Speer is one of the first mountain peaks you’ll see as you leave the Zürich lowlands, nicknamed “König der Voralpen” or “King of the Pre-Alps” (not nearly as nice in English).
There are multiple ascents to this impressive peak, the safest from Amden where you take a chair lift to skip a bit of the climb. I took a different route with a friend skipping the lift. I provide information for both routes below.
No matter how you get there, the view from the Speer peak spectacular and well worth the effort. I felt a real sense of accomplishment getting up there even if that was tempered by my fear of figuring out how to get back down.
| Location: | Eastern Switzerland |
| Car: | Parking: Mittlerwengi (GPS: 47.192911, 9.104391) 1hr from Zurich |
| Train: | alternate ascent from Amden, Dorf 1hr30 from Zurich |
| Trail: | 7.8 km, about 4 hrs |
| Elevation: | highest point 1886m, 720 m up/down |
| Condition: | narrow dirt mountain trail, no strollers |
| Skill: | challenging |
| Open: | June to Oct, weather dependent |
| More info: | www.amden-weesen.ch • webcam |
Hiking map
The most popular route to reach Speer from Amden, taking the chair lift to Mattstock, then hiking up to peak, then back down to Amden, as shown on the map below. Next time I go up to Speer, I’ll definitely take this trail. This is the best option if you are coming by public transport (bus stop: Amden, Dorf). More info about this hike here.
See map on SchweizMobil • AllTrails • OutdoorActive
How to get to Amden
The Amden-Mattstock chair lift is located at Ruestelstrasse 20, 8873 Amden, a short walk from the parking and bus stop. The trail loops back to this same village.
By car: Drive to Amden and parking in the Dorf parking – Dorfstrasse 18, 8873 Amden.
By public transport: Take a train to Ziegelbrücke. Then bus to Amden, Dorf.
No lift option: Hike from Mittelwengi
Since the lifts were closed when we went, we took an alternate trail from Mittelwengi, which doesn’t require mountain transport. This is a good option is you want to hike for free and don’t mind a climb.
We drove to the bottom of the mountain on the northwest side of the peak, parking at Mittelwengi. Then we hiked straight up to the peak and returned the way we came. It’s a red/white mountain trail with some scrambling and narrow ridge sections. But you don’t need climbing equipment.
See map on Schweiz Mobil • AllTrails • OutdoorActive
Warning: this is a dangerous trail, not suitable for everyone. So please don’t attempt this unless you are an experienced hiker, know what you are doing and hike carefully. I did not take my kids on this one.
Getting to Mittelerwengi
You have to drive to this trailhead – no bus stops near here. We drove and parked at Mittlerwengi parking area (GPS: 47.192911, 9.104391), a small parking area at the edge of the forest. It’s about a 1hr drive from Zürich.
Photo Story
I’ll show pics from our trail starting in Mittelerwengi. If you hike from Amden, it will obviously be quite different.
From the Wengi parking area, walk on the road through the forest, towards the mountains.
Here’s one of the first trail signs you’ll see. Follow signs to Speer.
In early November, it was quite frosty in the shade.
The trail is pretty well marked, so just keep following the trail markers and signs to Speer.
We were happy to finally be in the sun, looking up the peaks above us. The trail is lots of switchbacks going up this mountain, standard hiking fare.
When we got near the peaks, it got steep and slippery. This was the hardest part of the climb. We had to use our hands to stability sometimes.
Such a gorgeous part of the trail with the ridge stretching out behind us.
On the ridge
This was my favorite part of the trail, just amazing! I’d go back just for this section. Loved it!!!
It felt a little scary at times but it’s not dangerous if you stick to the trail.
This part was sketchy but not as scary as it looks. I had to climb over the ridge holding onto a cable, but there wasn’t a big drop-off under me.
You can see our destination, that peak with the signs. Almost there.
Top of Speer
There is a small fenced in area at the top of Speer.
We thought we’d have our picnic up there, but it was too windy and felt crowded with only three other hikers there. Remember to sign the guestbook stored in the metal box on the pole.
So beautiful from up here. Shame my phone camera at the time was so bad.
Looking over at more peaks we need to climb.
Looking east towards Säntis and Toggenburg.
Trail sign at the top of Speer. You can see the trail leading down to Amden, which we’ll do next time. We just took the trail back down the way we came.
Then the long hike down into the shade. Probably much nicer in summer.
See more mountain peaks to climb.
