Hike Report – ‘Sentier de la crête du Moléson’ (SM 270-M)

Short Description

The ‘Sentier de la crête du Moléson’ (Moleson Ridge Trail) takes the scenic route along the ridge to the peak of Mount Moleson, from where you may get a great view of both the alps and the Fribourg countryside.

Along the way, a traditional alpine cheese creamery still operates and may be of interest.

The original route, as suggested by Schweizmobil, takes the furnicular up to the middle station and cheese hut, circles around and then ascends the top, from where the cable car and funicular are taken back down to the parking space / bus stop.

My suggested route skips the cable car and funicular, saving you both money and time at the gym.

The actual route we ended up taking diverts from the Moleson trail on the way back because we missed a sign.

Notes

• To follow the official route, you will need a two-way ticket for the funicular and a one way ticket for the cable car.
• Signage not always obvious.

Impressions

Following a week of rain, it was a cloudy day with a chance of rain in almost all of Switzerland, except Fribourg, one of the French speaking Swiss cantons. So we chose the most interesting route from my do-do list that wouldn’t be dangerous when wet.

Of course we took the modified version without cable cars, and I’m glad we did, because the mountain offered this view along the climb as compensation for the expended effort:

Still one of my favorite photographs. Short video clip of the mood:

Going hiking on a route crossing alpine grazing lands after a week of rain of course meant wet, soggy, muddy patches wherever cows congregate, so I was glad the shoes I brought were washable, but not so glad that they were mesh-topped. Oh well.

Going on a dry, but cloudy day also meant that there wasn’t much of a view of the alps to enjoy at the top, which didn’t keep it from being full of people (who obviously got there by cable car).

On the way back, however, we did get to enjoy some truly wonderful views of the Fribourg countryside, and as we made our way down, the weather changed into full postcard-mode.

We did miss the last bit of the intended route because we didn’t see the sign or trail splitting off from the main road we were on. Suboptimal, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

I’d recommend this hike for a luke-warm spring day, or as a safe alternative when the weather isn’t right for alpine tours. Or of course if you just prefer trails like this.

If you do happen to visit, pay attention at the restaurant where we went off route (as visible on the linked map in the sidebar) – there’s a non-obvious trail splitting off to the right, with a sign potentially hidden behind the tables and customers as it was from our point of view.

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.