Wild camping at the Bachalpsee, what is actually allowed

Camping, bivouacking, emergency bivouac: the difference matters

People throw "wild camping", "tenting" and "bivouacking" into one pot. At the Bachalpsee it is worth looking closely, because a tent, a tentless bivouac and a real emergency are treated differently.

Camping, that is with a tent. The Grindelwald Camping-Reglement defines "Campieren" as the temporary staying and overnighting of people in tents, caravans and the like, tents named first, and Art. 9 forbids pitching a tent outside an authorised campsite anywhere in the municipality. That is the classic "wild camping", and at the Bachalpsee it is squarely banned and finable.

Bivouacking, that is without a tent. A tentless bivouac, just a sleeping bag and maybe a mat or bivvy bag, sits at the literal edge of the communal wording, which is aimed at tents. But it does not save you here. On the slopes above the lake, inside the hunting-ban district, the federal ban is on "freies Zelten und Campieren", which catches a bivouac too. And Grindelwald states plainly that wild camping is forbidden everywhere in the municipality, above the treeline included. So a planned tentless night is discouraged at the shore and an offence on the slopes.

Emergency bivouac, that is the real emergency. A genuine, unplanned emergency bivouac in a mountain emergency, a sudden change in the weather, an injury, exhaustion, is a different matter and is covered by the defence of justifying necessity (StGB Art. 17)¹⁰. That is a real emergency, not a planning option. Anyone who arrives with full camping gear and says "emergency" afterwards does not fall under it.

Unlike the Appenzell lakes, here the ban is real

At many places in Switzerland a tourism page says "wild camping not allowed", and behind it there is no fineable law at all. At the Seealpsee and the Fälensee in Appenzell it is like that: the canton repealed its camping penalties, so "not allowed" there is deterrence and a question of the landowner's consent, not a fine.

At the Bachalpsee it is different, and to be fair you have to say so. Here "banned" is real. Grindelwald actually has an enacted camping ban with a real fine, and the slopes above the lake are a federal hunting-ban district. Anyone who pitches a tent here really does risk a fine. Let us look at the two grounds in turn.

The two real bans

1. The communal camping ban applies across the whole municipality

Grindelwald bans camping on its whole territory, not just at the lake. The Camping-Reglement of the Einwohnergemeinde Grindelwald puts it directly¹:

"Das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen etc. zum Campieren ausserhalb behördlich bewilligter Campingplätze ist grundsätzlich nicht gestattet."Camping-Reglement der Gemeinde Grindelwald, Art. 9

Why this catches the Bachalpsee: Art. 1 applies the regulation to "Campieren auf Gemeindegebiet", the whole municipal territory, with no altitude limit, and Art. 2 defines "Campieren" as overnighting in tents and similar shelters. The Polizeireglement says the same in one line: "Das Campieren auf öffentlichem Grund ist verboten" (Art. 6)². First, the Faulhorn and the Bachalpsee are all Gemeinde Grindelwald, so all of it is covered.

The fine is set by Camping-Reglement Art. 53: CHF 200 to CHF 1'000, imposed by the local police authority (Ortspolizeibehörde), with a clause that a higher federal or cantonal penalty takes precedence where one applies. The municipality states the range itself in its camper information³. This is the ban that makes a tent at the Bachalpsee shore illegal, whatever the federal map says.

2. The slopes above are a federal hunting-ban district

The massif north and above the lake, up to the Faulhorn and the Schwarzhorn, is the eidgenössisches Jagdbanngebiet Schwarzhorn (federal hunting-ban district, object no. 4, Kanton BE)⁴. Inside every federal district a hard rule applies⁷:

"Das freie Zelten und Campieren ist verboten. Vorbehalten bleibt die Benützung offizieller Zeltplätze. Die Kantone können Ausnahmen bewilligen."Verordnung über die eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebiete (VEJ), Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. e

That is no paper tiger. Free camping inside the district is a federal offence, finable up to CHF 20'000 under the Federal Hunting Act (JSG Art. 18) and enforced by the game wardens (Wildhüter); there no farmer's or hiker's exception helps, only the canton can grant one⁵.

The important nuance is the boundary. I checked it on the federal map: the district line runs across the lake. The accessible shore, the outflow and the south and central shore where people stand for the reflection, sits outside the hunting-ban district; the north end of the lake and the whole slope up toward the Faulhorn and Schwarzhorn are inside it⁶. So on the shore the communal ban is the ground; a few steps up toward the Faulhorn, the federal ban stacks on top with its far higher fine.

What is NOT the fine-bearing norm

Around the Bachalpsee big numbers and labels get quoted. Most are wrong or beside the point. Here is what does not fine you.

