Stein SG - Gulme
I hiked this route with a friend on the 9th of May, 2026. I had seen pictures of the views from the top of Gulme and they looked very nice, so we decided to hike up there. To get some different scenery along the way, we decided to start in Stein SG and end in Arvenbüel.
Full route: Swisstopo
We started out in Stein SG, which we reached from Zürich, taking first two trains to Wätwill and then a bus from Wättwill to Stein SG. It was a slightly clouded morning, but the temperature was nice. Walking out of Stein SG, we had nice views to the peaks of Churfirsten behind the colorful fields.
The first part of the hike is on normal road and gravel road, winding their way through the green rolling hills in this area. After about 45 min, the path turns away from the road and up into the forest.
The first part of the ascent was rather steep, first through forest and then over open fields. We quickly made it up above the valley, and as the clouds cleared, we had great views in direction Säntis.
After another part through forest, we came out into a very different open landscape. Here, we also got the first views to some of the mountain peaks in Glarus in the far distance.
This part of the trail is a mix between gravel road and hiking path running below the peaks of Stogg and Gulme. All along this part of the trail, there were great views into Glarus and down towards Amden and Walensee below.
After about half an hour, we made it to the base of Gulme, from where we started the last part of our ascent towards the top. The gravel road here changes into a hiking path, and as you make your way up, you also get clear views towards Mattstogg above Amden.
This part of the trail was once again quite steep, so we took some breaks on the way up, and could each time enjoy different views. After 25 minutes, we could see the cross on the top, from where the peak of Gulme is just 5 minutes away.
After the last steep ascent, we had a nice long lunch break by the cross. The weather was perfect, with the clouds over the mountains, making for some very nice scenery.
After the lunch break, we walked the last short part to the top of Gulme, before we started the descent in direction Arvenbüel. Up on the top, there were big crocus fields on the grounds, and great views in direction Säntis and Alpstein.
The path down on the other side was not as steep as the way we had taken up, which was nice. Gulme is a great peak for views in all directions, showing off the diverse landscape, and we enjoyed the trail down.
Once you are down from Gulme, the trail again turns into a gravel road and later normal road, which you follow all the way to Arvenbüel.
We had to hurry the last part through Arvenbüel to catch the bus that only runs once per hour, but we made it, and started our trip back to Zürich after a really nice spring hike.
