Gnipen and Wildspitz Hike to Rossberg Mountain Range
| Total distance: 13km return | Elevation gain: ~1000m | Total time: 5hs return |
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Starting from Arth-Goldau, this surprisingly uncrowded trail goes through a beautiful forest all the way up to the highest points of Rossberg: Gnipen and Wildspitz. The path is very narrow and in some places it is overgrown with vegetation. It is steep and physically demanding. There is no mountain transport so the only way up is to walk, but once at the top, you’ll have an amazing panoramic view of the Alps and the surrounding region.
Starting and finishing points: Arth-Goldau. 30 min-drive from Zurich or 1h by train from Zurich HB.
The trail is not far from the Arth-Goldau train station and can be found on Steinbergstrasse and Zähniwäg. Right from the beginning the path enters the lush green forest that covers most of the way up to Gnipen.
Around half-way there is a clearing from where it’s possible to see the Alps and Kleiner and Grosser Mythen, the two most iconic mountains in the region.
This clearing, besides offering some great views, is also a great place for a break as there are some flat rocks to sit on and there is a creek for a water-fill-up.
After leaving the forest the path becomes more exposed, but once you see the summit-cross, it’s only 15-20 minutes of more climbing.
At the top, there are no restaurants or cable cars, so it’s not busy at all unlike some other more popular mountains. The views are amazing and if the weather is good it’s a great place to spend some time.
From Gnipen the walk to Wildspitz, another high point of Rossberg, is only 15-20 minutes.
Even though it’s possible to take the same path to go down, there is another way that is more exposed for the first half and offers views to the Mythen mountains before diving into a forest and coming out near the train station of Arth-Goldau. To find it just follow the signs to Arth-Goldau from Gnipen.
