View of Gelmersee – View of Gelmersee loop from Guttannen

Hiking trails & Routes

View of Gelmersee – View of Gelmersee loop from Guttannen

Hard

4.7

(107)

872

hikers

View of Gelmersee – View of Gelmersee loop from Guttannen

05:47

13.3km

590m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Sure-footedness, sturdy shoes and alpine experience required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: September 2, 2026

Tips

Includes segments that may be dangerous

Parts of this route comprise highly technical, difficult, or hazardous terrain. Specialist equipment and prior experience is required.

After 52 m for 2.30 km

After 2.69 km for 1.64 km

After 5.05 km for 5.56 km

After 10.9 km for 2.30 km

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

3.94 km

View of Gelmersee

Highlight • Viewpoint

The circular hike around Lake Gelmersee is a must.
You can hike up or take the train.

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4.25 km

View of Gelmersee

Highlight • Viewpoint

Super beautiful, idyllic mountain lake, accessible by train or via a somewhat challenging hiking trail.

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6.44 km

View of Lake Gelmer (Gelmersee)

Highlight (Segment) • Viewpoint

Beautiful mountain lake, surrounded by steep mountains. Beautiful circular walk. A ride on the Gelmerbahn is an experience.

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6.48 km

Diechterbach Stream

Highlight • River

The Gelmersee with its almost unnatural colour, waterfalls and opportunities to relax around the lake is definitely worth a visit.

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8.29 km

The Gelmer Dam above Handegg is 35 meters high and 370 meters long. It dams the turquoise-colored Gelmersee at 1,850 meters, which is used to generate electricity.

The steep Gelmerbahn cable car (up to 106% gradient) takes you spectacularly to the dam in just 12 minutes – from there, the circular hike around the lake begins (4.5 km / 2–3 hours / T2–T3).
Surefootedness is required: narrow rocky paths, secured with ropes – not suitable for strollers.

🔹 Panoramic trail around the lake
🔹 Ascent to the Gelmerhütte SAC (2,412 meters) is possible

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8.71 km

Natural rock arch on the Gelmersee Trail

Highlight • Natural Monument

The trail leads through a natural rock gate.

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13.3 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

12.9 km

271 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

11.5 km

1.44 km

199 m

< 100 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Weather

Wednesday 7 October

8°C

1°C

99 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 17.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

October 12, 2024,👩🏻‍🦰🐶🚌 Tag 7: 2//2 Guttannen, BE 🇨🇭

Next up is probably the most famous mountain railway in Switzerland, the Gelmerbahn, also known as the "Alpine Roller Coaster."

This time, the climb is "only" 106%. But you'll be sitting down, going backwards, in a convertible. Simply a really cool experience!

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June 28, 2023,Gelmersee

The weather turned out well again today and we were able to make a fantastic tour. We came back to our starting point with the Gelmerbahn, you have to google that, you can't put it in the right words 😄👍, a great experience. Then over the suspension bridge to round off the day well 🤩💪

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August 14, 2023,Wanderung

Today we took the train up to the Gelmersee and walked all the way around. Several waterfalls, steep walls and again a great environment. Back to the car we had to master a demanding descent, I only landed on my butt once. 😀

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August 27, 2025,🇨🇭 Berner Oberland: Handegg - Gelmersee - Gelmerbahn

We drive to Handegg by car and park at the public parking lot at the Handegg Alp Restaurant. First, we head to the valley station of the Gelmerbahn funicular to pick up our reserved tickets for the descent on the open-air funicular. We cross the Handeggfall Bridge, with a waterfall roaring below us. The view across the suspension bridge of …

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August 3, 2025,Gelmersee🏞🍀Rundweg 👌und zurück ins Tal🐾🤗

Today we had a really nice day at Gelmersee.
Since it's not that easy to get tickets for the cable car, we took the cable car up at 8:12 a.m. this morning.
It's definitely a must-see experience, but book the Gelmerbahn cable car online early!

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May 24, 2025,Start Gelmerbahn hoch zum Gelmersee kurzer Abzweig zur Gelmerhütte

Unfortunately, not everything went smoothly on the tour 😭
1. I couldn't go all the way to the Gelmer Hut because there was still too much snow about halfway up, making it impossible to see the path, making it too dangerous.

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June 11, 2025,Nach Handegg, Gelmerbahn

A great tour with a wonderful finish at the reservoir Gelmer Glacier Lake unfortunately the Gelmer Hut was closed due to rockfall. Down with the steepest cog railway 106% gradient. Great tour with beautiful views.....only a little annoying was the pass road from the gauge

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September 15, 2022,Schweiz - Gelmerbahn zum Gelmersee

A nice round with the steepest cable car to Gelmersee and back. We did not hike the hike completely around the lake because the weather was too uncertain that day. However, the lake circuit has been awarded the title of Swiss mountain hiking trail in the demanding category. We were only on the easier section and can really only recommend …

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