Wild Hay Trail near Lucerne

The “Wildheupfad” trail is mountain trail above Lake Lucerne, lovely in in mid-October with lots of fall colors. The trail skirts underneath big mountain peaks, dipping in and out of forests and passing through alpine meadows used for hay making.

The trail goes from one tiny cable car to another tiny cable car, making the trail rather easy without much elevation gain.

Trail Overview

This trail is located in Central Switzerland, at the southern end of Lake Lucerne near Flüelen.

This is a one way trail from the top of the Flüelen-Eggberge cable car to the top of the Flüelen-Oberaxen cable car. A short bus ride in the valley connects these two areas. 

Hiking map

It’s a moderate 7.4 km with mild ups and downs. It’s not a difficult trail, but there are often steep declines on the sides of the trail that could be dangerous if you are not careful. You can extend this hike by skipping either of the cable cars and hiking up and/or down the mountain.

Video of the trail

Short video of our Wild Hay Trail hike in mid October 2019.

See our full video of our hike on our YouTube channel.

Getting there

This is a one way hike, with the two cable car valley stations about 2.4 km apart, connected by bus.

By car: Best to park at the end point at Flüelen-Oberaxen cable car. This parking is metered and costs CHF 6 for the day, coins only. Then take the bus to your starting point at Flüelen, Eggberge Talstation. This journey is shown on the map below.

This bus runs every 15 minutes, the ride lasts 9 mins and costs CHF 4.40/adult for your one-way ticket. Swiss travel card discounts apply. At the end of your hike, you’ll ride down the Oberaxen cable car to where your car is parked. 

By public transport: You’ll most likely start by taking a train to Flüelen, then a short bus ride to the Flüelen, Eggberge Talstation bus stop.

At the end of your hike, you’ll ride down the Flüelen-Oberaxen cable car, which is adjacent to the Flüelen, Gruonbach bus stop. From there, you can catch Bus 1 (every 15 mins) to Flüelen Hauptplatz bus stop.

From here you can catch a another bus or walk across the street to the Flüelen train station, which has more connections. You could also catch a ferry from Flüelen to end the day on the water. Check SBB for current schedule.

Operating Times & Tickets

In total, this hike will cost about CHF 19/adult and CHF 9/child, plus bus fare between cable cars for those driving to the hike.

At the start, you’ll ride up the Flüelen-Eggberge cable car, which runs year round every 30 mins from 7:00 to 19:00, a bit longer hours in summer. If there are enough people, they will run it more frequently. You can call this number to make sure it’s running when you go: +41 870 15 49.

For the ride up the Eggberge cable car, you need a one-way ticket up the mountain, CHF 12/adult and CHF 6/child aged 6-16. No discounts for travel passes or SBB cards. 

At the end of the hike, you’ll ride down the Flüelen-Oberaxen cable car, which runs every 30 mins from 8.00 – 19.00 or hypothetically on demand when there are 4 people (the max). Usually there is a person there operating the cable car and you can pay for tickets in cash.

When we were there, we called on the phone in the cable car station and a lady said she would start the cable car in 15 minutes, just wait inside. We paid when we got to the valley. For the Oberaxen cable car, you’ll need a one way ticket down the mountain, CHF 7/adult and CHF 3/child aged 6-16. No discounts with any Swiss travel cards.

In bad weather or quiet days, this cable car might be self-serve. If you are at the mountain station, you can operate the cable car with CHF 20 in coins. If you are at the valley station, you buy a token next door and use that to operate the cable car.

Riding up the Eggberge cable car

Here’s the Flüelen-Eggberge cable car station. The cable car is small, maybe fits about 12 people. So you might need to wait on a busy day to go up the mountain.

At the top, there is a small village and a nice playground. It has a couple swings, a slide and picnic table.

Start the trail by following signs to Oberaxen Bergstation (aka mountain station). You’re also following trail 587 with the green square labeled “Wildheupfad”.

The trail starts on a dirt road. We got a little lost because the trail forks a couple times and wasn’t clearly marked. In general, you stay on the main road, not taking roads that fork right or left until you see another trail sign. But you might want to look at the trail map I have above to make sure you’re going the right way.

At this sign, fork to your left and head up the mountain a bit. The path narrows into a footpath.

You’ll pass by this little station with a telescope and this “smells of the forest” box, where you can guess the smells.

Into the forest

Now into the dark forest. You lose the views during this section and I got a bit worried. But it only lasts about 25 mins or so.

The path gets really rocky and a bit slippery when we were there. You’ll also see a couple information signs like the one shown below that tell you about the area and wild hay tradition.

One of the little waterfalls on the way.

Out of the forest and rejoining the views.

I recommend taking this short detour off the main trail.

The detour leads to two benches with this fantastic view. Great place for a picnic or at least a break.

Back on the trail, around the mountain

Now you get the big views.

We passed this little hut, not sure what to make of it. I think it’s supposed to be a traditional hut for a wild hay gatherer.

Wrapping your way around the mountain. Pretty easy walking, not too much uphill.

Lots of beauty in every direction. 

It’s not super dangerous but you can see that the trail does drop quite steeply down off one side.

Just wrapping around the mountain.

Then you turn the corner and the mountain seem right on top of you.

Now you get a nice view down to the lake. I think this would be the best picnic spot, just sitting in this field.

Now back into the forest, descending about 450m of elevation over 2 km, about 30 mins for us.

Arriving at Oberaxen

When you exit the forest to this meadow, your hike is almost over. The cable car is ahead to your left.

There is a restaurant next to the Oberaxen cable car station. It has a nice playground with a view.

The best reward for a hike well done.

Here’s the cable car, honestly a little scary! As I mentioned above, it runs every 30 mins but they might run it sooner if you are 4 people. If no one is at the station, call on the provided phone and ask them to run the cable car. If no one answers, you can buy a token for CHF 20 and make it run yourself. 

That’s it! At the bottom of the cable car, you’ll find your car or you can catch at bus at the Flüelen, Gruonbach bus stop back to your starting point at Flüelen, Eggberge Talstation or to the Flüelen train station (Flüelen, Hauptplaz bus stop). 

You might also like…

Niederbauen Kulm, which is just on the other side of the lake from this trail

Pin this for later…