The Via Engiadina (Trail 87) is a 160 kilometer, 12 Stage trail that goes along the entire length of the Engadine valley. The first stage is 12 km long with 560 m ascent and 560 m descent and goes from Maloja to Silvaplana. I was looking for a good hike to see the golden larches in late October, and wow did this trail deliver! The views of the larch forests with the lakes and snow capped mountains in the background were absolutely stunning! I wasn’t planning on starting another long distance trail, but having hiked stage one of this trail and seeing just how amazing it was, I am very motivated to do the rest of it. Putting stage two on the list for next year!
Detail Summary
| Where: | Maloja to Silvaplana Canton Graubunden, Switzerland |
| Train/Bus: | Zürich HB -> Maloja, Post – 3 hr 41 min Silvaplana, Rundella Curtins –> Zürich HB – 3 hr 21 min |
| What: | Via Engiadina – Stage 1 Maloja to Silvaplana (SwitzerlandMobility) |
| Skill: | Medium – About 3 hrs 45 min Length 12 km, Ascent 560 m, Descent 560 m Note: We took a wrong turn that added some elevation gain and about 40 minutes of hiking time but I don’t think it made that much difference in terms of views. |
Additional Info
| Via Engiadina – Stage 1 Maloja to Silvaplana (SwitzerlandMobility) Trail Map (SwitzerlandMobility) Webcams: Silvaplana Silvaplan Tourism Info |
Getting There
It was a long trip from Zurich to Maloja and although we got to St. Moritz in time to get the bus to Maloja, the bus was so full we had to wait for the next one a half hour later.
We eventually got to Maloja and were on our way. The trail starts right at the bus stop and after a short walk through the tiny town, the trail left the road and headed up into the mountains.
The Trail
The first two kilometers of the trail was a steep climb with many switchbacks. Fortunately, the views down the valley made it worth it.
It was already past noon when we started, so when we reached a bench after just half hour of hiking, we stopped for our picnic lunch. When we continued after lunch, we weren’t in the larch forests yet, nevertheless, the views were lovely. The wide open landscapes were wonderful and the fact that the tiny settlement, Grevasalvas, in the third picture below had a public WC was also wonderful. The buildings in Grevasalvas are adorable and I read later that they were used as a filming location for the 1978 version “Heidi.” Very Swiss.
When we reached the larch forest, the views were spectacular. We were hiking on the last day of October and while some of the trees were past their prime, others were perfectly golden.
The afternoon light on these trees was spectacular! And with clear blue skies all around, the views of the lake and mountains could not have been better.
We took about a million pictures of the trees, but we also made sure to take at least one of ourselves.
The larches in their full autumn glory were mesmerizing. Just look at the colors in this photo!
And this view back towards the sun was other-worldly.
At some point, we took a wrong turn and ended up on a side trail that added about 2km to our hike. It was all very beautiful so not a big deal. And while all the hiking kept us warm, the day was a bit colder than it looks. You can see the ice starting to build up around the fountain in the third picture below. When we rejoined trail 87, the last few kilometers followed alongside a power line. That section of the hike was my least favorite part.
We planned to end the hike in Silvaplana which is not directly on trail 87, so we needed to keep an eye on the signs and the map to see when to start heading down to town.
The last part of the hike down to Silvaplana was fairly steep but not too bad. We paused briefly at the outlook spot in picture two above just to take in one final view before heading home.
Getting Back
Once we reached Silvaplana, we checked the SBB app for the next bus. We had the option of a slower local bus coming a few minutes or faster express bus coming ten minutes later to get us back to St. Moritz where we would catch the next train home. While it was slower, we hopped on the local bus towards St. Moritz so that we could be on the warm bus instead of waiting outside in the cold.
We have spent very little time in the Engadine valley as it is rather far for a day trip. But, this trail was worth it. And now that we’ve done stage 1, I am motivated to keep going with this trail and see more of this area of the country. I will try to do stage 2 next summer.
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