Toggenburg Tone Trail

The Toggenburg Klangweg is the gold standard when it comes to theme trails for children. Every few minutes along the trail, you’ll find a different interactive musical activity where kids can play and make lots of noise. Since kids can often see or hear the next music station ahead, they are motivated to keep walking to see what’s next.

We usually spend about 4+ hours on the trail, playing at every station along the way and grilling our lunch. The trail is not especially difficult and is possible with an all-terrain stroller. This is a popular option for families and school groups, but there’s plenty of room to spread out. I hope you like it!

Trail Overview

This is a one way trail from the top of the Alt St Johann-Sellamatt lift to the top of Oberdorf-Wildhaus lift. You can return to your starting point with a bus, which is included in your hiking ticket. There are 20+ interactive musical stations along the way, as well as mountain restaurants, picnic areas and playgrounds.  

Hiking map

This one way trail is about 6 km long, 2 hours walking time. But plan 3-4 hours to include play time at each activity along the way. 

See trail on Komoot • SchweizMobil • AllTrails • OutdoorActive

Strollers

The first 2 km of the trail to Iltios is ok for strollers on a paved road. Part of this section has an obstacle-free detour to avoid the gravel path through the forest.

The second part of the trail after Iltios is a smaller path, which would be possible with all-terrain stroller, but a little annoying (I’ve done it a couple times). The part right before the picnic area is quite steep and would need very good brakes on the stroller to manage the switchbacks.

Shorter version

If you’re not up for the full hike, you can walk the short section between Sellamatt and Iltios (2km, about 30-40 mins), take the funicular down to Unterwasser, then take the bus back to your car. Or you could do the second half of the trail (4 km, about 1hr30), from Iltios to Oberdorf.

How to get there

This trail is located east of Zurich near the Austrian border. See on Google Maps.

By car:

The Sellamattbahn lift is located at Ochsenwis 418, 9656 Alt St. Johann. There is parking along the street near the gondola and a large dirt lot past the lift.

At the end of the hike, you take a bus from Wildhaus, Lisighaus to Alt St. Johann, Dorf to get your car. 

By public transport:

Take a train to Wattwil, then a bus to Alt Sankt Johann, Dorf. The mountain lift is a short walk across the street.

Bus schedule

At the end of the trail, you’ll need to walk about 5 mins from the Wildhaus chair lift station to the bus stop at Wildhaus, Lisighaus, on the main street (see walking directions).

Bus 790 leaves about every 30 mins. Check current schedule on SBB.ch.

Planning your day

Ticket prices

When you buy your ticket, ask for the Klangweg ticket, which includes all the gondola and chair lift on both sides of the hike. It also includes the bus ticket from Wildhaus back to Alt Sankt Johann, if you need to return to your car at the starting point.

In 2024, a Klangweg ticket cost CHF 39/adult and CHF 24.50/Child. See current prices.

Discount for Swiss Travel Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card. Junior cards are accepted. 

Opening hours

This area is open for summer season from end of May to mid October.

The Alt St Johann-Sellamatt gondola runs daily 8:30 – 17:00 (closed over lunch in bad weather). The Wildhaus-Oberdorf chair lift runs 8:30 – 12:00 and 13:15 – 17:15. In bad weather, both lifts may reduce service or close altogether.

Where to eat

At Sellamatt, there is Berggasthaus Sellamatt restaurant. At Iltios (2 km, about 40 mins), there is a restaurant, playground and picnic area. After 3.7 km (about 90 mins), there is a picnic area with tables, fire pit and wood. At the Oberdorf chair lift station, there is a restaurant and playground.

If you need picnic supplies, here are the grocery in the area:

• Spar – Dorfstrasse 4, 9656 Alt St. Johann
• Coop – Rüedi 2365, 9657 Unterwasser
• Spar – Dorf 3, 9658 Wildhaus

Photo story of the trail

The musical installations change from year to year, some replaced, some moved around, some new. So the ones below are just examples and might be different when you go. 

1. Riding gondola up to Sellamatt

To start your journey, take the lift from Alt Sankt Johann to Sellamatt, shown below. This lift alternates chairs with cable cars, so you can wait for a cable car if you have little ones that would be safer in an enclosed space.

But at the end of the trail, Wildhaus-Oberdorf, there are only chairs. The lift operators are very helpful and will load your folded stroller on a separate chair and also help little kids get settled on the chair. If your little one is too young and squirmy for a chairlift, you might want to skip the second leg and take the funicular train down from Iltios. 

2. Start trail

At Sellamatt, follow the brown trail signs marked “Klangweg.” The trail starts on the road in front of the restaurant. 

Last time we went, the first activity had these pipes. You tapped a rubber mat on them to make a sound. 

Here, you can hit the metal tubes to make a huge racket. It was too noisy for some of the little ones in our group.

Color coded xylophone-ish thing.

After only a few minutes on the trail, you cross field where lots of people picnic. It has a few fire pits and portable toilets. I think it’s much too early on the trail to picnic here, but I’ve seen many other people picnicking here.

View of the jagged Churfirsten peaks near the beginning of the trail

A bunch of cow bells to walk through, one of our favorite stations.

We can’t get enough of hitting sticks on other sticks. Simple but effective.

Views across the valley towards Mt Säntis.

3. Break at Iltios station

After about 45 mins, you’ll reach the Iltios station, where you’ll find a restaurant and a playground.

Each time we’ve been on the trail, the playground has been improved and expanded. Last time we went, there was a bouncy pillow and some swings.

There are also fire pits nearby if you want to grill lunch and also let your kids play here. If you want to cut your trip short, you can ride the funicular down and catch a bus back to your car.

4. Back on the trail

From Iltios, you start again on the road before branching off on a footpath.

Continuing the trail, the little house below is an old mill and has a string instrument (shown on right) attached to the old mill mechanism. Below is a sort of flute.

Pull cable to ring cow bells, then hit disks of different kinds of metal and compare the sound.

Beautiful views along the trail.

Talk through holes in the rock. Spin pendulum to make washer slide down the poles and make a lot of noise.

5. Picnic area

About 45 mins after Itlios, there is a nice fire pit, with wood, grill and picnic tables.

Big metal mushrooms to bang, next to the picnic area.

Some animal sculptures near the picnic spot.

Spin these to make noises.

You roll a ball around the circle to make sounds.

Beautiful farm houses in the alpine meadows.

6. Ending the trail at Oberdorf

The trail ends at Oberdorf, where you can take a chair lift down into the valley, walk to the bus stop, and ride the bus back to Alt Sankt Johann. At Oberdorf, there is a cafe and playground with trampolines, slides, blasio, and animals to pet the last time we went.

If you know when the bus leaves in Unterwasser, it’s better to spend your waiting time jumping around up here than sitting a bus stop. But remember, the bus stop is about a 10 minute walk from the bottom of the lift, so plan accordingly.

Make sure to check the chair lift times. One time, we spent an extra long time on the trail and realized too late that the chair lift had closed for the day (around 17:15). So we had to walk from Oberdorf down into the valley then to the bus stop. The trail is actually very pretty, not difficult and only took about 30 minutes. But it has a lot of stairs as shown below, so not suitable for strollers.