You’ll love this mountain hike for the beautiful Strelasee lake and hearty lunch at the Strelapass restaurant.
Start your day by riding a funicular from Davos to Schatzalp, know for its Belle Époque era hotel, beautiful flower gardens, and summer toboggan ride.
Skip much of the climb with the chair lift, then hike up through alpine meadows to the Strelapass. Reward yourself with a hearty lunch at the mountain restaurant. We especially recommend the crispy Rösti and Kaiserschmarrn.
Next traverse the mountain to the Strelasee and take lots of reflection photos before looping down to your starting point.
This hike is a great addition to any Davos itinerary. Keep reading for all the info you need to plan this hike.
Quick Info
| Region | Davos Klosters • Graubünden, southeast Switzerland |
| Start: | Schatzalp funicular – Promenade 63, Talstation, 7270 Davos |
| By car: | Parking Arkaden – Promenade 58, 7270 Davos Platz From Zürich 1h50 |
| By public transport: | Davos Platz, Schatzalpbahn bus stop From Zürich 2h30 |
| Trail: | 3h • ⬇️ trail map |
| Distance: | 9.3 km loop |
| Difficulty: | moderate • +342m -612m |
| Condition: | dirt footpaths with uneven terrain |
| Elevation: | highest point 2428m |
| Open: | late June to October |
| Cost: | funicular + chair lift |
| Discounts: | mountain transport discounted by Davos Premium Card |
| Services: | restaurant at start and on trail |
| More info: | schatzalp.ch • Strelapass webcam • Davos forecast |
Gallery
These pics of Schatzalp and Strelasee are from the second week of July.
Schatzalp Overview
This is the summer map for the Schatzalp area.
Trail Map
To reach the trail, you ride the funicular from Davos to Schatzalp. Then chair lift higher up the mountain.
The trail hikes up to the Strela pass, across to the Strelasee lake and Lätschüel pass. Then back down to Schatzalp, where you ride the funicular down to Davos.
See trail map on SchweizMobil • Komoot
The trail is a dirt footpath path with uneven terrain, typical mountain hiking. No dangerous sections.
Flow of day
It took us 3 hours walking time, about 5 hours on the trail including lunch and photo stops.
- From Davos, ride the funicular up to Schatzalp.
- Optional short walk through the botanical garden at the hotel.
- Walk 5 mins to alpine slide and ride a couple times.
- Then short walk to the chair lift and ride up the mountain.
- Hike up to Strelapass, about 30 mins. Lunch at the hut.
- Hike across Lätschüel pass, about 20 mins.
- Hike down to Schatzalp, about 1h30.
- Ride funicular down to Davos.
Shorter hike
If you want a shorter hike and less downhill, you could go to the Strelapass and Strelasee, then back to the chairlift.
Or do one of the shorter loops near the Schatzalp funicular, like the Sonnenweg or Wasserfallrundgang. See Schatzalp hiking ideas.
Longer trail
From the Lätschüel pass:
- continue along the mountain range to the Maiafelder pass, then descend to Stafelalp and Davos via Walserweg Stage 15.
- Or connect to Route 54 towards Arosa, warmly recommend by a friend of mine. Then from Arosa, return by train to your home base.
How to get there
This trail is located in Davos, in the Graubünden region of southeast Switzerland.
You reach this trail with the Schatzalp funicular located at Promenade 63, Talstation, 7270 Davos.
Then ride a chair lift higher up to start the hike. The trail loops back to the funicular so you can easily return to your same starting point.
By public transport
The Schatzalp funicular is close to the Davos Platz, Schatzalpbahn bus stop, a short ride from the Davos Dorf or Davos Platz train station.
By car
The closest parking area to the Schatzalp funicular is Parking Arkaden – Promenade 58, 7270 Davos Platz, across the street from the funicular station. See more parking options with live updates: www.davos.ch
Costs & Tickets
You’ll need a round trip ticket on the Schatzalp funicular and a one-way ticket for the chair lift. You can buy these tickets on-site. No need to book in advance.
In 2026, a round trip ticket for the Schatzalp funicular costs CHF 20/adult. Discount for youth (12-17) and children (6-11). Children under 6 ride free. See current prices.
No discount for Swiss Half Fare Card, Swiss Travel Pass, GA. The SBB Junior Card and Swiss Family Cards are not valid.
You’ll also need a one-way ticket for the chair lift, which costs CHF 6/person. No discounts.
Davos Premium Card:
If you are staying overnight in the region, you get the Davos Premium Card.
With the card, you get a discount on the Schatzalp funicular. Show your card at the ticket office to get the discount. No discount on the chair lift.
Planning your day
When to go / Operating times
The Schatzalp mountain is open for summer season from May thru October.
This trail is usually open (snow-free) from late June to mid October. Check Strelapass webcams.
The funicular train runs daily thru the whole summer season from 8:00 – 19:00, about every 15-20 mins. Check funicular schedule.
The chair lift is open daily from early July to mid August. In spring and fall, it is only open weekends. The chair lift runs in good weather, 9:00 – 16:30, closed over lunch 12:00-13:00. See chair lift opening times.
