Seerenbach Falls (Seerenbachfälle)

Seerenbach Falls (also Seerenbachfall or Seerenbachfälle in German; pronounced “SEE-ren-bahkh-fell-uh”) was supposedly Switzerland’s tallest waterfall in terms of cumulative height.

Naturally with such boastful claims we just had to see this waterfall for ourselves.

Walensee_032_06162010 - Seerenbach Falls — Seerenbach Falls

But when we finally laid eyes on it (as you can see in the photo above), we were deeply disappointed and were even skeptical as to whether this waterfall should even have had the title of the tallest Swiss waterfall.

Allow me to explain why.

Is Seerenbach Falls Legitimate?

We happened to show up in a year when Europe had an exceptionally wet late Spring and early Summer.

There were storms that yielded flooding throughout much of Europe prior to our arrival in Switzerland.

On the day we visited the Seerenbach Falls, a large system that affected the weather on our visit even caused flooding in Southern France.

Walensee_099_06162010 - Context of Rinquelle and the footbridge across its creek at the foot of the Seerenbach Falls — Context of Rinquelle and the footbridge across its creek at the foot of the Seerenbach Falls

Since we visited in mid-June, the drainages had ample time to accumulate water while the snow should have been at peak snowmelt.

So given these factors in favor of high waterflow, imagine our bewilderment when we saw that this waterfall barely struggled to flow!

That made me believe that perhaps this waterfall shouldn’t be considered a major waterfall as it would marginally pass (or fail) our longevity test (i.e. it doesn’t flow for a long enough period of time over the course of a year).

Then again, as unlikely as it might seem, perhaps we mistimed our visit to Seerenbach Falls because maybe it would flow best in April or even later in the season like September.

The townships of the Amden region further up the cliff might have also diverted or siphoned a fair bit of the waters feeding this waterfall for the purposes of agriculture, which would put further pressure on the waterfall’s longevity.

The Height of Seerenbach Falls

Walensee_036_06162010 - Clouds obscuring the upper parts of Seerenbach Falls just as we showed up — Clouds obscuring the upper parts of Seerenbach Falls just as we showed up

Anyways, getting past the legitimacy of the tallest waterfall claim, Seerenbach Falls had been measured to be 585m of cumulative height over three main tiers.

The first tier was said to have a drop of 50m, the second tier had a 305m drop, and the third tier had a 190m drop with the remainder being cascades.

That second tier (the middle drop) alone would make it one of the highest freefalling waterfalls in Switzerland.

Then again, we’d argue about its legitimacy as stated earlier on this page given its apparent lack of volume and longevity.

Walensee_086_06162010 - Context of Rinquelle and the bottommost drop of the Seerenbach Falls — Context of Rinquelle and the bottommost drop of the Seerenbach Falls

One thing Seerenbach Falls did have going for it was that it was accompanied by a loud gushing waterfall shooting out of a cave alongside the 190m third tier.

The signs indicated that this gushing spring was called Rinquelle, and the footpath ended at a viewpoint that put us face-to-face with this particular year-round waterfall.

Earning Our Seerenbach Falls Sighting

To see Seerenbach Falls, 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 was primarily along a mostly flat, paved road shared with other cars and even mountain bikers.

Walensee_006_06162010 - Julie on the walk along the northern shores of the Lake Walensee en route to the Seerenbach Falls under threatening rain — Julie on the walk along the northern shores of the Lake Walensee en route to the Seerenbach Falls under threatening rain

There was a tunnel that we went through as well as a little lakeside cafe en route to the hamlet of Betlis, where there was an accommodation and cafe.

Just as we headed east of Betlis, we started to see see most of the 2nd tier of the Seerenbach Falls (i.e. the tallest tier).

We had to pay attention as we headed east because it didn’t take long before clouds blocked our view of the uppermost sections of the falls, including that first tier.

It would also turn out that as we got closer to the waterfall itself, those uppermost tiers were harder to see due to the awkward viewing angles combined with the cliff topology.

Walensee_035_06162010 - Looking back across Lake Walensee from somewhere near the base of both Rinquelle and the Seerenbach Falls — Looking back across Lake Walensee from somewhere near the base of both Rinquelle and the Seerenbach Falls

It was possible to extend the long hike into a longer 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 Seerenbach 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 was 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 (bottom) tier of Seerenbach Falls.

Walensee_090_06162010 - Context of Rinquelle and the bottommost drop of the Seerenbach Falls with Julie sitting and waiting at the lookout towards the left side of this photograph — Context of Rinquelle and the bottommost drop of the Seerenbach Falls with Julie sitting and waiting at the lookout towards the left side of this photograph

That said, I might have gotten a tick bite on that grassy area because when we took the train back to Zurich, that was when Julie had to pull one out of my leg during the journey.

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.

Authorities

Seerenbach Falls resides near the town of Weesen, which sits within the St Gallen Canton. I can’t find an official governmental authority administering this waterfall. So for information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you may try visiting the St Gallen Canton website or the Weesen website.

Route to this Waterfall

We visited Seerenbach Falls as part of an out-and-back day trip from Zurich using mass transit so this is the perspective by which we’ll describe this route.

From Zürich, we took one of the once-every-half-hour trains towards Ziegelbrücke.

The train we took on the way there consumed about an hour, but on the return journey, the same train only took 50 minutes (probably due to fewer stops).

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.

Walensee_119_06162010 - Given the rather infrequent bus arrivals between Walensee and Weesen, we had a bit of time to briefly look around the town of Walensee — Given the rather infrequent bus arrivals between Walensee and Weesen, we had a bit of time to briefly look around the town of Walensee

Once we got off the bus some 15 minutes later, we were next to the Betlisstrasse, which was the street we’d walk all the way to the signposted track up the paddocks to its end in front of Rinquelle.

We were very thankful that both the train station personnel (who recommended the right stop to wait for the bus) and the bus driver (who recommended where we should get off the bus) were very helpful to us.

After all, Julie and I weren’t sure about whether we were doing what we had to do to get to the Seerenbach Falls or not.

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).