The Riesenwald trail at Elm is a fun activity trail for children with the theme “Giants in the Forest”. It has more than a dozen play stations, including a giant xylophone, an oversized picnic table and forest kitchen, an obstacle course, a suspension bridge, and more.
Much of the trail is in the forest, but you still have great views of the surrounding mountains. There are several picnic areas with fire pits, so definitely bring a lunch to cook. Next to the restaurant, there is a playground, including lots of trampolines so you can jump with a view.
It’s also very inexpensive, especially compared to other mountains. I’d recommend it for an easy, inexpensive, spectacularly beautiful mountain experience with kids.
| Location: | Eastern Switzerland |
| Address: | Obmoos, 8767, Switzerland |
| Car: | Parking: 46.913473, 9.162632 From Zurich, 1hr20 |
| Train: | Bus stop: Elm, Sportbahnen 1hr50 from Zurich HB |
| Trail: | 2.6 km loop, about 1 hr walking time |
| Condition: | smooth dirt, suitable for strollers |
| Skill: | easy |
| Open: | June through October |
| Cost 2024: | Cable car – Adult CHF 19, Child CHF 10 No discount cards accepted. |
| More info: | www.sportbahnenelm.ch, www.riesenwald.ch, Elm webcams |
Trail map
First, you take a cable car from the valley up to Ämpächli, where you’ll find a restaurant with a great view, overlooking a playground with trampolines, a swing, climbing structures, sunbeds, etc. The trail begins very close to the restaurant and follows a 2.6 km loop, with several big play stations along the way as described below.
The path is smooth dirt, mostly flat, suitable for strollers and small children walking. Back in the day, our 2 year old walked almost the whole thing.
There are several picnic areas with grill pits, the largest and best at the far end of the trail before it turns to come back. You can pick up Trotti scooters at the cable car station to ride down a 4km trail back to the valley.
There are more trail options in this region. Click on the map below to see a larger panorama map of the area.
How to get there
Elm is located southeast of Zurich in the Glarus region. The trail is accessed with a gondola.
By car:
The Elm gondola is located just past the Elm village – 46.913473, 9.162632. You can put Elm in your GPS Nav. When you approach the village, continue on the main road to your right, following signs to Sportbahnen Elm. There is free parking directly in front of the cable car.
By transit:
Take a train to Schwanden, then bus 541 to Elm Sportbahnen, which drops directly in front of the cable car station. This connection runs about once an hour.
Planning your day
Ticket prices
The cable car is relatively inexpensive compared to other mountains. In 2024, the gondola return ticket is CHF 19/adults, CHF 10/children over 6. No discount with Swiss Traveal Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card or other travel cards. See Elm website for current prices.
If you plan to ride the Trotti scooters down later, buy a combo ticket that includes a one way ride up the cable car and the scooter rental for the way down. In 2024, this costs CHF 24/adult, CHF 16/child. More about the Trotti scooters at the end of this post.
Opening Times
Elm is open for summer season from early June through October. The gondola runs continuously every day from 8:30 to 17:00. See current prices and opening times on the Elm website.
Photo story
Restaurant & Playground
Here is the Ämpächli restaurant at the top of the cable car. Food is adequate, typical Swiss cafeteria fare. But the view is fantastic!
The trampolines in front of the restaurant, free to use.
Some other play equipment in front of the restaurant next to the trampolines.
Elm is “famous” for this interesting hole in the mountain across the valley. Twice a year the rising sun shines through this hole directly on the church in the Elm dorfli.
Behind the restaurant, there is a gold mining station. You pay a fee to mine and exchange the “gold” you find for a prize. I’ve never done it so I can’t tell you more. Let me know if you do.
On the trail
To access the trail, walk past the restaurant, heading north on the dirt road to the forest, following signs to the Riesenwald. Sometimes the cows are out, sometimes not.
Entrance to the Riesenwald.
First station, an obstacle course. Our kids had fun timing themselves running through it. There are two courses of different sizes for big and small kids.
Fire pit next to this first station, with plenty of wood in a covered box.
You will still see animal sculptures from the old Tierli-Weg along the trail.
This station was supposed to be a house that a giant threw upside down. Inside the furniture was on the ceiling.
On top of the house, you can use the telescope to scan the mountains. As you pass by something, the name of it appears on the glass.
At this station, you are supposed to see the giant’s “face” in the rock.
Not all the stations were exciting. This station was the giant’s herb garden. My boys said: what are we supposed to do here? Good question.
