From Hallwil Lake to Heidegg Castle: beautiful hike in the Seetal

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Even if the Indian summer makes us believe these days that the summer days may last forever, autumn is in the starting blocks. In keeping with the upcoming most colorful season, I have scouted out a beautiful hike in the Seetal for you.

The idyllic valley landscape between Lenzburg in Aargau and Emmen in the canton of Lucerne, with its lakes, castles and palaces, offers the perfect backdrop for an entertaining hike in autumn. While the vegetation around it still seems lush green during our detour at the beginning of September, the hills covered with deciduous forests and vines make the landscape glow golden later in autumn. So don’t forget to pack your camera.

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This year, in cooperation with the Central Swiss fare network Passepartout, I present you four great excursion destinations in the cantons of Lucerne, Obwalden and Nidwalden, which are located away from the tourist hotspots and can be easily reached by train and bus. After the snowshoe tour in the Glaubenberg, the hike along the Entlebuch moorland path to the Schwandalp Kneipp pond and the excursion to the hidden Risleten Gorge, my fourth and last excursion tip of this series takes you to the beautiful autumnal Seetal.

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Naturoase Hallwilersee

Admittedly, I haven’t been to the Seetal that often before this hike. “Why?” I ask myself as we “meander along” Lake Hallwil on the Seetalbahn. The Seetal can be reached quickly and easily from both Zurich and Lucerne and there is no shortage of great excursion destinations; Lake Hallwil, Lake Baldegg, Hallwyl Castle, Nünegg Castle ruins, Hohenrain Knights of St. John, Heidegg Castle and the unique flora and fauna in the Ronfeld nature reserve – to name just a few highlights.

The starting point for our hike is the village of Mosen at the southern end of Lake Hallwil. The hiking trail starts directly at the train station of the Seetalbahn and leads us past Camping Seeblick to the lakeshore. On this Saturday morning, the lake exudes a pleasant calm – I let my gaze glide over the mirror-smooth surface of the water and suck in and out the fresh, humid morning air. Afterwards, the hiking trail leads us through a fairytale-like “tree tunnel” along the south bank towards Aesch. What a beautiful section of the trail!

From winery to winery…

As soon as we are spit out again by the tree tunnel, there is a clear view towards the Central Swiss Alps. On foehn days, the view here must be wonderful – but even so, the panorama makes us pause for a moment.

We cross Aesch and pass the first winery on this route. At the Klosterhof winery, the vines are full of ripe grapes. The start of the harvest is imminent here. The fruit trees are also groaning under the weight of the fruit – pears, apples – so the farmers still have a lot of work to do in the following autumn weeks. Behind the monastery courtyard, the hiking trail begins to climb slightly and leads us into the heights of the Eggwald. The hiking trail here is varied, partly on narrow paths crisscrossed with rootstocks and then again on wider gravel paths. In between, the canopy thins out and offers an unobstructed view of the Seetal.

After a good 1.5 hours of walking we reach Hitzkirch. The hiking trail leads directly below the striking church and then follows the road towards the Kaiserspas winery, which is hard to miss with its strikingly placed vineyard house. Vines have been cultivated in the Kaiserspan area since the beginning of the 20th century. For a long time, this was the only vineyard in the canton of Lucerne.

… to Heidegg Castle

From the Kaiserspan winery, it is only a stone’s throw to the visual highlight of this hike. We cross a ravine and can already see the castle towers behind a herd of grazing Scottish Highland cattle. The structure of the castle can be traced back to the 12th century. Heidegg Castle received its current baroque appearance in the 17th century. In the castle museum, you can immerse yourself in the more than 800-year history of Heidegg and its surroundings.

The museum is open from the beginning of April to the end of October (closed on Mondays) and the entrance fee for adults is 8 CHF. Also worth seeing is the romantic rose garden. If you visit the museum, you also have the rose garden included in the entrance fee. For those who just want to visit the garden, there is a box at the entrance to the garden asking you to pay the 2 CHF entrance fee.

We stroll along the rose beds and then stock up on farm products from the Heidegg winery – the wine can be purchased directly from the museum shop and at the “Schüür” above the winery there is a self-service trolley with seasonal farm products. If you don’t have a coin, you can also pay with Twint. With a much heavier backpack (a bottle of Pinot gris, a liter of homemade elderberry syrup and a kilo of fresh pears are noticeable) we tackle the last kilometer down to the Gelfingen train station.

With local delicacies, a bulging backpack and many refreshing impressions, we take the Seetalbahn back home from here. We agree: this is a wonderfully entertaining hike, which can be designed as a half-day trip or day trip depending on your desire, mood and pace and radiates a special charm in autumn.

Practical tips for the hike from Lake Hallwil to Heidegg Castle

The route of our hike from Mosen via Hitzkirch to Heidegg Castle in Gelfingen can be found on the following map. The distance of the hiking route is a good 10 kilometers. Between Aesch and Hitzkirch there is an ascent of around 290 metres in altitude. The pure hiking time is just under three hours. The start and end point of the hike can be reached from Lucerne or Lenzburg with the Seetalbahn, which serves the route every half hour during rush hours.

The hike takes you past a total of three wineries; the Klosterhof in Aesch, Weinbau Kaiserspan in Hitzkirch and the Heidegg winery directly below the castle of the same name in Gelfingen. On request, tastings and wine purchases are possible on site at all three establishments. Otherwise, it is possible to buy the wine from the neighbouring winery in the museum shop of Heidegg Castle.

Starting point	Moss
Length	10.53 kilometers
Elevation gain	↗ 285 m 276 m ↘
Duration	4:30 p.m.
Destination	Gelfingen