This beautiful snowshoe trail loops around the quiet hills above the small village of Illgau in central Switzerland, with big views of the mountains lining the Muotathal valley. We did the longer 7.7 km loop, which had some steep climbing making for a real workout at times. You can do a shorter 2.6 km loop if you prefer, which is much more mild but still just as pretty, a better choice if you are going with kids. Although there was some tricky terrain through the forest, I thought this trail was a good choice for beginners learning to improve their snowshoe skills, while enjoying a scenic hike.
| Region: | Canton Schwyz, Central Switzerland |
| Trail Start: | top of Illgau-St Karl cable car |
| Car: | Parking on street and at nearby school: Bacheggli, 6434 Illgau 1hr from Zürich or 45 mins from Zug or Luzern |
| Public transport: |
Bus stop: Ried, Seilb.Illgau |
| Trail: | 7.7 km loop, about 3 hours (also a 2.6 km option) |
| Elevation: | from 900m to 1085m |
| Skill: | moderate, 343m up/down |
| Condition: | ungroomed snowy path |
| Services: | mountain huts along route |
| Cost: | cable car return CHF 20/adult |
| Open: | December to March, assuming snow |
| More info: | Illgau website • webcam |
See also How to snowshoe in Switzerland for beginners and What to pack & wear on a winter hike
Overview of Illgau snowshoe trail
This snowshoe trail is located above the small village of Illgau in central Switzerland. We accessed this trail by riding up the Illgau cable car to the trail start. If you want to skip the cable car, you can drive up a nearby pass and park near the snowshoe trail. More info about that below.
The snowshoe trail starts at the top of the Illgau-St Karl cable car.
Here is the official winter map for Illgau.
Getting There
By car: Drive to the Illgau village and park near the Illgau St. Karl cable car. There are a few parking spots near the cable car and a free winter parking lot in the nearby school at Bacheggli, 6434 Illgau.
If you prefer to skip the cable car, it’s possible drive up the road to nearby Ibergeregg pass, park there and snowshoe over to the main trail on the lighter pinked dashed line on the map below. I saw other people heading out on that trail. But I didn’t do it myself, so I don’t know the quality of that trail, if it’s well marked or how long it is. Also, that parking can get very full from people using the Ibergeregg ski hill.
By public transport: Take a bus to Ried (Muotathal) Seilbahn Illgau. The bus drops you off at a small self-service cable car (shown below) that takes you up the Illgau village. After you ride this one, you’ll ride another cable car up to the snowshoe trail.
This first cable car is a little confusing but just follow these instructions. Go to the building entrance and push the orange “Telefonruf” button (bottom left button in pic below), which calls the operator in the Illgau village above. When I called, the operator wasn’t at the station and it took him a few minutes to get there. Eventually, he remotely opened the doors to the cable car station so I could enter the building and get inside the cable car.
Once inside the cable car, push the green Start button. The doors will close and the cable car will take you to the top. The ticket agent will be there and you can pay for your ride. They accept SBB Half-fare and Junior cards for this journey. My ticket was CHF 3.20 adult return with a half-fare card.
Make sure to buy the return trip, which will include a card that opens the doors to the station on your way back, so you don’t have to call the ticket agent again. If you don’t have a ticket for the return trip, you are supposed to call the operator at least 15 minutes before you want to go down.
From this Ried-Illgau station, walk up the main road a couple minutes until you reach the Illgau-St Karl cable car.
Tickets, Operating Times & Snowshoe Rental
The Illgau-St Karl cable car is open for winter from 1.Dec to 31.Mar, running daily 8:15 – 11:45 and 12:45 – 16:45.
A return ticket on this cable car costs CHF 20/adult and CHF 10/child (age 6-16). No discounts for SBB GA, Half-fare, Junior Cards, or other travel cards. You can pay with cash or card. See current prices and operating times on the Illgau website.
You can rent snowshoes & poles at the cable car station. It costs CHF 10 with a CHF 20/deposit.
Riding up to St Karl
View from the top of the cable car.
The start of the snowshoe and winter walk paths right behind the cable car. Follow pink signs to Sternenegg.
You start walking on the same trail as the winter walk.
Starting up a farm road
Now joining a foot path. Follow the bright pink sticks, like the one shown in this pic.
Looking back on our trail.
Starting the snowshoe trail
At this sign, you can loop back to St Karl if you want to do the shorter trail. We continued toward Sternenegg.
Lots of mountain views. Looking towards Stoos directly above my head.
This is a private hut so don’t get your hopes up.
Then a steep bit through the forest. There were some stairs. Some we could go around, others we had to climb up with our snowshoes, which was a little tricky.
The climb was quite steep at times and I had to take a lot of breaks. We reached the highest point at Sternenberg in the fog, so I didn’t take any pics up there. The fog lifted as we hiked back down the mountain.
The path went through some big fluffy fields.
Eventually the path meets this same trail sign we saw near the beginning of the hike because the trail is shaped like a figure eight. We followed the sign pointing to St Karl on the right, otherwise we would have take the same path we came up.
You’ll pass Gasthaus Oberberg, which is the only restaurant you pass on the route. Apparently you can drive here and park, skipping the cable car. But the road is a narrow one lane country road, with snow piled high on both sides. So I would recomended driving up here in winter.
You’ll cross the cross country course a couple times. Don’t walk on that course unless you need to cross; it damages the grooming, which is necessary for a smooth ride for cross country skiers.
More gentle ups and downs as we approached the cable car.
Almost done. You can see the St Karl cable car station through the trees on the left. On the right, you can see the playground.
See also Winter Walks in Switzerland
