A New Year's Day hike to the Zugerberg

Sam
Sep 10
7 min read

In my age, the celebration on New Year's Eve isn't that important anymore. :) So, I had long since decided to take it quiet this year and use the first day of the new year to clear my head. Checking the weather forecast, it showed sunshine and blue sky even though the fog had been pretty persistent in the lower regions during the last couple days. Well, my gut feeling told me that there might be some fog again and so I decided to head to the Zugerberg. Knowing that there were a lot of trails to explore, that I would be above the fog in any case and that there still was plenty of snow, it was the perfect destination for a New Year's Day hike. Although I took it quiet the evening before, I wanted to sleep in and therefore only arrived in Zug around 09.30 am. Already at that point my gut feeling had proven right, as the whole town was covered in thick fog. I didn't mind though for two reasons: first, I was hoping to get some pictures of trees and bushes full of frost and second, I knew I was going to be above the fog before long. In theory, I could have taken the train up to the Zugerberg, but I probably don't surprise you when I say that I decided to walk from the main station. :) Making my way through downtown in direction of the church of St. Verena, the streets were mostly empty, as it definitely was still too early for most people. :) A couple walkers in a small park and a couple more in the ensuing neighborhood, that was about it. About half an hour into my hike, I already found what I was looking for. Coming to the outskirts of Zug, I had to walk along a narrow trail, which was lined with some bushes that were completely covered in frost. It looked gorgeous and I took my time to take some pictures.

The air was so cold there however, that I had to move on rather sooner than later or I would have frozen on the spot :)

Leaving the last houses of Zug behind, I carried on through the fog towards the church of St. Verena. The church appeared about 10 minutes later and with it the blue sky. Being at the brink of the fog, gave some interesting views as well, but as I longed for the sun, I just walked past the church and continued my way up the Zugerberg.

Well, of course there's always time for a picture :)

The next part was through a forest however, where the path already was completely covered in snow. It was a nice part and venturing out of the woods at the end of the slope, the sunshine eventually hit my face. Taking a short break to drink some water and to get rid of my winter jacket, I also took a moment to take in the beautiful surroundings. Deciding to head in the direction of the hamlet Bilgerihof, it meant that I had to conquer another ascending slope. Fortunately, it was a rather gentle one and the trail well enough to make good way.

Enjoying the scenery and the warm temperatures, I was at the Bilgerihof in no time. From there, I moved on towards the Zugerberg Hochwacht and what followed was quite simply another nice part: the scenery remained stunning throughout, while the snowy slopes remained gentle, there also was a very lovely section in the woods and most importantly, there were almost no other people. :)

The Hochwacht can be seen to the very left (the hill with the tree on it)

It took the best part of an hour to reach the Hochwacht and when I eventually did, it was about time for a longer break. As the Hochwacht basically was a peak, the panorama was astounding. In one direction the lowlands that were still covered by thick fog, in the other the Alps that were peeking out on the horizon. Sitting down on a bench for the next 15 minutes, I ate a well deserved snack and enjoyed the fantastic view.

A chilly wind suddenly started to blow when I left the Hochwacht and I first had to put my jacket back on, as otherwise it would have been way too cold. My next destination was the Zugerberg itself and already on the way there I could see that there were plenty of people out and about. The Zugerberg is a local recreation area and features plenty of playgrounds, sledding opportunities and even a cross-country skiing trail. So, not surprisingly, the car park was full to the brim and a lot of families were enjoying the snow and the good weather. As it already was noon by now, my stomach was eager for more than just a snack, but the masses weren't very appealing for a quiet lunch break and so I moved on, this time in direction of the hamlet of Früebüel. A beautiful alley had to be passed at first, while the trail afterwards led through the forest, before it finally merged with some other trails and I walked on a paved road along the edge of the woods for some time.

Eventually, the turnoff to Früebüel appeared and turning left, another ascending slope had to be conquered, before I reached a vast plateau, that I remembered from a hike a couple years ago. Knowing what was coming, I cherished the wide path, the openness of the plateau, the beautiful scenery and the gentle walk.

Many other people were on that trail, but luckily it was easy enough to keep some distance :)

Looking for an opportunity to have my lunch, I passed a few spots that were in the shade, until I came upon a barn, that had some dry ground on its sunny side. It was the perfect place to sit down, eat my lunch and take in the still lovely views towards the Wildspitz and Mount Rigi. About half an hour later, I was back on the trail, walking the last part over the plateau until I had reached the hamlet of Früebüel.

From there, I had plenty of options to choose from and after some thoughts, I ended up taking the road down to the hamlet of Balisberg. Another turnoff appeared in Balisberg and again I had to decide what I was going to do. Descending to Walchwil was an option, but I dismissed it because the descent was a red and white trail. Heading back all the way to Zugerberg and down to Zug by train was an option too, but somehow also didn't sound very appealing. So, I opted to head first to the hamlet of Lienisberg and decide from there how I want to continue. Heading out of Balisberg, I had to walk quite a while on a paved street and therefore was glad once the turnoff to Lienisberg appeared. Unfortunately however, the trail to Lienisberg wasn't as exciting as the trails before. The views were scarce, the paths mostly paved or gravel, there wasn't enough snow and for my taste there simply were too many houses in between. :) Well, never mind, there was one exception that improved the whole part: a bench that featured a fantastic view towards Mount Rigi and Mount Pilatus and while I sat down, I noticed that the fog over Lake Zug had mostly dispersed and the best part of it was now visible.

Mount Rigi in the front to the left, Mount Pilatus in the back to the right. The Lake of Zug is to the very right side of this picture

Eventually arriving in Lienisberg, I decided to continue towards Zugerberg a bit more and not descend already. The trail didn't really change until I was back at that turnoff that I took around noon to head to Früebüel. Instead of going back to the Zugerberg however, I turned left and started to descend in direction of the town of Oberwil. Instantly, I was in the shade and because there wasn't much sun in the forest in general, the ground was solid snow with loads of icy parts in between. It meant that I had to walk down very carefully, as if I would have slipped, it would have meant disaster. Taking my time, I made it down to Oberwil safe and sound and was glad that I still got some more sunshine before the end of the day. :) Heading all the way to Lake Zug, I sat down on a bench at the shore and watched the sun disappear behind the mountains on the horizon.