Reichenbach Falls

Reichenbach Falls (also Reichenbachfall or Reichenbachfälle in German; pronounced "RHYE-shen-bahkh-fell-uh") is perhaps best known for its association with the fictional character

As for the waterfall itself, it's impressively tall and powerful when I saw it. It's apparently some 250m tall over multiple tiers (where it's not easy to see its entirety from any one spot) though I swear it seemed taller than that for reasons I'll divulge later in this page.

Another thing that's quite interesting about this waterfall is that part of the waterfall seemed to have punched a hole in a nearby cliff creating a segmented effect (as if the falls is shaped like a bent two-pronged pitchfork). I don't recall seeing a waterfall with a natural arch like that with that much water rushing through it, and I wonder how much longer before more of the cliff erodes and falls (and is there the potential for even more of the cliff to destabilize and shed off?).

Now in theory, this waterfall is supposed to be pretty easy to visit.

Unfortunately, the day that Julie and I showed up, there were very gusty easterly winds that ended up closing cable cars as well as the funicular taking you up to the front of the main plunge of the Reichenbach Falls. That funicular, by the way, was first opened in 1899 (the one at Giessbach Falls is actually older).

So all that we could do was to walk up to the falls, and that turned out to be a pretty tiring hour-long ascent to the entrance near the top. Along the way, I managed to find a path that skirted by part of the main plunge where the winds created some swirling mist making that part of the hike very wet.

Further up this hike to the top (which I'm sure most people would miss had the funicular been running), there was a short spur along the cliffs to an overlook of the falls where a plaque saying something in German about Sherlock Holmes was placed.

Beyond this spur, the path continues to climb up a forested path before rejoining a road that passes between some accommodation and cafe. With all this uphill walking, I started to wonder whether this waterfall might be a bit taller than 250m.

Eventually at the upper entrance, the path then descends towards a couple of overlooks before crossing a bridge right above the main two-tiered drop and just below one of the smaller uppermost tiers. A scary sign here indicated where the water level was when the stream was in flood.

Past the bridge, the path continues to descend while offering up more overlooks of the falls as well as birdseye views of Meiringen and the Alps backing the scene.

Finally, the path descends another long series of stairs before reaching the platform at the top end of the funicular. It's at this platform that I was able to get the best views directly in front of the main two-tiered drop as well as have a better appreciation of the hole the falls punched through.

Since the funicular was closed, it was eerily quiet except for the howling winds. Still, it wasn't crowded (I was the only one) so I guess working for this waterfall did have its benefits.

The bummer was that there was no direct way back down to the cafes and car park at the bottom of the funicular except by way of the funicular itself (except it wasn't operating). So that meant that I had to go back up all those steps to the top of the falls, and then descend steeply back down the bottom of the funicular along the hiking path zig-zagging through farms and tiny hamlets.

All told, the whole excursion ended up being about 2 hours (with running). I'm sure it would take at least 3 hours on a more relaxed visit without the funicular. But with the funicular, I'm sure you can experience the whole thing in about an hour or less. You could even do half the amount of walking by letting the funicular take you up (or down) and then walking the rest of the way.

From the Meiringen Station, you have to walk a short distance from the train station towards a bus stop with a lot of yellow signs. Unfortunately, the bus that goes from Meiringen to Reichenbach Falls only comes either once an hour or once every half-hour (depending on what time of day).

In any case, Julie and I just walked the 20- or 30 minutes through Meiringen to the car park for Reichenbach Falls. There are plenty of signs pointing the way to the falls (though we had to admit that we had mistakenly thought the waterfalls near the cable car to the north (left) was the falls; thereby sidetracking us).

Along the way, we saw the Sherlock Holmes museum and statue as well as distant (yet attractive views) of part of Reichenbach Falls plunging before a pointy snowy mountain.

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Reichenbach Falls backed by an impressive mountain

Approaching the car park

The hike up to the falls

A section of the trail drenched by swirling mist

Top down view of Meiringen and surrounds

Final descent to the top end of the funicular. Notice where the falls splits as part of it gushes through a hole in the cliff?

The platform at the top of the funicular and before Reichenbach Falls

Looking further to the east towards the outskirts of Meiringen

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L-shaped sweep from the right to the top of the falls amongst a good deal of swirling mist and gusty winds along with a rainbow appearing in there

Top down sweep of the falls from the signposted Sherlock Holmes spot

Top down sweep of the falls from the footbridge going across it; starting from upstream of the bridge and ending further downstream of it

Top down profile view of the falls from an overlook perched near the top

Another top down look at the falls from an overlook with a view directly of the upper tier and an angled view of the twisting lower tier

Bottom up sweep from the platform at the top end of the funicular showing the main tier of Reichenbach Falls

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 10, 2010

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NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Giessbach Falls

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