Talalpsee • Hike to alpine lake & mountain scooter ride

This little mountain resort boosts big views and hidden charms, like the pretty Talalpsee lake nestled between mountain peaks. At the top of the chair lift, you’ll find a restaurant and fun playground with a view.

Then a short walk through a forest to the lake, with an alternate route strollers on a mountain road. At the lake, you can have lunch at a cafe or grill up a picnic on the lake shore.

To end our day, we rode scooters 6 km down the mountain, an exhilarating ride with impressive alpine views across the valley. It’s an easy outing with fun extras for the kids.

Here’s a short video of our visit to Kerenzerberg and the Talalpsee.

Overview

Here is the Kerenzerberg Summer Map.

Suggested itinerary

1. Drive to Filzbach and park next to the chair lift.
   Or take a bus to Filzbach, Sportzentrum and walk about 8 mins up to the chair lift.
2. Ride chair lift up to Habergeschwand.
3. Visit playground.
4. Hike to Talalpsee lake and have a picnic or eat at nearby hut.
5. Hike back to Habergeschwand and more play time.
6. Rent Trotti scooters and ride down to bottom of chair lift (about 30 mins). Or ride down on chair lift.

Trail Map

From the top of the chair lift, there is a short trail to the Talalpsee, about 1.5 km one way, descending 200m in elevation. At the lake, there is a cafe and two official fire pits on the lake shore with wood stocked. There is a short walk around the lake, about 1 km.

Then you can hike back up to the chair lift, where you ride the chair lift back down. Or you can rent a mountain scooter and ride 6 km down the road to the base of the chair lift, like we did.

How to get there

Kerenzerberg is a mountain area in Glarnerland, southeast of Zurich. To reach the hiking area, you can ride a chair lift from Filzbach – Talalpstrasse 15, 8757 Filzbach.

By car:

Drive to Filzbach and follow signs to the Sportbahnen, driving on a narrow one lane road about 500m to the base of the chair lift. There is a parking lot next to the chair lift. If this parking is full, there is another lot back in town, right before you turned on this one lane road.

By public transport:

Take a train to Mühlehorn, then bus 511 to Filzbach, Sportzentrum. Then a 450m walk up the one lane road to the base of the chair lift, following signs to Sportbahnen.

Planning your day

Opening times

This mountain is usually open daily for summer season from end of May to October. They may open on weekends earlier or later in the season depending on the weather.

The chair lift runs 9:00 – 16:30 on weekdays, 8:00 – 17:30 on summer weekends.

Tickets

You can purchase a return ticket for the chair lift. In 2025, this costs CHF 22.50/adult, CHF 17/child age 7-16, kids 6 and under free. Big dogs also need a ticket for CHF 11.

No discount with Swiss travel passes or cards.

You can pay with cash or card.

Scooter Tickets

If you plan to ride the scooter, you can get a “combo” ticket that includes riding up the lift and riding down the scooter.

In 2025, this combo ticket costs CHF 24/adult, CHF 20/child age 7-16. Children 6 and younger cannot ride the scooters.

Rental period for the scooters is one hour, so you cannot take them to the lake and have a picnic and then ride down. You should only get the scooter when you are ready to ride down.

They have smaller scooters for kids, also with smaller brake levers for smaller hands.

Photo story

Chair lift up

Here’s the base of the chair lift in Filzbach. You can park right here or it’s a 450 walk from the bus stop.

View behind us as we rode up the chair lift. It’s a 2-person lift with a safety bar. They can load your stroller on a separate chair if necessary.

Arriving at the top, Habergschwänd 1278m.

Restaurant Habergschwänd at the top with outdoor seating. Note that you can only pay in cash.

Playground at the top

Right next to the chair lift there is a nice playground with a picnic area.

Trail to Lake

Starting the trail to Talalpsee, very short at 1.5 km. But it descends 200m of elevation so it take a little effort. If you have a stroller, you can follow the paved road instead, which leads to the same place.

The path starts in open fields with views across the valley to Amden.

Then it dips briefly into the forest. It was rocky with tricky footing, so I was glad to have my sticks.

Then the path joins the paved road, which is not my favorite. But it’s short and no traffic except scooters, so I’ll forgive it.

Before you reach the lake, you’ll pass Restaurant Talalpsee with outdoor seating. It was closed the day we were there in May and I can’t find more info online. I suspect it’s open weekends during summer season.

A wide gravel path leads down to the lake.

Picnic area

There are two official picnic areas on the lakeshore, with a fire pit, wood, and benches. We like the first one you see, best view and comfortable besides the bugs (my kids made such a fuss about the bugs as if they’ve never been outdoors before!).

Walk around lake

You can optionally walk around the lake on this small footpath. It’s only 1 km and a nice stroll.

View from the far side of the lake. From here you can keep walking up the valley but it gets steep and doesn’t loop back.

When you are done for the day, hike back the way you came to the top of the chair lift. It’s short but ascends 200m of elevation, so the kids were slow and tired on the way back. Then you can ride the chair lift down or rent a scooter to ride down.

Trottinett Mountain Scooter

From the top of the chair lift, you can ride a mountain scooter 6 km down to the bottom of the chair lift. Here’s the map of the scooter route.

It’s on a paved curvy one-lane road with very little traffic, though you are advised to ride on the right side of the road in case of on-coming traffic. We passed one motorcycle going up the mountain on our ride and some faster scooters passed us. The scooters have strong hand brakes like bikes to control your speed.

You can pay for the scooter rental when you buy your chair lift ticket, this combo giving you a slight discount.

They have smaller scooters for children over 6 (assuming they can work the brakes and balance the scooter). They also have larger family scooters where a smaller child can ride with an adult. They provide helmets.

They will send your backpacks down on the chair lift so you can pick them up at the end.

Your scooter rental is for one hour. You will pass the Talalpsee on your way. You can stop to look and take a couple pictures, but they ask you not to stop for a picnic or stroll around the lake before continuing down the mountain.

They need the scooters returned promptly so other people can use them. But don’t worry, there are lots of big views on your way down.