This short theme trail at the top of Hohsaas 3200m tells the story of 18 peaks over 4000m that you can see from this vantage point, with informational signboards describing each peak.
It has fantastic panorama views across the valley and of the glacier that starts near the trail. This is a good choice for families with little kids that are learning to hike, providing a bit of a challenge in terrain but short and safe.
Contents
| Location: | Saastal, Valais, Switzerland |
| Address: | Saas-Grund gondola station |
| Car: | Parking: Im Grund, 3910 Saas-Grund CH (46°07’40.8″N 7°56’18.4″E) 40 mins from Zermatt, 2hr10 from Interlaken, 3hr30 from Zurich |
| Transit: | Bus stop: Saas Grund, Bergbahnen 1hr40 from Zermatt or Interlaken |
| Trail: | 1.1 km, about 30 mins |
| Elevation: | highest point: 3100 |
| Condition: | rocky dirt trail, no strollers |
| Skill: | moderate, 60m up, 70m down |
| Open: | July through Oct |
| More info: | www.hohsaas.ch |
Overview
Hiking Map
The 18 “4000 Peak” trail is at the top of the Hohsaas cable car. It is a 1.1 km loop on rocky terrain. There is a cafe with a toilet near the cable car station.
Getting to Hohsaas
The Hohsaas mountain is located in the Saas Fee region of southern Switzerland. See on Google Maps.
By car: Drive to Saas Grund and follow signs to the Hohsaas Bergbahn (near Seilbahnstrasse 10, 3910 Saas-Grund). There is a large metered parking lot adjacent to the gondola station.
By train: Take a train to Visp, then a bus to Saas Grund, Bergbahnen, which is adjacent to the gondola station.
Planning your day
Tickets
Buy return tickets to Hohsaas. In 2020, an adult return ticket cost CHF 45. Discounts for children (6-16), SBB GA, Half-fare and Swiss Travel Pass. Kids with SBB Junior card or under 6 ride free. See current prices here.
Hohsaas is included in the SaastalCard, which is free for anyone staying overnight in Saastal region. You receive this card from your hotel or apartment where you are staying.
Operating times
The gondolas to Hohsass are generally open for summer season from beginning of June to end of September. During high summer, (end of June through end of Aug), the gondolas run daily from 7:45 – 16:15. In June, Sept & Oct, the gondolas run about 8:15 – 12:00 and 13:15 – 16:15, taking a break for lunch. Check the current timetable.
Video of Trail
A short video from our visit in July 2020.
Photo story of trail
The cable car goes from Saas Grund to Kreuzboden, then you get on another cable car to Hohsaas.
At the top of Hohsaas, there is a wide trail down to a cafe as shown below. Before you reach the cafe, turn left on the trail, following the “18 Viertausender” signs up a narrow rocky trail.
The trail is a bit steep at first and definitely no strollers on this one. But it’s pretty short and not super difficult.
We spent about 1hr30mins on the trail but actually walking time was probably 30 minutes. It’s a loop trail, so you first go up then dip down to the glacier, then circle back around and back up a bit to the cable car. I carried my almost 3yr old some of the way, but he liked to walk too. Obviously I was ill-prepared on the footwear as you can see he was wearing crocs on the snow. He survived.
There are 18 markers on the trail (I think, I didn’t count, it could be false advertising), one for each of the over 4000m mountain peaks. There’s a story about the peak on the sign board and a rock that supposedly has the same shape as the peak.
At the top of the trail, you get this lovely view of a glacial lake.
We left the trail for awhile and climbed around on the rocks and a bit of the glacier. Then we settled on this super pretty picnic spot. My kids spent a lot of time building dams in the little streams running off the glacier.
We were fascinated watching hikers go up and down the glacier. It looks so dangerous from our vantage point.
Kreuzboden Amusements
On your way back down the mountain, you can optionally stop at the middle station at Kreuzboden. Here you’ll find Hohsi Land, a big playground with swings, zip line, climbing tower, bouldering wall, water play, a little pond, go karts, a little petting zoo, etc. There is a short Wellness theme trail with several interactive stations including a barefoot path and short suspension bridge. There is a cafe with a view, but the food is basic. I’d recommend a picnic at the playground instead.
Mountain scooter
If you want more excitement, you can rent “monster scooters” from the Kreuzboden gondola station and ride them 11km down the mountain. The scooter rental is CHF 19/adult and CHF 13/child, quite high compared to other scooter runs. Helmet included.
The first couple km are really rocky and bumpy, difficult to manage even as adults. One of us crashed but nothing serious. Then it turns into a paved road and that was much easier to handle.
I hope you enjoy it!
See other hikes in the Saastal region
4 responses
Hi Tanya, thank you for your post. We had a lot of fun exploring the area. It might be helpful for others to know that there is a lunch break for cable cars from 12pm until 1:30pm.
Hi Leysa, Glad you had a nice time and thanks so much for mentioning this lunch break. I’ll add it to my post.
Hi Tanya,
Thank you very much for the detailed description, it's very useful as usual. I want to make a small remark about a restaurant. Maybe you ate at the different one or they upgraded it recently, but now the restaurant near the gondola station in Kreuzboden is wonderful! One of the best restaurants I ever visited in the mountains (and we visited more than half of the mountains described on your site and almost always eat at the restaurants). They offer complex and very tasty main dishes for only 21-35 CHF. For example, I ordered FLETSCHHORUSCHNITZEL (Schnitzel gefüllt mit Rohschinken und Käse, Frische Pilzsauce, Risotto, Salat) and paid 27 CHF and it was very good. My husband ordered the second position in menu and was happy as well. But the gem is that they have a great play corner for toddlers inside the restaurand with toy kitchen, toy workbench and toy parking and a lot of toys smaller toys. This is a first time since the birth of our second child (who is now 1 y 2 m) that we could slowly enjoy our meal while he was keeping himself busy in the playcorner near our table. They also have outside play area from the side of the mountains with toy cars and small slides for toddlers. So I highly recommend this restaurant to all parents visiting Kreuzboden, especially if they have toddlers.
Why I decided to write this comment is that we almost missed opportunity to go to that restaurant because of your negative feedback and considered the option to eat at Hohsaas instead, but luckily we have been at the top to early for lunch. I hope you will have another chance to visit that restaurant again soon and update your opinion. Kreuzboden is really a great place for families, thank you once again for this hiking tip and for the website in general.
That looks like so much fun! Kinda wish I had done that back when I lived nearer to that area.. Looks like great fun for all ages!