Schrattenfluh ridge hike

I was so happy to finally hike this unique and fantastically beautiful trail in central Switzerland. Despite pictures of this interesting rocky landscape appearing all over regional promotional materials and websites, I found it surprisingly difficult to find helpful trail info. But don’t worry, I finally figured it out and hiked it to make sure it was legit, and now I’m sharing it with you.

This hike is a little crazy, so consider yourself warned and please read through the details before attempting it. Part of the hike is on the limestone rock with lots of holes, which is exactly why I went there to see it. But it’s difficult to walk on and can be dangerous. A lot of the hike is on a ridge, which I love, but if you have vertigo, probably not the best choice for you. One part of the trail had three long ladders in a dark cave, which I found very scary. But most people skip that and take a different path, which now I know and can tell you about below.

So are you ready? Let’s dive into the details…

1. Trail Overview

The Schrattenfluh is a rocky mountain ridge in central Switzerland, about an hour west of Luzern. It’s located in the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch, which is a protected nature reserve.

There are many paths on the Schrattenfluh but I picked a loop that normal people can do, a little over 10km with about 740m elevation gain. Most trail suggestions start in the valley, but I got a tip that you can drive pretty far up the mountain, which makes your trail significantly shorter and easier, though still challenging.

If you are coming by public transportation, you have to start at a bus stop in the valley. So your trail will be much longer with much more elevation gain than if you came by car. There are lots of options but most have you start at the Sörenberg, Hirsegg bus stop, as I’ve shown in the loop below.

2. Getting There

By car: Drive to 46°49’33.1″N 7°58’56.6″E as shown on the map below. Your navigation system might suggest that you drive over the mountain pass from Giswil to Sörenberg because it’s hypothetically 1 minute faster. I’ve driven that way before and while it’s very beautiful, the road is a very winding and can be stressful. So now I always remember to take the valley road through Schüpfheim and Flühli instead.

As you follow your navigation system, you’ll turn right on a one-lane mountain road that looks like maybe you shouldn’t go there. But we asked around and it is allowed now, though it used to not be. You can drive almost all the way to the Alp Schlund farm that has a small cafe, shown in the picture below. 

As you can see there’s space for about 8 cars on the side of the road. If that’s full, you have to park further down the road, but don’t block a turn out, which is needed on the one-lane road for passing traffic. We got there at 8:00 on a Thursday morning not during school holidays and there was already one car there. By the time we got our stuff together and started walking, four more cars arrived. So I recommend getting there early if you want to park close to the trail head.

By public transport: Remember you have to do the longer trail shown above. From Luzern, you take trains to Schüpfheim, then bus 241 to Sörenberg, Hirsegg (which runs hourly on the xx:33).

3. Trail conditions

This is a very challenging and possibly dangerous hike. So I feel that I must warn you about the conditions of this trail to make sure you know what to expect. A lot of the trail is on a ridge with steep drop-offs on one side. Part of the trail is on limestone with many holes and sharp corners, requiring focused attention and good balance. If you are an inexperienced hiker or get vertigo, this might not be the best choice for you.

Is this trail for children?  I’d say that children over 8 that are experienced hikers can probably do this hike with close adult supervision. But I can’t make that decision for you. I would hesitate to take my own children that are currently 12 & 16 and have lots of hiking experience.

Stay on the path! This trail is very well marked with frequent red/white trail markers all over the rocks and trail signs at every junction. But we still briefly lost the trail several times and had to search around for the markers. Other hikers on the trail warned us that it’s very important to stick to this trail and not wander off course. The marked trail specifically follows the safest route over the limestone cracks.

Download the offline map to your phone. Although the trail is well marked, there are multiple paths criss-crossing this mountain. So I found it very helpful to have my trail map above on my phone so I could frequently check to make sure we were on the right path. 

Do not go in early spring when there is still snow. On 25 May 2020, as a hiker walked over a snow patch, he broke through the snow and fell into a 7 meter deep hole and was rescued by REGA. 

Only on dry days. This hike is very exposed, so don’t go on this trail with any threat of rain or wind storm. Also, I wouldn’t go right after rain either, as the limestone would get even more slippery and difficult to walk on.

4. What to wear & bring

Wear hiking boots with ankle support. Much of this trail is very rocky with many opportunities to twist and sprain your ankle. So best to wear sturdy shoes with ankle support. This is not necessary on most trails I post here, so I thought it was important to mention this time.

Hiking sticks, maybe. I brought hiking sticks, but they were useless on the limestone, where they simply slipped off the rock and got stuck in the holes. Plus, it’s better to have your hands free so you can use them to scramble up rocks when necessary. I used the sticks only on the descent at the end of the hike and I was happy to have them. So only bring sticks if you can store them in your backpack when you are on the limestone.

Bring all water you need. We saw only one water source on the trail at the Chlus hut, labeled “Trinkwasser.” But it wasn’t running when we were there on a weekday at the end of June. So I would definitely bring minimum 1 liter of water per person, better more.

