Swiss National Park, Zernez

My heart is racing and a wave of elation washes over me. Not because of the arresting view as the morning sun creeps down the mountainsides. No, I am thrilled because in a meadow freckled with summer wildflowers, high above the Stabelchod valley in Switzerland, I have found edelweiss – the delicate, fuzzy white bloom for which folk once risked life and limb to pick for their sweethearts. Ive spent years hiking in the Alps and this is the first time I have ever seen it grow in the wild in such abundance.

 

But then the Swiss National Park (nationalpark.ch) is all about firsts. This was, after all, the first national park to be established in the Alps on 1st August 1914, and 100 years later it remains true to its original conservation ethos. Little has changed over the course of a century and I hope we will be able to say the same in another hundred years time, the parks communications director Hans Lozza confesses. Our three aims are to protect, research and inform. Since the park was founded, no trees have been felled, no meadows cut, no animals hunted. This is what nature left to its own devices looks like.

Rugged and beautiful is how it looks, particularly in the dew of a summers morning, as the clouds part and light filters softly through treetops of larch and pine, dappling the footpath that weaves ever so gently higher. Our guide, Roman Gross, has been leading group hikes in the park for the past eight years. What keeps him there, I ask. Every trail is different. Every season has its own appeal, he replies. He goes on to cite the incredible wildlife in spring when the park wakes up from its long winter slumber, the profusion of flowers in summer, the spectacle of the stag rutting in late September, the golden larch forests in October. What we have here is a little Canada – pristine forests, mountains and lakes that are undisturbed by human intervention, he says, not without a hint of pride.

 

You cant camp here or leave the trails, you cant pick anything or make a fire, you cant bring your dog – not even in a rucksack, though some have tried. Rules are rules. Yes, theyre strictly enforced, but thats what makes the Swiss National Park stand out when it comes to conservation, Roman admits. His enthusiasm for this 170 sq km pocket of nature is infectious. Soon our little group is gathered in wonder around trees deciphering between a cembra and a mountain pine by looking at their cones, or gazing up at woodpecker holes big enough to shelter squirrels and martens.

 

Macun (nationalpark.ch) Perched at 2500m, this high-alpine plateau is splashed with 23 jewel-coloured lakes. The challenging eight-hour hike from Lavin to Zernez is nothing short of extraordinary, with views of the snow-capped Bernese, Silvretta and Ortler Alps, and the chance of spotting ibex on the high reaches.

 

Munt la Schera (nationalpark.ch) A four-hour hike from Buffalora via this summit takes you through a one-of-a-kind steppe landscape. Grazing the border to Italy, you are granted views deep into the neighbouring Stelvio National Park. Cyclamens of every colour bloom here in early summer.

 

Val Mingèr (nationalpark.ch) Switzerlands last native bear was shot in this valley in 1904, a decade before the park was founded. The two-hour uphill hike from Pradatsch to Sur il Foss takes in weirdly eroded rock formations and you might well spot chamois and deer.

 

Val Trupchun (nationalpark.ch) Flat, easy-going and suitable for families, the three-hour trek from S-chanf to Alp Trupchun provides a good overview to the park. The stag rutting is at its most spectacular here.

 

Val Cluozza (nationalpark.ch) Staying overnight at Chamanna Cluozza, the only hut offering accommodation in the national park, is an experience not to be missed. Marmots, chamois, deer, golden eagles and even ibex can be spotted in the gloriously unspoilt valley. To up the challenge, tag on a four-hour hike the following day to Vallun Chafuol via the 2545m saddle of Murter, keeping your eyes peeled for fossilised coral and dinosaur tracks.

 

When we exit the park after our three-hour hike, I feel not only as though Ive had a good walk but also as though Ive become a minor expert in alpine geology and wildlife. I stride out into the warm midday sunshine, taking with me nothing but memories and, like a century of hikers before me, leaving nothing but footprints.