Beckenried – Risletenschlucht – Rütli

Dinosaurs by the lake

This one looks gentle on paper, and for the first half it pretty much is. You start in Beckenried and follow the lake through a lot of forest. The motorway runs nearby but — and this surprised me — you barely hear it. So if you were worried about traffic noise robbing the day, don’t be.

The real reason to do this hike is the Risletenschlucht in the middle. The gorge itself is fantastic, and there’s a dinosaur footprint slab on the wall that’s genuinely cool. You can see the tracks faintly from below (better from higher up), but the display panel right at the site is worth the detour on its own.

Tip: two honest notes. The climb out of the gorge is steeper than the T3 grade suggests — that section is what earns the rating, the rest is closer to T2. And the road sections are slippery when damp, so sturdy soles help.

Views really only open up at the end before Rütli. The rest is forest walking with plenty of benches if you want to drag it out. You can also end in Treib if you’d rather skip the last bit — both work.

How it went for me

I did it on an overcast day with the dog, and it was still a good outing — which is probably the best compliment a hike can get. No panorama, but a quiet gorge, a curious dog on a red leash, and a lick on the chin at the boat-stop sign to finish. Some hikes don’t need blue sky to work.