Brünigpass - Brienzer Rothorn
I did this hike on the 6th of June, 2025. I had for some time had Brienzer Rothorn on my hiking list, and I finally decided to go. The train up to Brienzer Rothorn was still not operating, so I decided to cross over and take the cable car down to Sörenberg, and therefore ended with the hike below.
Full route: Swisstopo
I went by train from Zürich to Brünigpass and started the hike right from the train station. It was a very nice summer morning when I made my way up over the first part of the ascent, and I quickly had great views to Brienzersee and the surrounding mountains.
After the first part of the ascent, which at times was rather steep, I came to a small plateau, where I took a break. I could here for the first time see the peak of Brienzer Rothorn, where I would later be, and it was really cool to se the entire ridge I would follow.
The higher I got, the better views I had, and when the clouds cleared for a while, I could see the higher mountains around Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, which looked really impressive. From here, I also had views to some larger waterfalls and the scenery was generally really impressive.
Continuing up, the trail made its way under Wilerhorn and got more narrow, and in some places had rather steep sides, but nowhere did I find it uncomfortable. I had not yet met any other hikers, so it was very calm on the trail and I could follow my own pace.
After following the trail running under Wilerhorn, with constant views of Brienzersee, I made it up to the start of the ridge in direction Brienzer Rothorn. I really enjoyed this part up to Brienzer Rothorn, where I could constantly see the trail in front of me, winding its way through the landscape.
I passed under Hoch Gumme, where I turned left in direction Brienzer Rothorn. From up here, I had stunning views in all directions. There were still some snow patches up here, but nowhere did they cover the trail.
I had started the hike as early as possible, as the weather forecast showed a possible thunder storm in the afternoon, and as I made my way over this part of the trail, the clouds slowly started filling up the sky. The views were though still great, and the closer I got to Brienzer Rothorn, the more impressive it looked.
As I reached the start of the last ascent up to Brienzer Rothorn, the clouds had gotten really dense. It looked absolutely amazing, and I luckily really enjoy this kind of weather as well. The way up was steep and half way up, the clouds surrounded the mountain and I couldn’t see far, but it was never uncomfortable.
The clouds were constantly changing, and as I made it up to Brienzer Rothorn, I had really nice views to Brienzersee and the mountains around. I spend some time up at the top, enjoying the views and having a late lunch break. I met a few other people up here, but since the train was not yet running, it was generally really empty and quiet.
When a light rain started, I decided to continue and start the descent. I walked for a short while on the ridge, before the trail turned off down on the other side. The first part was steep, with steps and lose material and it took some time to get by, but after that, it was a nice easy trail down to the Rossweid cable car. From here, I went down to Sörenberg, where I caught the bus to Schüpfheim train station and from here made my way back to Zürich.
