Arolla - Col de Riedmatten (day 2)
I did this hike on the 3rd of July, 2026 and it was the second of two days hiking in Wallis around Arolla. Initially, I had planned to do two stages of the Alpine Passes Trail, but due to storm damage of parts of the trail, and the road for the transport home, I had to slightly alter my plans. I therefore ended up doing the hike below on day 2 and a trail from Evolène to Arolla on day 1.
Full route: Swisstopo
After a good nights sleep at Hotel du Pigne in Arolla, I started my second day of hiking. Walking out of Arolla, I had great views to Mont Collon in the morning sun, before the trail went into the forest. The start of the hike was not too steep and a nice calm start to the day. After about half an hour, the forest started to open up, and I got the first views of some of the glaciers I would see this day.
Leaving the forest behind, the trail got steeper and for some time zigzagged its way up through the landscape. The entire hike offered amazing views and I could almost at all times see at least one glacier and for some of them, their very distinct moraines in the landscape. I had started hiking rather early and was for the first hour completely alone, which always makes the experience extra special.
When I left the forest, I could see the Glacier de Tsijiore Nouve in the distance, and as I made my way up over the trail, I got closer and closer to the glacier and its moraine, which made for some amazing views. As I left the glacier behind and continued up towards Col de Riedmatten, the landscape changed and the trail was for a while relatively flat, which made for a nice break.
The path had until now been a mix of wider gravel roads and hiking trails, but for the last half hour up to the top, the trail got more narrow with more lose material. When you cross over Col de Riedmatten there are chains to hold onto in the rock wall as the first part down is steep, but coming up this side was not difficult.
When I made it up to Col de Riedmatten, which is a small narrow pass, I found a tiny space to sit down and relax after the ascent. From here, I could see over on the other side to the Glacier de Cheilon and the meltwater lake in front. It was a very beautiful and different landscape from what I had just walked up through. From my little seat, I was also lucky to see a small group of ibexes calmly walking around on some rocks below, which is still a very exciting encounter for me.
I only stayed for a short time up at Col de Riedmatten, as I had to make it back to the bus leaving at noon from Arolla. I would though love to come back and hike on the other side of the pass, as it looked very beautiful. Walking down, clouds started covering the sky, but it only made for some great and different views of the landscape I had just hiked up through.
I arrived back at the Glacier de Tsijiore Nouve and again took some time to enjoy the views and take pictures before continuing. From here, I chose to walk on a gravel road for a while instead of the hiking trail I had followed on my way up. As it was getting closer to noon, I started to meet more people, but it was generally a very quiet day on the trail.
Continuing down and leaving the open landscape, I followed the path back into the forest, which took me back to Arolla, just in time for a short lunch break before the departure of my bus. The bus trip back to Sion was very beautiful and a perfect way to end the two day hike. Back in Sion, I continued with train to Visp and from there back home to Zurich.
