Alpine Passes Trail

A few decades ago, crops were still being grown at the starting point in Grächen. Since the region is very dry, the water from the Ried Glacier was channelled to the meadows and former farmland via “bisses” (irrigation channels). With four such water channels, Grächen is considered an “Eldorado” of bisses.

The descent to St. Niklaus takes one and a half hours, mostly on an asphalt or gravel road to start with. From Bodmen you switch to a path that crosses the motorway several times until you reach Wichel. It continues from there on a road running through St. Niklaus, the main town of the Matter Valley. This is also known as Zaniglas in Valais dialect. In the 19th century, St. Niklaus was the centre of the mountaineering school in Switzerland and the starting point for challenging tours. This paved the way for the development of tourism in the Matter Valley and around Zermatt.

If you do not want to hike for 9 hours, you can now take the gondola lift to Jungen (or Jungu) and cover an altitude difference of around 850 metres or two and a half hours of hiking time. Another option to cut short the hike is to take the bus from Grächen to St. Niklaus.

The path from St. Niklaus up to Jungen is partially surfaced and has a supporting wall. From Jungen, the attractive trail has steps and walls that run close to the edge of the forest and past the Twära ridge. On the other side of the valley, looking east, you can see the peaks of Balfrin and its glacier, the Dom and the Little Matterhorn looming. A large rubble field takes you up to the Augstbord Pass. A breathtaking view of the Valais Alps opens up from the top of the pass at an altitude of 2,892 metres. This is the ideal time to take a break.

You then go downwards towards Gruben. With an altitude difference of more than 1,000 metres, you first hike over rocky terrain. An attractive path then takes you downwards across pastures until you reach the tree line. More hairpin bends lead you to Gruben, the destination for this stage. The small village in the Turtmann Valley has the highest tree line in Europe and is only inhabited in summer.