Hiking In Graubuenden
From Lake To Lake
Via The Swiss Grand Canyon

Incredible hiking in Graubuenden! Starting off at turquoise-blue Caumasee, passing the fantastic viewing platform “Il Spir” and finishing off at crystal-clear Crestasee. This easy trail has it all! Two utterly beautiful mountain lakes, along with a one-of-a-kind view into the “Swiss Grand Canyon” Rheinschlucht.

The biggest Swiss canton and the Romansh language

Another must-do on the “Impressive-Swiss-places-to-show-your-visitors”-list is the popular hike from Caumasee to Crestasee. Easy and enjoyable hiking in Graubuenden, ideal for a relaxed and laidback day with your folks.

After having shown off our home town Baden, the Bernese Oberland and amazing Appenzell, it was time to head south-east. Therefore, on day four of our family visit, we left early to check out the biggest canton of Switzerland, Graubuenden.

Graubuenden (Grisons in English)  is not only the biggest canton, but also the only officially trilingual canton. Swiss German, Italian and Romansh are all native languages to the canton. The Romansh language, evolved from Latin, is predominantly spoken in Graubuenden and is the fourth official language in Switzerland.

Graubuenden | Varied. Diverse. Surprising.

The canton offers an “interplay between pristine wilderness and top notch, modern tourism infrastructure” as described by the official tourism site. From remote mountain villages to glamorous St. Moritz hotels, from touristic hot spots to unspoiled nature, Graubuenden has it all!

Like the canton, today´s trail also had it all. Firstly, peaceful forest trails, secondly popular hotspots (the lakes), subsequently we had a good mix!

Starting point of our hike was the parking lot at the bus stop Flims Waldhaus.

The trail led us down into the forest and after about 40 minutes descent, we reached the turquoise coloured Caumasee.  

Caumasee | Lag la Cauma (Romansh)

The Caumasee is the heart of the Flims forest and a pearl of the Grisons region. We first saw it in November 2019 and were flabbergasted by its pure, wild and untouched beauty, as shown below. 

Admittedly, in August the words “wild” and “untouched” do not really capture the true picture at this time of the year.

One side of the lake is fully set up for people´s convenience, with a restaurant, lounge area and whatnot. The entrance fee to enjoy lake-life with unicorn-lilos and chillout-sounds is CHF 18 per person.

Who wishes to escape the summertime madness a little bit should keep on walking to the other side of the lake? There, if one arrives early enough, one has the chance to grab a great spot and enjoy the lake´s pleasure free of charge. However, if one arrives early enough…

How to claim an already occupied spot, discreetly?

The more turquoise the lake, the more difficult to find a great spot for yourself. Especially for five people! After having walked for about ten minutes we spotted the ALMOST perfect place.

It would have been perfect, if the stone (ideal for a group of five) would not have been occupied already. In addition, the slim gentleman on his tiny towel did only occupied a tiny corner of the relatively large rock. Bugger!

How could we possibly claim the stone, in a discreet and unobtrusive manner? Here come a few experimental tactics below:

• Move slowly but noisily closer to the stone
• Linger around and discuss loudly that there really isn´t any other place available
• Let some time pass, looking in different directions, pretending to search for alternatives
• Send two members of the group along to look further, whilst already dropping bits of your own stuff the ground
• Finally, don´t waste any more time, drop everything, get in the water and enjoy

Swimming in Caumasee | Drying on a bed of pine needles

We enjoyed a very refreshing plunge in the pretty lake and even swam to the island and back.

Afterwards we moved our stuff and ourselves a little further upwards into the forest to dry. Ironically, the desired but still occupied stone ends up being entirely in the shade. After a while the man left and there was nobody interested in the stone any longer.

We settled on the soft and blissfully pine-fragranced forest ground and enjoyed the peace and serenity of the moment. Some freshly cut fruit and homemade sandwiches completed the pretty picnic picture.

The next stop | Conn

After about an hour, we packed up and continued our walk. Next stop: Conn.

The path led us peacefully through the forest until we spotted the well-liked restaurant “Conn”.

The restaurant, a popular venue during an excursion in the area, is beautifully located at the edge of the forest. With its beautiful sun terrace, nice reception and welcoming flair it charms many visitors.

For us, however, a place under the shade of the surrounding trees of the restaurant, was good enough! An ideal spot for a quick break before the next highlight of our tour.

Incredible Ruinaulta

What came next, truly shocked our visitors, the same way it shocked us when we first saw it.

The incredible, amazing, astonishing, unbelievable, breath-taking, shockingly-impressive Ruinaulta, the Grand Canyon of Switzerland.

What did we say again about hiking in Graubuenden? Pristine wilderness. Varied. Diverse. Surprising. There you go!

A few facts about the creation of this natural wonder:

• More than 100,000 million cubic meters of rock roared down 10,000 years ago during the massive Flims landslide.
• They buried a part of the river Rhine called “Vorderrhein” under a mass of debris several hundred metres thick.
• Because of that, a 25 km long lake was dammed up, Lake Ilanz.
• Over time, however, the river worked itself deeply into the debris. The lake flowed away and the Rhine Gorge (Rheinschlucht | Ruinaulta) was created.

WOW!!!

The gorge is largely inaccessible by road, protected by the several hundred meters high cliffs. A wonderful train ride on the Rhaetian Railway from Reichenau to Ilanz however, allows you an insight from the ground. Mind-blowing, obviously.

Today, however, we could enjoy its beauty from the amazing viewing platform “Il Spir”.

The final stop | Crestasee (Lag la Cresta)

From one of the most spectacular sights in Graubuenden, we continued our hike through the forest towards our last stop: Crestasee.

Crestasee provided us with a last chance to dip in and cool off after the tour. We skipped this opportunity however, and simply enjoyed its clear water from far.

During summer an entrance fee of CHF 7 also has to be paid to enter the lake. Funnily enough, there is a different price for local adults (CHF 5)…

Anyway, from Crestasee we walked to Trin in order to take the bus back to Flims.

What a tour, what a day! Waiting in the shade, after having walked and taken a plunge, we could not help ourselves, but feeling utterly content.

We took a long breath in and a full breath out. Conclusion: Enjoyable and impressive. Great hiking in Graubuenden!