Engelberg Trübsee • Easy winter hike around frozen lake

At the Engelberg Titlis ski resort, there is an easy winter hike on snow around the Trübsee lake. This is a nice alternative for non skiers and parents tending children too young to ski. The path is regularly groomed with machines, so you can walk it with regular hiking shoes. When we went, the snow was packed enough to support an all-terrain stroller with wide wheels.

Since the trail is not directly on the ski slopes, it’s very quiet but still with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. The trail is a loop, ending at a restaurant and small sledding hill with free sleds and magic carpet. 

Hiking map

This walk is around the Trübsee, which is located at the middle station, the top of the Engelberg-Trübsee gondola, before continuing up to Titlis.

The Engelberg area has many winter walks, so be sure to consult their website and particularly the interactive map before heading out. Winter walks (groomed walking trails) are a dotted pink line with a little hiker symbol as opposed to yellow dots (snowshoe trail) or dark blue dots (cross-country skiing).

How to get there

This winter trail is in the Engelberg region, south of Luzern. You access the trail with the Titlis gondola to the Trübsee station.

By car:

Drive to Engelberg and follow signs to Titlisbahn – Gerschnistrasse 12, 6390 Engelberg. Park in the metered lot next to the base station.

By transit:

Take a train to Engelberg, then short bus ride to the Engelberg, Titlisbahn stop.

Tickets

You’ll need a return ticket on the gondola from Engelberg to Trübsee. In the 2024/25 season, this costs Adult CHF 36.

• 50% discount for Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Half Fare Card, GA and children age 6-15.
• 25% discount with Eurail or Interrail Passes
• 10% discount with Engelberg Guest Card
• Free for children under 6 and children 6-15 with a Junior Card or Swiss Family Card.

See current prices and discounts.

If you want to visit the Titlis glacier with suspension bridge and ice cave, buy a return ticket to Titlis instead. You can stop at Trübsee on your way back down the mountain.

The sledding hill near the Trübsee restaurant is free to use with free sleds available to use.

Photo story of the trail

From the Trübsee cable car stop, walk down to the lake and follow trail signs toward Obertrübsee. At the far side of the lake, when the trail splits, loop back along the lake instead of continuing to the Obertrübsee lift.

Near the end of the hike, there was a restaurant along the trail where you could stop for lunch. We were on the trail for about 2 hours. Our 5 yr old walked the whole thing but he got very tired and it was a little tough for him to finish.

This was our first winter walk so we didn’t know what we were doing. We took the stroller and quickly learned that it would have been much more fun with a sled. We brought our little disk sleds, which were great when there were downhill sections, as shown in the pic below.

The trail is groomed and on the day we were there, possible with a stroller. It’s important to check the conditions before your trip. In heavy snow or very warm days with melting snow, the trail may not be in good condition for walking. We went on a lovely sunny day. We dressed in all our snow gear, but with the sun and effort of walking, we were all sweating after a few minutes and stripped off a lot of layers.

Next to the gondola station, there is a little curved sledding hill shown below, with a magic carpet to bring you back up the hill. In 2016, this area was under construction again, including building a roof for the magic carpet. So they are definitely adding more features. It used to be free to use but now the website says a day pass for this sledding area costs CHF 17. There is a big restaurant with panorama views at the cable car station above the sledding hill.

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