Hike Report – ‘Gratweg Stoos’ (SM 827-M)

Short Description

“Gratweg Stoos” (“Stoos Ridge Trail”) leads from the cable car station Clingenstock to the cable car station Fronalpstock over a distance of a mere four kilometers. These four kilometers offer nonstop views of Vierwaldstättersee (lake) and the Alps, so it’s easy to savor them all.

Before and after that, though, you get to enjoy a ride in the Stoosbahnen funicular, the steepest of its kind, ascending at an angle of 48°. Through the magic of engineering, you’ll be standing on level floors throughout the trip though.

Our route skips one of the cable cars, descending by foot.

Notes

• Short but intense, lots of altitude meters over a short distance.
• The funicular and cable cars are quite expensive…
• Fairly busy, even on weekdays.

Impressions

Seeing as the purpose of this day’s hike was mainly to have a nice romantic picnic, we needed something short with a great view. Wifey wanted Gratweg Stoos and what wifey wants, wifey usually gets (no matter what you may hear to the contrary.) Here she is with her Ukulele, happily marching ahead:

As promised, the views were fantastic. Of course we were not the only ones to enjoy them. Even on a weekday the trail was fairly busy. I would not recommend doing this on a weekend if possible.

Vierwaldstättersee and the alps on one side, Stoos village and Mounts* Mythen on the other, we picked the perfect weather to come here and enjoy the spectacular views.

* Mounts Mythen consist of “Kleiner Mythen” and “Grosser Mythen” (Small and big Mount Mythen) and represent a geological marvel with their visible layers of sediment. Also, they’re pretty to look at.

See also: My hike up Grosser Mythen in August 2020

We did have that picnic atop Huser Stock (small detour) and we were lucky to arrive at the table just as the previous occupants were getting up.

Unfortunately some pigs had been dancing on the benches and tables, undoubtedly for some moronic tictoc video (or similar). Luckily, we carried a tablecloth and some wipes to clean up a bit.

No Swiss alp hike would be complete without some cows, and Gratweg Stoos didn’t disappoint in this regard either.

After a nice walk down (we said we’d take the cable car if necessary for her knees but she was fine and two hours was just a bit extremely on the short side), we got to enjoy the view from the front gondola of the Stoosbahnen Funicular. And you can enjoy those views too (in 4K) in my first youtube video:

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.