Aecherli you will reach Rudenz and Giswil. In winter the Tobel is a magical landscape.

Distance: 10.5 km        
Hiking time: 3 hours 30 minutes