ViaBerna - Stage 19 Engstlenalp - Gadmen

From Hotel Engstlenalp, the route first gently ascends on a forest road to Engstlensee. Magnificent is the view over the blue-green shimmering water to the Jochpass and the Titlis area. Downhill, several mountain ridges are then bypassed. From Scharmad, you enjoy the magnificent view through the wooded, quiet Gental to the peaks of the Upperland ice giants. The path runs almost horizontally above the tree line through the descending mountain slope to Bäregg. Gently ascending, it now goes through the open terrain below the Tällistock. The Sätteli, the transition to the Gadmertal, approaches. Noticeable to the right are the Sättelisteckleni, a rugged rock formation that, like the Gadmerfluh, resembles the Dolomites in South Tyrol. From the Sätteli, you enjoy a magnificent view: firn and ice, forest and meadows, from the climbing mountains of the Engelhörner to the Finsteraarhorn and over the glittering glaciers of the Trift, the Sustenhorn and the Titlis, everything lies open. The descent between rock bands is steep. The now following second part of the high-altitude hike passes the Tällihütte and the towering rock towers of the Gadmerflue along Alpligen to Raflue. Here begins the rapid descent to the mountain village of Gadmen, 400 meters below.

The Engstlensee is a natural lake at the foot of the glacier-covered Titlis, surrounded by diverse flora and ancient larches standing amid the hilly moraine landscape. The area is under nature protection.

The Gental is a sparsely populated side valley of the Gadmertal. At the upper end is the Engstlenalp with Engstlensee and over the Jochpass there is a footpath connection to the Engelberg valley.

The Tälli via ferrata leads from the Berghaus Tälli through the Gadmerfluh. It was the first via ferrata in Switzerland and at 600 meters in length still counts among the longest and most spectacular in Switzerland.

Despite good access via the pass road, some income from tourism and the Oberhasli power plants operating here, job prospects in the mountain village of Gadmen are modest. In past centuries, many Gadmer emigrated. Today, the village, which is threatened by avalanches in snowy winters, is challenged by migration to the lowlands.