Hiking in canton Zurich Around Lake Pfäffikon (Pfäffikersee)

There are countless great hiking trails in canton Zurich. In addition, there are countless beautiful lakes in Switzerland. A combination of both is the Lake Pfäffikon | Pfäffikersee round trek in the Zurich Oberland. This approximately two-hour route around the lake is simply beautiful and can be undertaken at any time of year!

Swiss lakes

Did you know that there are about 1500 lakes in Switzerland? This is a substantial number, considering the size of the country!

In fact, Switzerland has so many lakes, that in order to get an overview, it is best to proceed categorically:

• The largest lakes in Switzerland (1. Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), 2. Lake Neuchâtel (Lac de Neuchâtel), 3. Lake Constance)
• Lakes by canton (Aargau, Appenzell, Basel-Stadt, etc – there are 26 cantons in total!)
• List of lakes in alphabetical order
• Reservoirs
• Mountain lakes
• Bathing lakes
• Green | blue and black lakes (Yes, black lakes! Example: Lac Noir in the canton of Valais)
• Swiss lakes with curious names (“Chatzentobelweiher” for example | in English this somehow translates to “Cat-ravine-pond”, good God!)

Then there is of course the

• The most beautiful lakes in Switzerland

and the

• The most popular lakes in Switzerland (Blausee | Öschinensee | Schwarzsee | Walensee | Klöntalersee | Seealpsee | Caumasee).

If you still want more, you can also focus on the rivers, islands and lidos of Switzerland.

According to the website schweizersee.ch, there are 123 lakes in the canton of Zurich alone, see for yourself here. 

Pfäffikersee | Allrounder in the Zurich Oberland

It is not surprising that we came across one of these 123 lakes while searching for new hikes and walks in the canton of Zurich. Hello Pfäffikersee, nice to meet you!

Lake Pfäffikon is the second largest lake in the canton of Zurich, right after Lake Greifen.

In turn, Lake Greifen is our absolute favourite when we go inline skating. With almost 20 km of immaculately paved road, it’s a really great track.

But let´s head back to the Pfäffikersee!

The lake is approximately two and a half kilometre long, one and a half kilometre wide and 36-meter-deep. Furthermore, it is a protected nature reserve and located in a popular excursion area.

In just under nine kilometres, you can walk around the beautiful lake on excellently developed paths. Here you will encounter pristine nature with a diverse reed, marsh and moor landscape.

In summer, the lake invites you to swim at various beach resorts. Occasionally, in extremely cold winters, the top part of the lake freezes – this is called “Seegfrörni”.  For hikers and walkers, the season does not matter, the lake is popular all year round!

Our Pfäffikersee is a real all-rounder!

Badis

Before we take you on our autumnal round trek, however, let’s take a short mental leap into summer. The below picture was taken at Lake Walen, another wonderful lake. 

On hot summer days, Switzerland offers a terrific selection of ways to cool off.

The “Badis”, as they are affectionately called by the locals, invite you to jump into the cool water in countless places. The word “Badi” originates from “baden” which in English means “to bathe”.

Outdoor pools, indoor pools, natural pools, adventure pools and thermal baths, the choice is huge. All these options are extremely popular with the Swiss! Who is surprised? After all, who wouldn’t love to splash around in the exceptionally beautiful lakes in summer?

Our Pfäffikersee also has a solid selection of three different bathing areas or “Badis”:

– Badi Pfäffikon 

– Lido Auslikon

– Lido Seegräben 

A grey beginning of our hike in canton Zurich…

Back at the autumnal lake, it did look quite grey and gloomy at the beginning of our tour.

In its unique way, the lake was melancholic-beautiful even if it was a bit murky …. Mind you we were not at the “Trübsee” (the murky lake) today.  More on this fantastic lake with the curious and very inappropriate name, you will find in this hiking report ).

Luckily, the somewhat gloomy mood did change after about half of the way! It cleared up more and more and the sun did its very best to successfully displace the dense clouds.

…and how the blue sky still prevailed!

Soon the landscape showed itself from its best side, with sky-blue firmament and pretty-draped little clouds.

With such a sight I could only jump in the air with joy!

Kleinkastell (small fort) Irgenhausen

Before we reached the village of Auslikon, however, a special eye-catcher appeared on the horizon, the small fort of Irgenhausen.

It is considered one of the best-preserved monuments of Roman fortifications in the area.

Researchers assume that the Irgenhausen fort served to protect the traffic and supply routes to the Roman Rhine border.

For those interested, finds from the fort excavation as well as from adjacent estates can be viewed at the Museum am Pfäffikersee and the Heimatmuseum Wetzikon, among others.

Landing stages galore on the Pfäffikersee round trek

We strolled leisurely along the lake whilst passing the closed lidos, Roman buildings and adjacent farms.

In addition, we became a little obsessed with taking pictures of the many different landing stages – see below. Which one do you like best?

The end of a beautiful walk

At the end of this lovely hike in canton Zurich, it turned a bit gloomy once again.

By that time, however, we were already back at the starting point. We were very glad to have experienced this beautiful tour, quite narrowly, without rain.

See you again, Pfäffikersee!