Crossing the Thrilling Triftbrücke Suspension Bridge in Switzerland
Welcome to this magical place called the Triftbrücke, a stunning suspension bridge located in Switzerland. With its breathtaking views and a scary bridge to cross, it’s the perfect location if you’re looking for a good hiking adventure!
Make sure to make a stop here, as it was one of my favorite hikes we did in Switzerland! It had everything we could dream of, like stunning views, great photo opportunities, and a fun hiking trail! So, come with me and experience the same thrilling feeling we got!
You might also like: Exploring the Largest Alpine Glacier of the Swiss Alps
For your information, all these pictures were taken in July 2023.
Table of Contents
Summary - Triftbahn to Triftbrücke
Length
4 kilometers
Duration
1 hour and 40 minutes
Height difference
424 meters ascent
Difficulty
Moderate
Summary - Triftbrücke to Gadmen
Length
8.4 kilometers
Duration
2 hour and 40 minutes
Height difference
1.190 meters descent
Difficulty
Moderate
Some information about Triftbrücke
Triftbrücke is a suspension bridge in the Swiss Alps, located near Gadmen. The bridge is one of the longest and highest pedestrian suspension bridges in the Alps! It goes over the Triftsee and goes from one cliff to the other. There are yearly around 20.000 visitors and it’s no surprise as you get a view over a lake, and the Triftgletsjer.
In the earlier years, alpinists could cross the gorge at the end of the glacier to visit Trifthutte, a mountain lodge. But they knew in 1996 that the glacier would melt and create a lake, which made it impossible to cross the gorge that way anymore. That’s why they made a suspension bridge between the gorge!
They made the first bridge in 2004, but after a while, they noticed it wasn’t strong enough. That’s why they made a new one in 2008, the one you can visit now. It has a length of 170 meters and is 100 meters high.
After Triftsee, you can see a leftover part of Triftgletsjer. In the year 1973, the glacier had a surface of 16.55 kilometers. Since 1990, there arose small puddles of melting water at the end of the glacier, which became slowly bigger over time. In 2003, there was a hot summer, which made the lake bigger and caused a downsizing of 136 meters within one year. The glacier has shrunk 2771 meters since 1861.
How to get to Triftbrücke?
There are two options to get to Triftbrücke, which are by cable car or hiking. For both the cable car and the hiking, the beginning point is in the town of Gadmen. There is a medium-sized car park, where you can park your car for free.
The easiest way to get to Triftbrücke is by the cable car called Triftbahn that leaves Gadmen. The cable car is open from the beginning of June till mid-October and has opening times from 8:00 AM till 4:00 PM (June, September, and October) or 5:00 PM (July and August). Prices for a single ticket are 13 CHF and 26 CHF for a return ticket. It’s best to book your seats online as the cable car only has space for 8 people and leaves every 12 minutes. Book your seat here!
Make sure you give yourself enough time to catch the cable car back. I would count at least 4 hours for the whole trip, from going to the bridge and back.
If you want to hike all the way to Trifbrücke, be prepared to ascend a lot of meters! Besides that, it will also take a lot more time than taking the cable car up! If you want to do this, make sure you start early.
When is the best time to visit Triftbrücke?
The best time to visit Triftbrücke would be between June to September when the weather is pleasant and the hiking trails are open and accessible. During the shoulder seasons of fall and spring, this might not always be the case as the weather in the Alps can always be unpredictable. If you want to be sure that it’s safe to do this hike, I would recommend between June and August.
Winter can be a more challenging period to travel to this bridge as there will be lots of snow and ice. Due to safety concerns, the hiking trail can even be closed and I don’t blame them as it’s a small path which can be very dangerous!
Make sure to check the webcam beforehand to see what the weather looks like on the day of the hike!
Hiking path: Triftbahn Bergstation to Triftbrücke
You start the hiking trail at the cable car and a restaurant at the same time. If you haven’t eaten anything yet, this is the moment, because you won’t cross anything anymore. Make sure to bring a picnic! The first part of the trail is right next to the river, which you need to cross with a bridge.
After this, it’s only uphill for a very long time. The path is rocky, but not the hardest path I’ve ever walked on. Hiking sticks are still recommended as it can get quite tricky on some parts of the trail. After hiking for around 1 hour uphill, you’ll cross a sign that says that it’s only 30 more minutes. It’s more flat, but the path gets more difficult from here on. Not that it’s bad, but you’ll just need to be more careful.
After hiking for what seems like forever, you finally see a glimpse of the suspension bridge and don’t worry, it will all be worth it in the end!
Hiking path: Triftbrücke to Gadmen
As we wanted to see the sunset at the suspension bridge, that only meant one thing and that was walking back in the dark. I was particularly unhappy about that, as I saw what the trail looked like from the cable car. And it looked very steep! But in the end, it was pretty okay and I was worried for nothing.
The first part of the hiking trail is the same as the way you came from. So, you need to get back to the cable car station. Now you have two options to go to Gadmen: a left and a right path. We chose the left path because you don’t lose time to get back to the cable car station by crossing a bridge. And I think both paths are kind of the same in difficulty and length.
The first part was next to a steep slope, which made it scary for me as it was dark and one wrong step could end up badly. But it was way easier than I anticipated and after this, you walk the whole time in a forest, far away from the abyss. It’s mostly downhill as you need to go down a lot, but there were uphill parts.
The path was very clearly marked with red and white stripes and we found it quite easy to navigate back to the car. This whole walk took us around 2 hours and 40 minutes, but we walked quite fast.
Walking in the dark is not for anyone and I wouldn’t recommend it actually. It’s easier to just book an overnight stay in a mountain lodge. But if you’re planning to do this, be safe, and don’t forget a headlamp!!!
Staying overnight at Windegghütte SAC
If you don’t want to hike back down or you want to stay on top of the mountains for a night, you can stay at Windegghütte SAC. This mountain lodge is a one-hour walk away from Triftbrücke and is open between July and September and partially open (depending on weather) from April to June and October. On times that the lodge is closed, there is an emergency shelter where you can stay overnight.
We didn’t stay here overnight, but that’s because it was an hour detour of the hiking trail and we felt more to go back to our car. If the lodge were near the suspension bridge, we probably spend the night there
Other hikes to do in Switzerland
There are so many hikes to do in Switzerland, but here are a few of my favorites:
- Exploring the enchanting five lakes trail (5-Seenweg) near the Matterhorn (coming soon)
- Embarking on the Ultimate Adventure of Hiking Augstmatthorn in Switzerland (coming soon)
- Visiting Aletsch Glacier: Exploring the Largest Alpine Glacier of the Swiss Alps
- Exploring the Turquoise Beauty of Oeschinensee in Switzerland (coming soon)
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Hello, I’m Ellen and welcome to this blog! I’m in love with exploring the world and hopefully I get to inspire you with these blog posts and pictures to feel the same. You will find detailed itineraries, hidden gems, tips and so much more!
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