Saxer Lücke, the notch in the Alpstein ridge

Getting there

The Saxer Lücke is the place where the Alpstein, the massif behind Appenzell¹, just breaks open. A clean gap in the ridge between the Hüser and the towers of the Chrüzberg, right on the border of Appenzell Innerrhoden and St. Gallen, on the Sax-Schwende fault, the most striking fault line in the whole massif². That fault is why the wall ends in such a clean cut.

My way up is the comfortable one. From Frümsen in the St. Gallen Rhine valley a small cable car runs up to Gasthaus Staubern on the crest³. From the top you follow the ridge trail towards the cleft. It is an easy walk, well maintained, family friendly, nothing technical. You walk with the Rhine valley far below on one side and the inner Alpstein on the other.

The classic view is along the ridge towards the notch, the trail in the grass and the rock towers stacked up behind it. You see it coming the whole way, so do not put the camera away.

The light

Sunset is the hit. The light comes through the notch and the whole Alpstein lights up, ridge by ridge. The towers go from grey to orange while the valleys below are already in shade, so for a few minutes the rock looks like it is floating.

Bring a tripod. Blue hour hangs around for a while up there, and my best frames came after the sun was gone, every single time. Pack a warm layer too, the crest catches wind.

Staying the night

Now 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 the answer was clear: a regulation is in the works, but right now nothing makes a night up here illegal and there is no fine to fear. The canton's own communication says the same. In 2025 the Standeskommission, the cantonal government, decided to have a legal basis drafted, and the planned points are already public: a camping ban on public and private parking areas, and for bivouacs in the Alpstein the explicit permission of the landowner, possibly with a reservation system⁴. That can change, so check the current status before you go.

No law in force does not mean a free-for-all. The canton's official Alpstein guidance is blunt: "Der Alpstein ist weder ein Zelt- noch ein Campingplatz. Wildes Zelten ist nicht erlaubt." The Alpstein is neither a tent pitch nor a campsite, wild camping is not allowed. The same page points to the mountain inns, to sleeping on the alp, to the official campsites around Appenzell, and asks you to follow the instructions of the alp staff⁵.

The practical line, and officials have said it in the regional press: bivouacs with simple tents are tolerated for now where the responsible Sennen, the alp farmers who run these pastures, allow it. What the canton does not want is campsite conditions in the Alpstein. The ridge meadows are exactly that, the Sennen's alpine farmland, so ask, with their OK a quiet single night is fine, and on private land asking is what Swiss civil law expects anyway. My standard stays the SAC etiquette for a considerate one-night bivouac: set up late, leave early, no fire, no trace, 50 metres from water⁶. The area also sits in the Säntisgebiet, a listed landscape in the federal BLN inventory, which is a protection label, not a camping ban, and wildlife rest zones apply where they are marked on map.geo.admin.ch⁷.

The ranger I talked to is part of something new, by the way. Since 2026 the Bergwirteverein Alpstein, the mountain innkeepers' association, sends volunteer rangers on patrol: 15 volunteers, 2 to 4 of them out on weekends and holidays, planned to run until 2028, with cantonal support of up to CHF 35,000. They explicitly have no police powers, their job is education and conversation, and if someone really will not listen they can call the police⁸. Mine was exactly that: friendly, clear, no fine to hand out.

The full legal picture for the ridge, the St. Gallen side included, is in wild camping at the Saxer Lücke.

One honest note: the notch itself is windy and exposed, a bivouac right in the gap is a comfort question as much as anything. And if you would rather have a bed, that is easy here.

This kind of status, what currently applies and where the nearest bed is, is what I keep up to date in the Swiss Gems Guide for all 141 spots.

When to go

May to October is the window. And the spot is popular, I rate it 4 out of 5 for busyness, the ridge from Staubern is one of the known walks of the Alpstein. Go on a weekday if you can. The usual trick works here too: most people head back down well before evening, stay for sunset and you have the notch almost to yourself.

If the Alpstein grabs you, the Schäfler is the other ridge evening I keep going back to, on the famous side of the massif.

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 favorite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

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