At Klöntaler Lake

On romantic shore and gorge trails

One of the most beautiful valleys of the pre-Alps is the Klöntal, whose gentle charm in the midst of a bizarre mountain world has captivated not only mountaineers but also artists. As an apparently ideal landscape, the valley has been repeatedly depicted by Romantic painters and praised by poets. Its jewel, the Klöntaler Lake, owes its formation to two rockfalls that dammed the valley floor at the Schwammhöchi. Because of these rock masses, the Löntsch had to carve a new outflow. Following the entire fjord-like cut lake including its outflow through the wild Löntsch Gorge down into the Linth Valley is one of the most beautiful mountain descents in Glarus.

The starting point is Plätz at the western lake tip. From the guesthouse, stroll a few hundred meters down into the valley to the Chlübrücke, then follow the narrow shoreline path on your left for its entire length. Squeezed between water and the walls of the Glärnisch, it winds sometimes through forest, sometimes along gravel bays, passes spraying waterfalls or striking rock ledges. Behind the flat delta of the Dunggelau, the rock narrowness of the Bärentritt surprises. Later, the shore path passes the Gessner monument hidden among trees and ends behind the Güntlenau campsite at the artificially raised dam. There the romantic ravine path beside the Löntsch begins in the forest. Its wooden footbridges cross the mountain stream lined with bizarre rocks four times. A look from the stone arch bridge shows into what dizzying depths the stream has carved itself into the rockfall material. Later, at Kohlgrüebli, the route branches left onto the stair path, crosses the gorge at its most impressive spot, and shortly thereafter reaches the mountain guesthouse Staldengarten. From Staldengarten, continue parallel to the Klöntalerstraße on Rütigasse, which later runs left under the rocky ridge of Grundkopf towards Netstal. Always close to the Löntsch, the hiking trail leads to Netstal station.