Map

Source: Bundesamt für Landestopografie; Drawn with schweizmobilplus.ch

Elevation Profile

Source: Bundesamt für Landestopografie; Drawn with schweizmobilplus.ch

Useful Links

Original Route
Bus Stop
Paid Parking
Weather
Cable Car Pricing

Short Description

Breccaschlund Panoramaweg “Panoramic Route of Brecca Gulch” is an easy, medium length hike in the western Foothills of the Swiss alps.

The main attraction is, as you might guess, Brecca Gulch. Formed by a long gone glacier, the protected nature reserve now features steep limestone rock faces and dense, almost primordial vegetation (in the lower areas).

The rest of the route offers lovely views of Schwarzsee (“Black Lake”), and romantic grassy hills littered with dry rock walls and majestic mountain maple trees, as well as the typical cow herds.

The official route as described by Schweizmobil makes use of the local cable car to skip the initial ascent, while my route does not.

Notes

  • Snow fields on steep inclines possible in early summer, beware.

Impressions

This is one of those cases where skipping the cable car is not only worth it if you detest using cable cars like I do, because if you took it, you’d also be missing out on a beautiful part of the hike that’s way less populated, thanks to the cable cars (see gallery below).

Image showing a mountain hiking path with peaks in the distance and cloudy blue skies above.
View along the way

After the lovely forest road, we passed stunningly beautiful, vast open meadows, crested by limestone rock faces and mountain peaks in the distance, as well as many dry stone walls and majestic mountain maple trees, as promised in the short description.

Image of a mountain maple and bench, in which a woman is sitting and playing her Kalimba (invisible)
Mountain maple and backpack- / gear- / wife-filled bench

We chose a bench with a view beside a lovely maple tree for lunch. Jenny made herself comfortable and played her Kalimba (a small instrument) while I tried to take some decent pictures in difficult (for me) light. It was a very peaceful moment that had a dreamy quality to it.

Image of a snow field covering the hiking trail on a steep slope.
Crossing this snow field on a steep slope may not be the smartest idea, but we didn’t want to turn back.

Shortly after, a snow field on a steep slope was blocking the way to the actual Brecca Gulch. It wasn’t iced over or anything but slipping on it was probably not the best idea. We proceeded anyway, figuring we’d manage. We did.

It was worth it, as the view was fantastic.

Image of a beautiful valley crested by mountains and checkedred with grass and snow patches.
Worth it.

Finally, we descended down the valley with its beautiful views, cow herds, and primordial-feeling lush vegetation, and walked along the lake shore back to our starting point. This being a rather touristy area, the lakeside was well populated, while we had the mountains almost all to ourselves, presumably because the snow wasn’t gone yet.

Definitely recommended due to the unique feeling of the landscape. Might also make for a great romantic picnic spot.

Would you like to share your own experiences with this hike? Do you have any questions? Something to add? Feel free to leave a comment below 🙂


Route Report / Gallery

This is one of my first hikes with my new camera, so obviously any good pictures are a matter of pure luck. Nonetheless, full size images without watermarks are available for licensing to interested parties. Check romans.pictures, or contact me for details.

  • Protestant church in sinister shading.
  • Image showing a forest path
  • Image showing a forest path
  • Image showing a mountain hiking path with peaks in the distance and cloudy blue skies above.
  • Image showing a mountain hiking path with peaks in the distance and cloudy blue skies above.
  • Mountain maple and empty bench, overcast skies, mountain in the distance
  • Image of a mountain maple and bench, in which a woman is sitting and playing her Kalimba (invisible)
  • Image of dry stone walls and mountain maples
  • Image of a snow field covering the hiking trail on a steep slope.
  • Image of the end of the slope.
  • Image of a beautiful valley crested by mountains and checkedred with grass and snow patches.
  • Cow
  • More cows
  • Yet another cow.
  • Two cows who were cuddling a second ago but didn't want that on camera.
  • View along the shore of Schwarzsee

Basic Data

Date of Hike:2021-06-11
Participants:Roman, Jenny
Technical Difficulty:T2: Mountain Trail (Partial)

Stats

Roman’s Version

Km16.8
Net Hours (Est.)5.5
Net Hours (Act.)5.5
Ascent (m)909
Descent (m)909
Max. Alt. (m)1658
Loop?Yes
Cable Car?No

“Official” Version

Km14
Net Hours (Est.)4
Ascent (m)480
Descent (m)950
Max. Alt. (m)?
Loop?Yes
Cable Car?Yes
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