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View into the Weisstannen Valley – Horn (1841 m) loop from Weisstannen

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

View into the Weisstannen Valley – Horn (1841 m) loop from Weisstannen

Moderate

4.1

(17)

hikers

View into the Weisstannen Valley – Horn (1841 m) loop from Weisstannen

04:44

11.5km

850m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: July 17, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

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964 m

Stream Crossing

Highlight • Bridge

1.07 km

View into the Weisstannen Valley

Highlight • Viewpoint

The Weisstannental with the two villages Schwendi and Weisstannen is a valley in the Sarganserland and belongs to the Heidiland region. The valley is bursting with wild, romantic natural beauties. Definitely worth a visit!

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1.12 km

Mountain Stream

Highlight • River

1.19 km

Site of the Ibex Reintroduction in Weisstannental

Highlight • Historical Site

Capricorn: 100 years of resettlement
On May 8, 1911, the first ibex were resettled in the Weisstannental. Today around 14,000 ibex live in the Swiss Alps. This is thanks to three St. Gallen residents who smuggled three fawns from the Aosta Valley to St. Gallen on June 6, 1906.
They were the doctor Albert Girtanner (1839–1907), the hotelier Robert Mäder (1847–1936) and the curator Emil Bächler (1868–1950). Mäder was the patron. He financed the purchase of three fawns. The men paid a poacher 800 francs per animal. That would be about the price of a mid-range car today.
The fawns were raised by hand in the Peter and Paul Wildlife Park in St. Gallen. Later other ibexes came along this illegal route. The Federal Council covered the campaign, and even later financed the purchase of the animals that had lived in the private hunting area of the Italian king on Gran Paradiso in the Aosta Valley.
The only ibex population that had been able to survive in the Alps lived there. In the Central and Eastern Alps, the ibex was otherwise already extinct in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the Western Alps in the 19th century. Ibex smuggling occurred because the Italian king did not want to export any animals.
The ibex was previously hunted for its flesh, fur and horns, but also because of the belief that various parts of its body had healing or mythical powers. The ground horn of the ibex used to be used as a sexual enhancer; Ibex horn powder was, so to speak, the Viagra of the Middle Ages.
A herd grew up in the Peter and Paul Wildlife Park. So that on May 8, 1911, three females and two goats were released into the wild in the Graue Hörner hunting banned area at the very back of the Weisstannental. All of the approximately 14,000 ibex living in Switzerland are descended from the ibex smuggled from the Aosta Valley.
The genetic basis of ibex in the entire Alpine region is very narrow; the animals are susceptible to a variety of diseases because of inbreeding. That is why settlements still make sense today, especially to refresh the blood of the Alpine ibex population.
Text / source: newspaper Suedostschweiz
suedostschweiz.ch/zeitung/steinbock-100-jahre-wiederansiedlung

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2.11 km

Alp Unterlavtina

Highlight • Mountain Hut

Alp Unterlavtina 1310 m above sea level
Alp in Weisstannental, municipality of Mels (SG). Untersäss 1310 m above sea level, Obersäss 1902 m above sea level, pastures up to 2500 m above sea level. In 1486, the municipality of Balzers acquired 47 pastures, and in 1490 another 30 pastures. In 1503, the Alp was sold again; today it is owned by a private alpine corporation.
Text / Source: Mathias Bugg
historisches-lexikon.li/Laftina

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3.90 km