• Not a flat "CHF 10,000 fine". That figure circulates online but is not a tariff anyone here issues. The real numbers are the communal CHF 200 to CHF 1'000, and, on the slopes inside the hunting-ban district, up to CHF 20'000 under federal law.
• Not UNESCO World Heritage. Contrary to a common claim, the Bachalpsee is outside the "Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch" World Heritage perimeter, which covers the glaciated massif south of the Grindelwald valley, not the First side (verified on the federal map)¹¹. It would not be a camper's fine ground even if it were.
• Not the BLN inventory. The shore is also outside the BLN object "Berner Hochalpen und Aletsch-Bietschhorn-Gebiet", which sits south of the valley. The BLN binds the authorities anyway, it does not fine a camper.
• No cantonal wild camping law. Canton Bern has no norm that bans wild camping across the board. A cantonal fine (JWG Art. 31) would only bite if the exact spot were a designated Wildschutzgebiet with a camping measure attached, which was not established here¹².
• ZGB Art. 699. The "access to forest and pasture for everyone" is a right of passage and to gather berries, not to sleep overnight, and it expressly reserves defined prohibitions, which is exactly what the communal regulation is⁹.

Bivouac versus camping, and the treeline

The well-known rule of thumb, that a single bivouac above the treeline is usually tolerated, comes from the SAC information sheet. Here is the twist that makes the Bachalpsee different from the Oeschinensee: the Bachalpsee sits at 2,265 metres, clearly above the treeline, so the geographical precondition of the rule is actually met.

It still does not help. The SAC tolerance is not a law, it is a practice recommendation, and it applies only "where there are no rules to the contrary"⁸, and the SAC itself names the hunting-ban districts as one of the places where it switches off. At the Bachalpsee there are two contrary rules, the communal ban at the shore and the hunting-ban district on the slopes. So a quiet single night in a sleeping bag is caught here just as a tent is, above the treeline or not.

Fines and enforcement in reality

Separate the statutory maximum from what actually happens.

• Statutory maxima: CHF 200 to CHF 1'000 for camping under the communal regulation (Camping-Reglement Art. 53); up to CHF 20'000 on the slopes inside the hunting-ban district (JSG Art. 18). Rubbish and human waste are fined separately under environmental protection law, independent of the camping.
• In practice: Grindelwald runs a visible "We take care" campaign, the Bachalpsee is signed as no-camping, and the day is busy with tourism and ranger presence. Who exactly issues a fine at this spot, the Grindelwald local police, the cantonal police, or the federal game warden on the massif, and how often, could not be established from primary sources.

Two honest things follow. First, plenty of people still bivouac here through the summer regardless of the signs; that is a fact, and it does not make it legal or unfineable. Second, the realistic first response at a heavily managed day-trip spot like this is being asked to leave rather than an instant ticket, but the fine is a real risk, not a theoretical one, and it is highest on the slopes where the federal law applies. The gap between the maximum and the everyday is not an "allowed after all".

Where you sleep legally in the region

Anyone who wants to see the lake in its best light and still spend a night up here has clear legal options. Wild camping at the lake is not one of them.

Which status applies where, and where the next legal bed or pitch is, I keep current per spot. That is exactly what is in the Swiss Gems Guide for all 141 spots.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are actually allowed to sleep outside, so not at the Bachalpsee, but where it is permitted. It is not legal text, but decency and common sense.

• No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains. A gas stove is enough.
• Pitch the tent late, take it down early. Only set up after sunset, gone again before sunrise. A bivouac is one night, not a base.
• Leave no rubbish. Everything you carry up, you carry down again. All of it, including organic scraps and toilet paper.
• At least 50 metres from any body of water for the big business, so you do not foul the drinking water of people and livestock.
• Stay small and quiet. A small group, no speaker, no drone, dogs on the lead.

The one rule that sums up all the others: leaving a place better than you found it is, in general, a valuable attitude.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my research and assessment to the best of my knowledge, as of July 2026. It is based on the publicly accessible and official sources linked below and on my own check of the federal map. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

Communal regulations, fine tariffs, protected-area boundaries and the exact line of a hunting-ban district can change, and the boundary is best read off the federal map and the signs on site. What is described here may already be out of date by the time you read it. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself, the notices of the Gemeinde Grindelwald, grindelwald.swiss, and the protected-area layers on map.geo.admin.ch. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and any consequences, including fines, themselves. Hikebeast, Leon Helg and Saftladen GmbH accept no liability for decisions made on the basis of this text, and call on no one to break applicable law.

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Leon Helg

Swiss filmmaker and software developer. Spends his free time in the Swiss Alps and maps his favourite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

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