Fall hike in the Gantrisch Nature Park: Family theme trail over the Gäggersteg

I wonder if the word “hike” in the title isn’t a little misleading. Our boys basically ran the roughly three-kilometer route of the Wind, Wald und Wurzeln theme trail so that they could be home as soon as possible and watch an ice hockey game on TV. Yes, this is how it is with us. But I can actually be happy even for the run – if it weren’t for anti-corona measures, we wouldn’t actually get on any trip at all, because the boys would have hockey games themselves.

Because last week I thought: enjoy the Schilthorn, in the following weeks we have a hockey calendar so full that this is our last trip until December. And see, now we were here, a week later, in the middle of the Gantrisch nature park and getting to know another beautiful piece of Switzerland. So every cloud has a silver lining 😉

Gantrisch Nature Park

The Gantrisch Nature Park covers an area of 400 m² in an imaginary triangle that forms the cities of Bern, Thun, and Fribourg and includes 19 municipalities from the canton of Bern and one from the canton of Fribourg. In 2012, the park was certified as a regional nature park of national importance.

Getting there

There are several S-Bahn and PostAuto lines in Naturpark Gantrisch – on the park’s website you will find timetables sorted by region. Our destination was the Schwarzenbühl area. PostAuto line Nr. 615 runs here – either from Thun or from Schwarzenburg.

We left the car parked at the Berghütte Selital, but there are two other car parks nearby (Langlaufzentrum Gantrisch and Schwarzenbühl). However, they can be filled very quickly in nice weather, and we also saw cars parked along the road – such was the inflow of hikers in the area.

Family theme trail Wind, Wald & Wurzeln

For young and old, there is an approximately three-kilometer theme tour “Wind, forest & roots”, guided by the “Wild Türst”. You can start the route in two places, where you will pick up a small picture book, in which you will not only read a nice story, but you can also print the letters that you will find at the stations on the route.

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There are a total of 8 of them and as the name of the trail suggests, you will learn a lot of interesting facts about the forest, wind and roots. The route also leads through Gäggersteg (see below).

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When children put the letters in the correct order and show the deciphered word at the Berghütte Selital, the Kurhotel Schwarzenbühl, the Berghaus Gurnigel, or the Löwen restaurant in Riffenmatt, they receive a small gift.

And I have to tell you that our boys were in such a hurry to watch the hockey game that they didn’t want to stop for the reward. And how sorry they were then, when they learned that their friends were here on a trip too and received a gift! There are to blame! Hockey is not everything!

Gäggersteg

In June of this year, the Gäggerteg wooden footbridge was opened here, leading through and over the landscape, which was destroyed in 1999 by the Lothar storm. The footbridge sometimes leads above the trees at a height of up to 8 meters. It offers a panoramic view not only of the Gantrisch peaks, but also of how the local forests have recovered from the natural disaster.

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Summary

• The route is about 3 kilometers long and is not suitable for strollers – the trail in some places consists of narrow wooden footbridges.
• The route is well marked, the map is also in the booklet.

Places you might also like in Gantrisch Nature Park

Hiking with kids: along the nature trail to the Grasburg ruin

Hiking with kids: Häxewääg Schwarzsee

Hiking with kids: Lake Schwarzsee from a different perspective

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