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Location: Zermatt
Distance: 11miles/18km
Duration: 5-7 hours
Zermatt is touristy, to be sure, but within five minutes of the center of town you're already leaving wildflower-spangled meadows to ascend through larch forests. If you find yourself in Zermatt, don't miss the opportunity to ditch the shopping zombies on Bahnhofstrasse and discover some of the great surrounding hiking trails-among which, the Höhenweg Höhbalmen may be the best. Many of our Alpenwild tours end in Zermatt, so you may have the opportunity to explore this charming village.
Starting at the Hotel Post and Grampi's on Bahnhofstrasse take the steep paved path leading up the hillside to the English Church. Continue up the hillside and crossing the gorge on the path that leads to Haus Edelweiss in about 45 minutes. After breaking for tea and carrot cake at Haus Edelweiss take the trail that ascends up the slope to the south, following the signs marked for the Höhenweg Höhbalmen. It's not uncommon to hike for an hour or more in this area and never see another person.
The route takes you up the steep valley walls with dramatic views back down to Zermatt. Soon you emerge above timberline to a high alpine meadow known as the Höhbalmen, where you'll enjoy a sweeping panorama of Switzerland's highest peaks. Continuing on, the path takes you to a hillside directly opposite the north face of the Matterhorn where you get a rarely viewed direct perspective of this stunning peak. Following a contoured course along this lofty slope, with the Gabelhorn peaks to your right and the Matterhorn to your left, you'll have a good chance of spotting ibex. It's also one of the rare spots around Zermatt where you can find Edelweiss growing in the wild.
On your descent to Schwarzlager, the route makes a hairpin turn and reverses course in the direction of Chalbermatten, passing a dramatic waterfall, then beelines it down to Zmutt--a great lunch stop. From Zmutt it's only 45 minutes back to the heart of Zermatt, though as the number of hikers on the trail increases along the way into Zermatt, you'll sense you're re-entering civilization much sooner. This hike is featured on Alpenwild's Best of the Swiss Alps as well as many custom guided and self-guided hiking tours.