Most of the path is in the woods, but periodically the trees will part and you’ll get a fantastic view of the mountains across the valley.
Some animal sculptures along the way.
The picnic area at the far end of the trail before you turn back. It is enclosed by a fence to keep the cows out. Make sure to close the gate behind you. Some other guests didn’t while we were there and the cows hustled in and took over our picnic. There are four grills, plenty of wood in covered boxes and multiple tables and benches.
There are a few amusements in this enclosed picnic area, including this giant chalkboard and balancing course on the right. The kids are encouraged to chase each other on the balancing course.
There is a slack line for balancing.
Outside the picnic area, there is this house with a guest book you can sign. See if you can find our names in there.
A little past the picnic area, not on the trail, is this giant xylophone. There is a book of sheet music for several simple songs.
After this big picnic area, rejoin the trail and walk up a couple switchbacks, then back toward the start. You’ll pass a couple more stations, including our favorite, this giant hanging bridge.
The last station before exiting the forest. You can mark your height with chalk on this board. Are you a giant?
Picnic area next to the measuring station.
After you leave the forest, follow the Riesenwald signs around the back of the restaurant to this water play. This was under construction when we were there and I’m not sure what the end game is. But it certainly is elaborate and might be a lot of fun. Take these stairs down to end up at the cable car station.
Trotti Scooters
At the top of the cable car, you can rent a three-wheeled Monster mountain bike or Trotti bike to ride down to the bottom, about 4 km. (about 15-25 mins depending on how fast you go). In winter, you can rent sleds to go down the same path. If you plan ahead, buy your trotti bike pass with your cable car ticket, instead of buying a return cable car ticket – it’ll save you a few francs.
I forgot to ask the age restrictions for using the scooters, but I do know that kids must be over 140 cm to use the Monster carts, which are three wheel carts with seats. The operator also asked my son’s age, which was 12. My 8 year old (130cm) was allowed to ride alone on the smaller two-wheel standing Trotti scooters.
Smaller kids can ride tandem with a parent as shown below. The 4 and 5 year old boys rode down with their dads. The 2 year old rode down on the cable car with mom. Use your best judgment.
Several years later, these boy grew up and the 12 year old rode the monster cart and the 8 year old rode the smaller trotti scooter. I rode the bigger trotti scooter along with them.
Starting on the trotti path, which is mostly gravel, a little slippery but the big tires can handle it.
There is no “traffic” per se on this road, but there can be the rare farm vehicle, so use caution.
Pretty path, no? I was so glad we spent the extra francs to do this. So much fun!
33 Responses
Hi! Just a quick update. Under 2s are no longer allowed to co-ride on the low bikes. I was told toddlers can stand in front with an adult on the scooter, but it didn’t work with ours. Still, a great place for kids!
Thanks for mentioning this. I never thought it was a good idea to take such small children on the scooters or carts.
Hello, thank you for the wonderful content. You mentioned it open in June if we plan to be there in May. Are there anything to do here?
Unfortunately, Elm does not reopen for summer season until 25 June 2022. There’s not really anything to do at Elm before that unless you want to hike up the mountain. In the Glarnerland region, you could visit the Klöntalersee or Näfels Obersee. The nearby Kerenzerberg opens end of April, you could visit the lovely Talalpsee and ride the mountain scooters there. https://swissfamilyfun.com/kerenzerberg-talalpsee/
Hi Tanya,
This place looks super promising. We are planning to take our almost 3 year old for the hike and scootering. Hopefully its a pleasant trip
Rgds,
RR
I hope you enjoy it! It’s a good choice for small children.
Really great place for little ones and toddlers and even 8-10 years olds.. hike with my 4.5 year olds took probably an 1.5 hour half with many breaks and stops along the way but they were always searching for the next thing .. really motivated them… sorry i didnt take many pictures of amenities but views were stunning!!
Glad you had a good time! I agree that kids of all ages can have fun here.
Thank for all helpful information! We are going today and just noticed prices are 18chf adult and 9chf for child. Will write more tomorrow with our experience!
Thanks for the update on the prices! Hope you have a good time.
We just finished the Giant Trail and were bummed when they wouldn’t let our four year old ride the Trotti scooter seated as shown in the photo above. They told us the seated scooters only allow one rider. Just wanted to share Incase anyone is visiting and hoping to do this with their younger kids.
Great trail with incredible views though :)! Thanks as always for the great idea :)!
