Fälensee, the lake between the walls

Getting there

Fälensee does not do drive-up. However you come in, you walk. The way most people do it, me included, is as an extension of Saxer Lücke: Staubern cable car up from the Rhine valley, along the ridge to the Lücke, then the trail south-east, descending toward Bollenwees. The lake sits right at the base, a stretched ribbon of water in a narrow valley between the Hundsteingrat and the Roslen-Saxer First¹.

The pure walking route starts in Brülisau and goes past Sämtisersee to Bollenwees. Pretty the whole way, no cable car to lean on, and that is exactly what turns it into a proper long day hike. Plan it as the main event, not a detour. Either way you end up at the lake right next to Berggasthaus Bollenwees, which matters in a minute.

The photo

The view that sells this place is not from the shore. It is from the ridge above the lake, looking straight down its length, the water reduced to a pale strip between two dark walls. Bring a telephoto, 85 to 135mm, and let it compress the walls until they stack. Wide angle from the shore works, but it is not the shot.

And this is the one famous spot where I tell you not to wait for blue sky. Moody weather is the feature here. Grey light makes the walls feel heavier and the lake darker. If you see fog moving in, stick around instead of packing up. Clouds rolling through the gap at the far end of the lake are the bonus, that is the frame you walked in for.

Can you stay the night?

Here is the part that surprised me: as of June 2026 there is no cantonal wild camping law in force in Appenzell Innerrhoden. I asked an official Alpstein ranger in June 2026, and his answer was clear: nothing is in force, there is no fine to fear today, a regulation is coming. The canton's own communication says the same: the Standeskommission, the cantonal government, decided in 2025 to have a legal basis drafted². The plans include a camping ban on public and private parking areas and, for bivouacs in the Alpstein, explicit permission from the landowner, possibly with a reservation system. So this will change, check the current state before you go.

No law in force does not mean anything goes. The official Alpstein guidance is blunt: "Der Alpstein ist weder ein Zelt- noch ein Campingplatz. Wildes Zelten ist nicht erlaubt."³ The Alpstein is neither a tent site nor a campsite, and wild camping is not allowed. The same page points to the mountain inns, sleeping on the alp and the official campsites around Appenzell, and asks you to follow the alp staff's instructions. At the same time, officials have said in regional media that bivouacs with simple tents are tolerated for now where the responsible Sennen, the people running the alp, allow them. What the canton does not want is campsite conditions in the middle of the Alpstein.

For Fälensee that translates simply: this shore is the Bollenwees alp's front yard, so ask at the house. With their OK, a quiet single night is tolerated for now, and on private land asking is what Swiss civil law expects anyway. And do not be surprised by company on a Saturday: since 2026, volunteer rangers from the Bergwirteverein Alpstein patrol the area, fifteen of them, two to four out on weekends and holidays⁴. They have no police powers and cannot fine you, their job is education and conversation, though they can call the police if someone refuses to listen. One of them is who I talked to.

The rest is the usual Alpine etiquette. The basin is part of the BLN inventory Säntisgebiet⁵, a listed landscape, not a camping ban. Wildlife rest zones still apply where they are marked, check the layer on map.geo.admin.ch. And the SAC one-night bivouac etiquette⁶ is still the standard: set up late, leave early, leave nothing behind.

The full legal deep-dive, the consent route at the Fälenalp included, is in wild camping at the Fälensee.

And if you would rather skip the asking and the dawn pack-up, there is a bed directly at the water.

When to go

May to October, like most of the Alpstein. Within that window I would pick the unstable days on purpose. The forecast that scares the fair-weather crowd away is the one that delivers the fog.

Busyness is a 3 out of 5, which makes Fälensee the quietest of the famous Alpstein spots. Seealpsee gets the families, Saxer Lücke gets the feed crowd, and the trail thins out fast once you drop below the Lücke. A weekday with clouds in the forecast and you have the ridge almost to yourself.

Fälensee is in the Swiss Gems guide with its GPS pin, access notes and the wild camping verdict, next to 140 other spots I have mapped across Switzerland. If this kind of field note is useful to you, that is where they all live.

Frequently asked questions

Leon Helg

Swiss filmmaker and software developer. 26 years in Switzerland, spends his free time exploring the Swiss Alps and maps his favourite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

About Hikebeast Swiss Gems Guide