Seerenbach Falls

Seerenbach Falls (also Seerenbachfall or Seerenbachfälle in German; pronounced "SEE-ren-bahkh-fell-uh") is supposedly Switzerland's tallest waterfall in terms of cumulative height. Naturally with such boastful claims we just had to see this waterfall for ourselves. But when we finally laid eyes on it, we were deeply disappointed and were even skeptical as to whether this waterfall should even have the title of the tallest Swiss waterfall.

Allow me to explain why.

We happened to show up in a year when Europe had an unusually cold and wet Winter and especially Spring. There were storms that yielded flooding in Poland prior to our arrival in Switzerland, and on the day we visited the falls, a large system even caused flooding in Southern France. Moreover, we visited in mid-June, which is supposed to be when the falls should've benefitted from the peak snowmelt.

So imagine our bewilderment when we saw this waterfall barely struggled to flow!

That makes me believe that perhaps this waterfall shouldn't be considered a major waterfall as it would marginally pass (or fail) a longevity test (i.e. it doesn't flow for a long enough period of time). Still, perhaps we mistimed this waterfall (perhaps it flows best in April?) or the townships of the Amden region further up the cliff might have diverted or siphoned a fair bit of the waters feeding this waterfall.

Anyways, getting past the legitimacy of the tallest waterfall claim, Seerenbach Falls has been measured to be 585m of cumulative height over three main tiers (50m for tier 1, 305m for tier 2, 190m for tier 3, and the rest being cascades). That 2nd tier (the middle drop) would make it one of the highest freefalls in the country, but again, we'd argue about its legitimacy as stated earlier on this page.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about this Seerenbach Falls was that it was accompanied by a loud gushing waterfall shooting out of a cave alongside the 190m third tier. The signs indicate that this gushing spring is called Rinquelle, and the footpath ends at a viewpoint that puts you face-to-face with this particular year-round waterfall.

To see this waterfall, we had to earn it with a long walk from the town of Weesen to the footpath ending in front of Rinquelle. At least the walk is primarily along a mostly flat, paved road shared with other cars and even mountain bikers. There's even a tunnel that you go through as well as a little lakeside cafe en route to Betlis. At Betlis, there's an accommodation and cafe, but we just passed right through.

It's possible to extend the hike into a long 6-hour one-way affair to Walenstadt, but we only did it as a long out-and-back excursion from Weesen (at the west end of the Walensee or Lake Walen).

Near the end of the walk, there are a few other paths providing other views of the falls. The slippery stairs (because it was raining when we were there) ascending above the view of Rinquelle was actually stopped short due to unstable earth. However, there's a spur path below the Rinquelle viewpoint in a grassy paddock with blooming wildflowers providing a different, more satisfying view of both Rinquelle and the 3rd tier of Seerenbach Falls.

If you want to see most of the 2nd tier of the falls, you'll have to pay attention as you head east of the hamlet of Betlis. For if you get too close to the falls, the 2nd tier gets harder to see. As for the 1st tier, we didn't notice it.

From Ziegelbrücke, there's a once-an-hour bus (number 650, I believe) that we took towards a stop called Fli Seestern on the outskirts of Weesen. Once we got off the bus some 15 minutes later (the driver was very helpful as well as the train station personnel in recommending this stop), we were next to the Betlisstrasse, which is the street we'd walk all the way to the signposted track up the paddocks to its end in front of Rinquelle.

All told, it was about a 90-minute walk each way between Weesen and the Seerenbach Falls (about 3 hours total of walking). We also spent an hour at the falls while spending nearly another hour waiting for the return bus in Weesen.

If you hired a car, it's possible to drive all the way to Betlis, which would reduce the walking time to just 30 minutes each way (not to mention all the other time saved waiting for the next bus or next train).

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Walking alongside the lake

Passing through a tunnel

A plaque above Betlisstrasse

Another look at tiers 2 and 3 of Seerenbach Falls

View of Walensee from near the falls

This view of Rinquelle was all that the steps going up above the main trail yielded

Rinquelle and Seerenbach Falls from a paddock

Rinquelle and cascade as seen from the path between Weesen and Walenstadt

Julie chilling out at the end of the path before Rinquelle

Walking back towards Weesen in bad weather

Waiting for the bus at Weesen

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Bottom up sweep mostly of the Rinquelle Waterfall

Top down sweep of the 3rd tier of the falls along with Rinquelle and a field of wildflowers blooming in the paddock

Top down sweep of the falls from as close as I could get on the grass fronting the falls under the muddy and wet conditions

Top down sweep focusing on Rinquelle and the cascades flowing under the bridge and further downstream

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 16, 2010

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