Ardez - Piz Clünas
I did this hike on the 7th of June, 2026. I had for some time had stage 9 of Via Engiadina from Ardez to Ftan, Prui on my to-hike list, but since I wanted to do a slightly longer hike, I combined it with Senda Piz Clünas to form the below hike.
Full route: Swisstopo
I went by train from Zürich to Landquart, where I changed to the train taking me to Ardez and the start of the hike. From the train station, I walked through the village, with is beautifully decorated houses, and from there followed the hiking path up towards the forest.
After about half an hour, I came out of the forest and looking back, I had great views in direction Ardez and the mountains above Val Sampuoir. I took a short break and then continued on the trail leading into Val Tasna.
The trail going into the valley first went through forest, but the vegetation quickly got more sparse and the landscape opened up. It was a really beautiful and diverse part of the trail, crossing fields filled with sheep and getting closer to the river running at the bottom of the valley.
Towards the end of the valley, the trail crosses over the river, and splits up in different directions. I took the trail leading up on the other side of the valley towards Alp Laret. As I made my way up, I could see the trail on the other side, which I had just hiked on.
The first half hour was quite steep, and when I passed a bench just before the trail flattened out, I took a break. The views were great and I could see some of the mountains on the border between Switzerland and Austria. The trail from here to Alp Laret was relatively flat and easy, and with stunning views back in direction Ardez.
After passing Alp Laret, I took the trail leading up to Muot da l’Hom and Piz Clünas. The views from this part of the trail over Lower Engadine were absolutely stunning, and I decided to take my lunch break half way up. I had not met a lot of people so far, but up here, there started to be quite a lot of mountain bikers on the trail.
After lunch and filled with new energy, I continued up the trail. After Muot da l’Hom, the trail flattened out until I got close to Lai da Minschun, where there were a couple of steep but short sections. Walking up to the lake, I had the peak of Piz Clünas on my right side.
It had gotten quite warm, so when I arrived at the lake, I took a snack break to get some energy before the last part of the ascent to the top.The lake was still partly snow covered, but the part I could see had a beautiful color. There was some snow on the trail leading up to Piz Clünas, but I could see other people had walked there, so I decided to give it a try.
Walking up through the snow took a bit extra time, but was not problematic. I took several shorter breaks on my way up to enjoy the views of the surrounding mountains peaks and down to Lai da Minschun. The last few minutes to the top, you have to climb a bit, but I did not find it challeging.
From the top of Piz Clünas, there are absolutely stunning views to mountain peaks all around you, and the clouds made for some beautiful scenery. I took a short break up here to relax after the climb and take photos, but as it was quite windy, I did not stay long.
I walked down on the other side of the top from where I had come up. This trail is steep for the first fifteen minutes after which you follow an easier zig zag trail down to a gravel road. All the way down, you still have great views into the valleys behind and mountains above Scuol and Tarasp. I followed the gravel road back to the cable car, which took me down to Scuol and my train back home to Zürich.