5. Starting the hike at Alp Schlund

Your trail starts at Alp Schlund, which is important to know when you are making your way back and want to follow trail signs back to your car. We hiked this trail counterclockwise, starting to our right, following signs to Hängst, a mountain peak on the ridge. We saw people hiking both directions and talked to hikers about their preferences. We preferred counterclockwise because you go up on the tricky limestone, not down, which I think would be much more difficult.

After a few minutes on the road, you’ll see another hut and you take the footpath to the left, still following signs to Hängst.

The footpath leads up through grass and forest to the rock.

6. Walking on limestone

The grass gets gradually more rocky, then you are walking only on rock. The path is still well marked with red/white trail markers. But sometimes you have to look carefully to make sure you are following the path. Don’t wander around off course. The marked path is the safest route.

It’s very tricky walking on this stuff, so many holes to avoid and narrow footholds.

Take all your limestone pics now because this section only lasts about 30-40 minutes and the rest of the trail doesn’t look like this. Some parts are very steep and you might need to scramble with your hands for balance.

At this outcropping, the trail starts to change to a rocky, dirt path instead of rock slab. In late June, there were still a lot of snow patches. Some hikers were walking over them. But we walked around because of the recent news story of the hiker breaking through and falling into a hole.

7. Ascent to Hängst

Then you get some grassy fields, which is a nice break. Your goal is the ridge straight ahead.

Here the trail forks. I missed these signs and my friend had to call me back. You definitely want to take the right fork up to the peak at Hängst. The lower trail to the left will connect back to the Hängst detour later on.

Very rocky path to the top.

8. Arrival at Hängst 2092m

Almost to the top, a steep rocky ascent.

Here’s the view at the top of Hängst. This is a good spot for lunch or at least a break. There’s a guestbook up there that you should sign.

9. Walking across to Schibengütsch

Now follow signs to Schibengütsch, the last notable peak on the ridge. 

After leaving Hängst, the top is very grassy for awhile. There are sheep herds that roam here and leave lots of droppings on the trail.

Such a contrast to the rocky landscape before.

Even though you are on the ridge, it’s not so close to the edge and felt safe.

Looking back on the trail so you can see how it’s far from the edge.

Here’s the last stretch to Schibengütsch. There are two trails (maybe more) that fork down the mountain before you reach Schibengütsch if you want to cut it short. You can see one of these at the trail sign in the foreground. After you visit Schibengütsch, you will need to retrace your steps and take the closest fork down to Chlus. More about that later.

10. Arriving at Schibengütsch 2037m

The last 10 mins up to Schibengütsch is tough.

The view from Schibengütsch is worth the extra effort. This looking back at the ridge you traversed.

Here’s the view looking northwest. This is another great place for lunch and a break. There’s a guest book here too that you should sign. It gets a little crowded up here as many hikers are also taking a break.

From Schibengütsch, you should go back down the way you came and take the first fork that leads down to Chlus, as shown on the map below (which matches the trail map I link above). We did not do this, but we should have. You can read about our sketchy detour here, then skip down to the Chlus section where we join your more sensible trail.

11. Sketchy detour – don’t do this

There is a trail sign pointing over the top of Schibengutsch, leading south. We asked another hiker about this and he said: I wouldn’t go that way, it has three ladders and is really tough. I should have listened to him. We went that way anyway to see what we could see. The trail is not well marked in this section and tough-going.

After scrambling down the slope shown above, the trail is deceptively easy for a few minutes and passes by this lovely view.

Then the trail ends at this metal gate, behind which you find a dark cave with a ladder leading down a narrow shaft. This is part of an old military bunker. This is the first of three scary ladders. It was completely dark, we used our phone flashlights to light it up for each other as we climbed down. It was also wet, making the rungs slippery. 

Plus the rungs are very far apart, so we had to slowly lower ourselves far down and feel around for the next rung. It was terrible and we felt not safe. After we got home, we read an article about a man falling down this shaft and having to to be rescued by Rega. This was a bad decision.

We thought the worst was over, but the trail down from the cave is even worse. The switchbacks are very steep and full of loose rock. We couldn’t wait to get down.

12. Direction Chlus

At this fence below, there’s a fork in the road. You continue straight head ahead, direction Chlus. 

At that trail sign, there is a lovely field of flowers that we took way too many pictures of.

Here is Chlus, where there is a hut. It has picnic tables outside like it might be open as a cafe sometimes. But it wasn’t when we were there. They also have water labeled “Trinkwasser” but it wasn’t flowing when we were there.

After Chlus, start following signs to Schlund, where your car is parked.

You’ll join a rocky dirt road that leads all the way to Schlund, about 2.5 km. This was my least favorite part of the trip. The road was awkward to walk on because of all the loose rock and it was a little boring after all the amazing stuff we had just seen. Some people might prefer to get this out of the way at the beginning so you end on a high note. But then you have to descend on the limestone slabs, which I think would be very difficult.

Well, that’s it. If you hike this and survive, leave a comment to let me know how you liked it.

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