★★★★☆ | Highest point: 2,079 m | Easy to moderate hiking options |
The Schrattenfluh is a big hump of granite riddled with caves — which is appropriate given its location in the highlands of Emmental, after which the holey Swiss cheese is named. The rock surface is also carved by erosion, often into striking and razor-sharp formations.
The mountain forms part of the Swiss Alps, and is easily reached as a day hike from Interlaken, Bern and Luzern.
The track is well marked and good. Well, I can vouch that the first half is well-marked. After that James veered off the path to walk along the rocky top, which meant that we didn’t see the rest of the trail. This wasn’t difficult but, due to the above-mentioned carving of the rock, somewhat more jaggedy and scratchy than the path.
The trail includes a section through Swiss army tunnels. The kids loved a cavern with rusted bunk beds and climbing up ladders through the rock massive.
The walk is not particularly steep, except for the first climb up to the ridge. The ridge is exposed, but not too dangerous. You can make the walk longer or shorter by taking different trails.
Photos from our hike – Schrattenfluh, Luzern, Switzerland
Hiking trail info – Schrattenfluh, Luzern, Switzerland
We started at ended at the Alprestaurant Schlund… well, I think that’s the name but Google Maps puts this restaurant at a different place from where we started. Anyway, there’s a restaurant at 46.826887, 7.980652 and that’s where we started. You can park just down the road from the restaurant. There were no other restaurants or shelters along the trail (although you could shelter in the army caves if need be). There is no public transport to the trail head.
Our (moderate) hike: Alprestaurant Schlund – Schibegütsch – Türbstehäuptli – Hängst – Hächle – somewhere near Bodenhütten – Alprestaurant Schlund
Highest point: Hängst 2,093 m
Technical details: Not technical, although there is a ladder through a cave
Height gain: 976
Distance: approx 16 km
We did a loop trail, starting just below the Alprestaurant Schlund. The trail starts along a forest road with a very gentle incline. We saw a lot of salamanders here. Very cool! After leaving the forest, the trail climbs steeply through a meadow to an old army cavern at Schibegütsch.
From here the trail continues up ladders through the rock, to the main Schrattenfluh ridge. It then follows along the ridge, going over the highest point, Hängst, but otherwise staying below the rocky peaks. This didn’t suit James, who decided to leave the path and go up to the top. This was a bit of a scramble. Traversing the rocky top was also a scramble. In some places the rock is carved like knives, so you need to watch your step. And hand holds.
The walk took a little longer than expected, so somewhere after Hächle we cut back down to the valley instead of completing the entire loop shown in the map. Once off the rocks, it is an easy walk back to Alprestaurant Schlund.
Other hiking options
Other moderate hikes: Stay on the trail the whole way.
Easy hike: Walk along the valley in front of the Schrattenfluh, in the opposite direction that we took. This is fairly flat.
Hiking trail map – Schrattenfluh, Luzern, Switzerland
(GPX download under the map)
This is the trail we were supposed to take. As mentioned above, we left the path at some point to walk along the top of the rocky massive, and then cut back down to the valley to shorten the walk.