Rigi North

Right at the top, it starts: practically from the summit, the path leads in steep hairpin bends with great views down to Alp Zingel. This requires surefootedness, good shoes, and preferably a hiking pole. Along with the necessary caution comes pure enjoyment of the view down to Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz and beyond to Rossberg with the gigantic rockslide niche. Like on a giant slide, huge masses of rock slid down on September 2, 1802, burying 457 people, 323 livestock, 111 houses, and 220 stables under the debris. Even today, the Nagelfluh boulders in the Nature and Animal Park remind of this.

All the more striking after these wide views is the contrast to the second part of this hike. From Blatten below Alp Zingel, we plunge into the northern slope of the Rigi, the largest protective forest in Switzerland. Dense forest surrounds us, it is damp, maybe a salamander appears, or one of the over 30 orchid species around the Rigi presents itself. Or you pick a devil's claw flower from the roadside and chew it thoughtfully while walking.

This leads to the legendary Gasthaus Dächli – where in 1921 Josefina Magdalena (Syra) Marty was born, the first Swiss star photo model and one of Europe's most sought-after dancers. In 1948 she emigrated to Hollywood, where even Frank Sinatra courted her. Photos inside the restaurant illustrate the unusual career of this Rigi girl.

The connecting path to the Kräbel station of the Arth-Rigi Railway offers both at the end again: views and pleasant, stream-flowed forest coolness.

Notes

The current operating status of the railways and hiking trails can be found here.

So that future generations can enjoy the Queen of the Mountains, please dispose of your waste at the stations of the Rigi Railways. Thank you.