Not very long ago I wrote a blog post about an insanely cool Swiss hike, the Hardergrat trail above Brienzersee. We gave it a try but realised quickly that it was not possible with our toddler sitting in a backpack on her dad’s back.
You will understand why if you click Here
But then I found out that we could do a small part of the Hardergrat trail starting from Harder kulm up to Augstmatthorn and then down walk from there. After studying the map and reading blogs we decided that this could be done.
The very next morning we parked our car at indoor parking lot by the Interlaken Ost railway station. As it was on a Sunday it cost only 1chf/hour instead of 3chf. And from there we walked about 5 min to the Harder railway Valley funicular station at Interlaken Ost. The funicular ride up takes about 10 min.
For the time tabell and the cost of the funicular please click Here.
There is a hotel/restaurant and a fun balcony with a great view of the surrounding area. The trail starts by the restaurant. Just follow the yellow trail sign to Augstmatthorn.
I will divide this hike into 4 parts.
1. Harder kulm to the feet of Suggiture
2. The climb to Suggiture
3. Suggiture to Augstmatthorn
4. Austmatthorn and way back
1. Harder kulm to the feet of Suggiture.
This part of the trail is mostly in the forest. The “boring” part as you will be walking up about 400m of elevation gain with no view. It took us around 80 minutes to reach to “the feet” of Suggiture.
When you get out of the forest you will see the Suggiture and you will feel very scared just by looking at it. Don’t worry, it looks scarier than it really is!
For us, there was a good picnic spot by the “feet” of Suggiture because there were spaces for Mirabelle to run around and shade to sit under.
Eating Miang Kham, a Thai speciality!
2. The climb to Suggiture
The trail is steep and very rocky, but also very short. It is about 150 m of elevation gain and it took us about 30 min to reach Suggiture.
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3. Suggiture to Augstmatthorn
This part is what I was looking forward to the most; walking on the ridge of the mountain!
But I have to tell you that I got quite disappointed as the ridge between Suggiture and Augstmatthorn is not as narrow as I thought and the distance between those summit is very short. So we have been walking more in the forest than on the top of the mountain.
That said, it was still beautiful! And if you can and want you can walk all the way to Rothorn where the trail suppose to be very narrow.
4. Augstmatthorn and way back
From here on you either walk back the same way you came or you can walk down to Lombach and then walk another 1-1.5 hour to Habkern and to finally take a bus to Interlaken. We decided to take the steep path down to Habkern via Lombach. The trail down to Lombach is steep and takes about 30-60 minute.
By the base of the mountain in Lombach lies a restaurant Jägerstübli and it was there we realised it was better to hitchhike. And I am glad we did it because not only it was another 1 1/2 hours to Habkern, Mirabelle started to be impatience aswell. Beside that, the kind couple drove us all the way to Interlaken!
We stop by for a drink and cake. And a play pause for Mirabelle.
What we should have done!
Knowing about Jägerstübli restaurant now afterwards it could have been easier to park the car here and from here walk up to Augstmatthorn.There are two ways up. The same way we walk down. Not recommended as it’s boring! I suggest to take the path up to the “feet” of Suggiture and from there up to Suggiture and then Augstmatthorn.
Have fun guys and hopefully we will be able to finish the Hardergrat trail one day!
61 Comments
Hello! I am not an experienced hiker, and fear of height clicks in when I am on an exposed edge. Therefore do you think it’s a good idea if I follow this plan: start from harder kulm and go to suggiture, climb back down to its feet and then follow the path to Habkern. In that case, how’s the path from Suggiture feet to Lombachalp and then to Habkern. I mean is the path well marked? And what about the exposure or descent difficulty. I would also love to hear any other options from your side as well. Cheers.
Hi Tashowar,
Obviously, this is not a good hike if you are afraid of heights but if you want to challenge yourself I think walking up only to Suggiture is totally worth it. You can walk down the same way to the feet of Suggiture and from there to Lombackalp isnt difficult and steep as its already halfway down. However, we walked down from Augstmathorn and from there it was really steep!
On down to Lombachalp is a quite far walk to Habkern but you will be walking on wide road. Unfortunately I can’t tell you more about this part as we hitched hike and got a lift back to Interlaken.
I think there should be a bus from Lombachalp to Habkern.
I hope you will have a nice day hiking!❤️
Thank you so much for the info. Just one more thing regarding the path from Suggiture feet to Lombachalp : is the path well marked? And how is the exposure on that route?
Honestly I dont know if the path is well marked because we walked down from Augstmathhorn. But I belive that you can’t go wrong because from there on its not far to Lombach and I think you can even see the restaurant from the base of Suggiture. Theres not tree as far as I remember but its really not far down. I guess about 10 min walk.
There is actually a photo of the trail if you back to the blog post. Its the last photo and the end of the post. I took that photo near the restaurant 👌😊 as you can see its not very far and steep.
I see it!! Hopefully I can manage that. I would also love to see more photos of the trail if you have them. And once again, thanks a lot for your response!!