TIP: If the chair lift is not running, you can hike directly from Schatzalp to Strelapass. It adds about 50 mins – 1.7km gaining 279m.
Where to eat
At the Strela pass, you’ll find the aptly named Strela-Pass Restaurant (open daily except Tuesdays), serving great versions of classic mountain food like Rösti and Flammkuchen. Everything is proudly handmade on-site.
Their desserts are particularly good – Kaiserschmarrn, apple streudel, and cakes in jars. Love this place!!!
Near the Schatzalp funicular, there is kiosk for drinks and snacks and a full-service restaurant at the hotel. Or Restaurant Strela-Alp about a 15 min walk from the funicular,
What to bring
I would bring a bottle of water for each person plus snacks if you aren’t stopping at the restaurant.
Make sure to check the weather and dress appropriately. It can be very windy on the pass, dropping the temps even on a hot day. So best to bring a light jacket just in case.
The path can have loose rock and gravel, so best best done with sturdy hiking shoes with good tread. Hiking sticks are very helpful for the downhill switchbacks.
Where to stay
This hike is closest to Davos, a convenient base for exploring this region.
We enjoyed our recent stay at Hotel Waldhuus Davos (4-stars), which has a quiet location. Our beds were very comfortable and we love the beautiful mountain views from the balcony.
Their breakfast is generous with a nice selection of local cheese and freshly cooked omelets. Their restaurants serves elevated versions of Swiss classics, very tasty.
This hotel is especially family-friendly, with a spacious family suites, supervised kids club, playground, indoor pool, mini golf and game room.
Note: our recent stay was hosted by Hotel Waldhuus Davos. As always, all opinions are our own.
Photo story of trail
Riding the funicular
We walked from our hotel to the Schatzalp funicular station. It departs about every 15 mins.
Botantical gardens
When you exit the funicular, you’ll see the Schatzalp hotel directly in front of you. To visit the botanical gardens, follow signs to “Alpinum” walking thru the doorway shown here.
These gardens in front of the hotel are free for the public to visit. Schatzalp is one of the oldest mountain resorts in the Davos area, initially home to an exclusive alpine health retreat for tuberculous patients in the early 1900s.
There are pathways winding down the slow here, visiting many flowers.
Alpine slide
If you want to ride the summer toboggan, it’s a 2 min walk above the hotel, following signs to “Sommerrodelbahn”.
You buy tickets on-site from an automated machine. In 2026, it costs CHF 4/person per ride.
Kids 3+ can ride with an adult (age 3-5 ride free). Kids 8+ can ride on their own.
The alpine slide is open 10:00 – 17:00, closed over lunch 12:00-13:00.
Hike up to Strelapass
From the funicular, it’s a 3 min walk to the chair lift. You scan your ticket then board the chair.
From where the chair lift drops you, it’s about 35 min hiking to get to the pass. It’s a bit steep in parts with some loose rock. So just take it slowly.
As we got close to the pass, the fields were filled with yellow flowers in July.
Looking back towards Davos.
Can see the restaurant now.
Lunch at mountain hut
At the pass, you’ll find the Strelapass mountain restaurant, definitely worth hiking for.
Nice views from the terrace. Quite windy up here, so later we put on our jackets even though it was very hot lower down the mountain.
They proudly make everything on-site. They are well known for the Kaiserschmarrn dessert and we agree that it’s delicious. The Rösti was super crispy and yummy. All the desserts looked fantastic. They also serve the local Monsteiner beer.
You can pay with cards. Remember they are closed on Tuesdays.
Strelasee lake
To continue the loop, follow signs to Lätschüelfurgga and Strelasee. Notice that this is also a mountain biking trail, so look and listen for bikers so you can safely pass.
In this first section, you can walk through the tunnel or on the footpath outside the tunnel.
Pretty easy walking on this part.
Looking back on the trail.
Boulders scattered around the trail.
Strelasee lake
From Strelapass, it takes about 25 mins to reach the Strelasee lake. It’s tiny, no swimming here. Best pics are on the far side of the lake, so you get the blue sky and mountain reflected in the water.
Patches of cotton flowers surrounded the lake.
This is a second pond right next to the Strelasee.
This pic shows how tiny those two lakes are and not so pretty when reflecting the green hills around them.
Traverse to Lätschüel pass
From the lake, keep traversing the mountain to the next pass, Lätschüelfurgga.
At the pass, you get a nice view down the other side of the mountain. Nice trails to follow towards Arosa if you have a few more hours to hike.
Hiking down mountain
Now follow signs down to Schatzalp, with the little funicular symbol. The trail is back the same direction you came but lower down the mountain.
Looking down at Davos as you descend.
Nice mountain views on the sides.
Passed one little dairy hut with their herd.
A bit through some trees and alpine pastures.
Eventually you enter this nice forest and join the easy trails near Schatzalp.
There is another part of the Alpinum botantical gardens here. They ask for CHF 5 entrance fee to be dropped in the box at the gate. Then you wander down through the paths below. Or you can skip it and just stay on the main trail down to Schatzalp.
You end the loop back at Schatzalp where you can ride the funicular back to Davos. Hope you enjoy this one!
