Hiking Along the Walensee – Quinten to Weesen + Seerenbach Waterfall Viewpoint
The hiking route from Quinten to Weesen along Lake Walen is 11 km with about 400 m of ascent/descent. If you google for popular spring hikes in Switzerland, you are very likely to find this hike mentioned as one of the best. With beautiful wildflowers, snow capped mountains, lake views, and a spectacular roaring waterfall (the Seerenbach Waterfall is one of the tallest in Switzerland and has a cumulative height of 585m over three main tiers!), this hike ticked all the boxes and I definitely agree that it should be on everyone’s best spring hikes in Switzerland list.
Detail SummaryWhere: | Quinten to Weesen Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland |
Train: | Zürich HB -> Murg (Ost) – 55 mins Murg(Ost) -> Quinten – 15 min Note: The ferry from Murg to Quinten is not covered by the SBB. It is run by a private ferry company (Walensee Schifffahrt) and tickets must be purchased separately. You can buy tickets online or as you board. Fli, Seestern (bus stop) – > Zurich HB – 1 hr 12 min |
What: | Quinten to Weesen + Seerenbach Falls Viewpoint Red and white trail marker from Quinten to Seerenbach Falls, Yellow trail markers from Seerenbach Falls to Weesen. Quinten -> Weesen -> Seerenbachfälle -> Weesen |
Skill: | Easy – About 3 hr 30 min Length 11 km, Ascent 400 m, Descent 400 m |
Cost 2024: | Ferry from Murg(Ost) to Quinten, Adult single ride ticket: 8.40 CHF The ferry from Murg to Quinten is not covered by the SBB. It is run by a private ferry company (Walensee Schifffahrt) and tickets must be purchased separately. You can buy tickets online or as you board. |
Trail Map (komoot) (Weesen to Quinten) Shorter Hike Option to just see the Waterfall (SwissFamilyFun) Walensee Schifffahrt |
Getting There
This is a point-to-point hike, so best done with public transportation. After getting off the ferry in Quinten, we immediately stopped for lunch at the Schifflände Restaurant. A little pricy but the food was good and it was a nice way to start the hike. This is a popular restaurant and reservations are recommended.
After leaving the restaurant we looked for our trail. After finding the yellow trail signs, we took off in the direction of Weesen, and were on our way.
The Trail
The first part of the hike took us through the vineyards of Quinten with gorgeous views of the lake. We were tempted by the local wine, but chose not to buy any as we would have to carry it the rest of the hike. Another time…
The next part of the hike was a bit of a steep climb and a scramble, but nothing too scary. And, the lake views were just stunning! A lot of people do this hike in the opposite direction from Weesen to Quinten, but I think I preferred starting in Quinten as I preferred the shorter steep climb with the long gradual descent rather than the other way around.
After we reached the highpoint of the hike, the trail joined a mountain bike path and we began the descent.
When reached a small open field and the building you see in picture one below, we could already hear the Seerenbach waterfall and when we looked up, we could even see the top tier spilling over the high ridge. A short distance past the building, was the steep path up to the waterfall viewpoint, about a 10 minute hike. We got a sneak peak at the halfway up point before going the rest of the way up to the viewing platform. The viewing area was a bit crowded, but we still managed to get a picture of me with the waterfalls.
Spring is a wonderful time to visit the waterfalls as they are roaring this time of year. One of the interesting things about these waterfalls is the second lower falls is actually flowing out of a cave. It doesn’t look real! But, I can assure you that it is.
After leaving the waterfall viewpoint, we took the less steep path back down to the main trail towards Betlis/Weesen. There were some picnic tables as we neared the lake and just wonderful views of the waterfall with wildflower fields in the foreground.
After passing the chapel Betlis, we continued on the service road.
On the way, the trail passes a small ruin – the Bergruine Strahlegg (german). We took the detour off the trail to check it out. There is a restaurant (german) nearby and we were tempted to stop for a drink but it was so busy we decided to just press on with the hike.
In Betlis, you can catch the ferry if you want to cut the hike short. If not, you can simply continue to follow the service road to Weesen as we did. This one lane road is open to traffic in opposite directions per the posted time table at the road entrance. The road is narrow and goes through some very narrow tunnels and I would not enjoy driving on this road. Walking it was rather pleasant though and we even passed a bonus waterfall that provided a very refreshing mist as we walked by.
When we reached the entrance to the service road, there was a grassy park where even in April people were jumping in the cold lake for a swim. There was a fairly large (paid) parking lot here and a restaurant. We did stop this time for some ice cream and to admire the view.
After leaving the restaurant we just followed the road back to Weesen.
Getting Back
When we got back to the main road, we saw that our bus was already there and so we sprinted across the main road to catch it.
This was a really terrific hike, and I definitely recommend it. It really is the prefect spring hike.
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