I should really remove that photo. My toddler did not ride the monster scooter, he was also much too little! That was only a fun photo to take before his dad and older brother rode down. Sorry for setting your expectations incorrectly.
Went to Elm today. The trail is great, even on a rainy day. Here is something worth sharing – the lift ticket gives you 5 CHF discount for Hoher Karsten https://swissfamilyfun.com/hoher-kasten/
Great tip! Thanks for sharing.
We did this today and really enjoyed it! With our 3 year old walking the whole way, and taking our time at the trampolines and the different stations along the trail we were there close to 5 hours. Definitely an all day activity! But it was very beautiful and the the trampolines were a big hit, plus closeups with all the cows. I would say the mountain cart was not for small children, I would recommend not under 4 years of age, but the adults loved it!
So glad you had a nice day at Elm! It’s still one of our favorites even though my boys are bigger. I agree, I wouldn’t take a child under 4 on the carts, too much risk. Wishing you many more happy mountain days this summer.
Hi Tanya, We met today at the ZIS brunch. Is this trail easy for senior? My mother in law is 83 but still active and walking. I wondering if she would need a walking stick going on this trail.
Hi. I think your mother-in-law should be just fine on this trail. The path is mostly smooth gravel without tricky footing. You might bring walking sticks just in case, so she feels comfortable. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi! Thanks for this wonderful blog and the hard work you put into sharing these great places! We went today and I asked the age/height restrictions and they are 110cm for the scooter and 140cm for the cart for children to be able to ride alone… The trail was great and we will no doubt do it again!
Thanks for the info! In the past, they weren’t so fussy on the height restrictions, but I heard from friends that they were quite strict this summer. Glad you had a good time!
Sounds like fun! Have you already been to the Tschinglen-Wirtschaft on the other side of the valley? Would love to go there once – but am a bit unsure wheather it is suited for small children or not…
I haven’t been to that one yet. I’ll have to add it to my list!
Hi Tanya!
Is this trail stroller friendly?
Thanks!
Anestis
Sorry for the late reply. Yes this trail is suitable for strollers. Hope you enjoy it!
Second time to Elm for a summer hike. This time we did the Trotti Scooters and WE LOVED THEM! New favorite way to travel on a mountain! Can’t wait to do it again. =)
This was the first hike I did with just me and my kids (4 and 6). Thankfully there was lots to keep my 4 year old motivated (she can be a bit lazy with hiking)! It was a success and we had a wonderful time.
Thanks for your comment Ksenia. You are right about the time! I went back to check the time on my photos and our actual time on the trail was well over an hour plus another 45 mins for grilling and picnic. The posted time on the Elm website is 1 hour. I guess I was discounting the walking time because we had a slow 2yr old. I'll update the post with a more accurate time. Thanks again!
Hi Tanya,
Thank you very much for the description, we made this trip last weekend and had a lot of fun! And thanks for the useful website in general, we use it every time when we plan our trips.
I just want to make a small remark that it would be very hard to walk through the whole trail in just 30 min. The booklet gives estimation around 1 hour, but with the child who would probably want to make photo with every animal it would be most likely around 1.5 hours, and even more if you make a grill-stop. The trail ends much higher than Ämpächli restaurant, so you need to include another 7-10 minutes to get back to the restaurant to finish your round trip. Maybe you used some shortcut and made a shorter trip, that's why it took you less time?
Well, I'm a bit late on the suggestions, but you might try a valley walk instead, something that doesn't require a gondola and something is not at too high of an elevation. Something like the “Swiss Grand Canyon” might work http://momstotszurich.blogspot.com/2011/03/swiss-grand-canyon.html I have no idea what it looks like this time of year, but it might be nice with the changing leaves. Good luck!
Thanks for posting re the Sportbahnen being closed in November. I am looking for a hike to do this weekend and am finding that many mountains are closed for the month. Anyone with suggestions, please let me know.
We really wanted to do this hike today; unfortunately, the Elm Sportbahnen is closed on weekends for the entire month of November. We drove back down the road into Engi and stopped at a hotel that had its own mini-golf course. There were also animals in small habitats, a coin operated mini merry-go-round, teeny tiny playground and a nice paved trail to walk along. The area is really beautiful so the day was not lost. The four kids (ages 19mos. – 5yrs.) between two couples had a lovely time.
We really enjoy your blog and look forward to our next outing!
We did this hike this past Sunday – a wonderful day out! Thanks so much for the tip.
looks like great fun!
I'm sending my sis an email re your blog. She has an expat blog… live in Germany.