The Gantrisch Panorama Trail is located in the Gantrisch Nature Park which is in the triangle between Bern, Thun and Fribourg. This is certainly a beautiful high alpine hike with a view.
Hike Statistics:
Duration: 6.40 h
Distance: 21 km
Ascend: 1000m
Descend: 1281m
Starting point: Gurnigel, Bad – Post Bus Stop
End point: Zollhaus – Post Bus Stop
Gantrisch Panorama Trail – My Impressions:
We were the only ones that got off the bus at the Gurnigel, Bad bus stop. It seemed that most people stopped at the next bus stop which was the Berghaus Gurnigel. The starting point is also where the Gurnigelbad mountain inn is should you want to have a drink and enjoy the view before the start of your hike.
It was a constant uphill climb till we got to Berghaus Gurnigel. We did a small stop once we got out of the forest and were greeted with our first views of Lake Thun in the distance.
The views only got better and better as the hike went on. We also saw a number of paragliders walking with their equipment and wondered where they were launching themselves from.
We stopped for a small sandwich break when we got to Berghaus Gurnigel at an altitude of 1155m above sea level.
From here, we started seeing many more hikers as there were huge parking lots filled with many camper vans. We now started seeing signs for Zollhaus which indicated it was 4h 20m away.
From here there were signs towards Stockhorn which was also 4h 20m away. Time it well and you could possibly end your hike with a bungee jump at Stockhorn!
Continuing on, this was the first hike I have ever done where we came across horseback riders at the top of one of the passes. With their cowboy hats, sitting around a fire, I half-thought I was in Argentina at this point.
Mountain bikers would zoom past us from time to time as we continued our hike whilst admiring the breathtaking views of the pristine meadows and deep valleys on our right and the peaks of the Gantrisch chain with Nüneneflue, Gantrisch and Bürgle mountains on the left.
I was incredibly excited once we could see Gäggersteg in the distance. This raised wooden boardwalk over the forest floor was meant to be our big lunch stop and the highlight of this hike. If you zoom into the picture below, you can see Gäggersteg is the brown bit in middle from the top, on the left.
Alas we got there, and it was closed! Even worse was that it would reopen in just 5 days. Looks like we have to come back here one day. The storm Lothar destroyed the forest on a large scale in 1999. The wooden footbridge above the forest floor would have enabled another view of the renewable forest.
Continuing on we started seeing more and more paragliders up in the air. We finally came across their launching point and even saw two hang-gliders getting ready for their flight. By this point you would have seen Schwarzsee in the distance for quite some time. You can barely see it in the picture below, but Schwarzsee is there, somewhere in the middle.
We started going downhill all the way to Zollhaus. We actually got lost for a little at this point as where we thought the last yellow sign pointed towards, was not where the hiking trail was.
Reaching the bottom, we quickly walked towards the river and washed our hands in the clear cold water before waiting for the 45 minutes bus ride that took us to the Fribourg train station.
Overall, I can highly recommend the Gantrisch Panorama Trail. It was a good and easy hike with stellar views throughout.
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A couple of months later in August, we went back to Gäggersteg with the kids and had a great time there.
From the parking lot, it was just under 2km to get to the bridge.
The fact that the flowers were blooming making the views that much better, was a cherry on top of the cake.
After this little trip to Gäggersteg, we went to Schwarzsee. Our intention was to do the 4.4 km Witch Trail but as it was 12 pm and the sun was burning, we decided to head directly for a swim instead.
Our time at Schwarzsee was fantastic. The cold water was perfect in the 36 Celsius heat. The nearby restaurant and playground kept the kids entertained for a long time.
There is also a chair lift taking you up the mountain from which you can go hiking or take the trotti bike down. You can also go down the mountain coaster. Schwarzsee had so much to offer and we cannot wait to return.
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