Heimischgarte-Trail

The trail begins in Saas-Balen, the smallest of the four Saas mountain villages. The path initially follows the forest road uphill along the valley to the 40-meter-high Fellbach waterfall. This offers an impressive natural spectacle, especially fascinating in very cold winters as a spectacular ice column. Over the small bridge, it continues uphill until the trail veers right onto the hiking path after about 500 meters. From here, it goes uphill in several switchbacks. At Ze Gartu, the most challenging part is overcome. The path becomes flatter and leads through snow-covered larch forests to the Alp Heimischgarte. At the old Walser settlement, a breathtaking view opens up to Saas-Fee and the impressive mountain backdrop of the Saastal. At the Heimischgarte chapel, it is worth taking a break and letting your gaze wander over the wintery Saastal. At the southern end of the valley lies the Mattmark dam, the largest earthen dam in Europe.

From Heimischgarte, the approximately 5 km descent to Saas-Grund follows. Across snow-covered alpine meadows, it goes down to the rustic hamlets of Obru Brend and Unnru Brend. After the houses of Unnru Brend, the path enters the forest and leads through the natural forest reserve «Löübinobodme». With a bit of luck, native wildlife can be spotted among the pines over 400 years old. Over the forest clearing of Alp Bodme, the trail continues to the whitewashed St. Josef chapel. Here you can enjoy the magnificent view again of the glacier landscape of the Saastal. Afterwards, the descent to Saas-Grund follows, where the trail ends.