Zernez - Murtaröl
I hiked this trail on the 20th of July, 2024. I had just been in the Swiss National Park the month before, hiking around Muottas Champlönch, and I really liked it. I got inspiration for this hike from stage 6, of the Nationalpark-Panoramaweg, but as I was just going for one day, I made the below loop from Zernez.
Full route: Swisstopo
After two trains from Zürich, I made it to Zernez, where I started the hike. Out of town, the trail went up through forest, and I quickly made my way up and had already great views back in direction Zernez and the mountains behind.
After some time walking on the trail through the forest, the trees opened up and I had the first views into Val Cluozza in the national park. Even though it had gotten more cloudy, the views were amazing, and I took a break on a bench at a viewpoint.
I had decided to do a short part of the trail down into Val Cluozza to see a bit more of the valley. From this part, there were also views across the national park to some of the valleys on the other side. After about half an hour, I turned around and started the ascent up to Piz Murtaröl.
All along the ridge up in direction Piz Murtaröl, there were absolutely amazing views to the mountains in the entire area. The trail was generally quite wide, with a few more narrow parts, but nowhere uncomfortable or close to the edge.
The walk over the ridge was great, and the lightly clouded sky made for some amazing views back down into Val Cluozza. I met a few other hikers on the trail, but it was generally empty and a very calm day.
When I made it up to the top, I had my lunch break. It was a clear day, and I could see mountain peaks really far away in direction Bever and St. Moritz. I love hikes that both have parts low in valleys and through forest as well as up higher, over ridges or parts with panoramic views.
I spend a long time on the top having my lunch and enjoying the views, but at the end I decided to continue and start the descent. The trail down was on the other side, and it was great to have some new views on the way back.
The first part of the trail back was through the open landscape after which the trail again went through forest. There were very colordful flowers on this part, and I generally had great views all the way back to Zernez.
In Zernez, I took the first train back in direction Landquart, from where I continued back home to Zürich.
