As of: 19 October 2026

Wild camping on the Bärenhorn

The Bärenhorn, 2'929 m, stands where Vals, the Safiental and the Rheinwald meet; the national map writes it Bärahora. The summit is Vals ground, and Vals bans camping without a permit but exempts the bivouac on a mountain tour. A tent needs the commune's yes.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked in October 2026
What do these mean?

Illegal A specific rule bans it, usually with a fine, and it can be enforced. Sleep somewhere else.

Not allowed No real place to camp here. A gated site, a developed area, or nowhere sensible to lie down, even if no fine is attached.

It depends You can sleep here, but there's a condition first: ask the landowner, book a spot, stay inside a set zone, or use a bivvy instead of a tent. The report says which.

Tolerated No rule clearly allows or bans it, but a single night is accepted in practice and nobody enforces against it. Normal for high bivouacs above the treeline.

Legal Camping one night is fine here. Either a rule allows it, or we checked every law and found nothing against it. Still: pitch late, leave early, no trace.

What "wild camping" means here: one night. A small tent or a bivvy bag, up towards evening, gone in the morning. Not a base camp, not a camper van. Most Swiss bans are written against camping; whether a single night also falls under them depends on the exact wording, so this article checks that wording. The full difference: wild camping vs bivouacking.

Wild camping on the Bärenhorn: one summit, three communes

Wild camping on the Bärenhorn means a night on a 2'929 m summit at the head of three valleys in Graubünden: the Valsertal to the north-west, the Safiental to the north-east and the Rheinwald to the south. The national map writes the name in its Walser form, Bärahora, and the saddle north of it Bäralücka. The top is a small dome of grey schist debris at WGS84 46.57549 / 9.23196, LV95 2'737'461 / 1'159'817.6

The summit is the boundary. The highest point lies in Vals, 1.8 m from the line with Safiental, and Rheinwald ground begins about 80 m down the south-east ridge, where the three communes meet. All three communes' rules count, and they say different things: Vals bans camping and exempts the tour bivouac, Safiental bans camping only in the forest, and the building act in force on the Rheinwald slope says nothing about camping. The lines are on map.geo.admin.ch.6145

A different Bärenhorn stands in Uri. The glaciated 2'930 m peak above the Meiental, in Attinghausen UR, shares the name. Everything below is about the Graubünden summit.6

The law: Vals bans camping and exempts the tour bivouac

The Vals police ordinance, adopted by ballot on 20 May 1973 and in force since 1 May 1974, in the version of 1 August 2010, lets the Gemeinderat designate places for camping with tents and caravans. There are none on the mountain. Then comes the rule that decides the Bärenhorn:

"Ausserhalb dieser Plätze ist auf Gebiet der Gemeinde Vals auf öffentlichem und privatem Boden ohne Bewilligung des Gemeinderates jedes Kampieren verboten. Dieses Verbot bezieht sich nicht auf das Biwak im Rahmen von einzelnen Bergtouren."Polizeiverordnung der Gemeinde Vals, Art. 7 para. 2. In English: outside these places, all camping on the territory of the commune of Vals, on public and private ground, is forbidden without a permit from the Gemeinderat. This ban does not apply to the bivouac in the course of individual mountain tours.

The wording catches the tent and spares the tour bivouac. "Kampieren", camping, is what the ordinance bans; the bivouac on a mountain tour is outside the ban by name. The ordinance does not define "Biwak". In its ordinary sense it is a night without a tent as part of a tour: you climb, sleep, and go on or down in the morning. A tent is camping and needs the permit.1

Private ground changes nothing. The ban applies "auf öffentlichem und privatem Boden", so the yes of a farmer or an alp does not replace the Gemeinderat's permit. Art. 18 fines a breach from CHF 50 to 500, and up to CHF 1'000 on repetition.1

No open fire. Art. 9 bans open fire near huts and stables, in forest and on dry meadows and pastures, cooking included. Carry a gas stove.1

Nothing else adds a rule at the summit. The summit and the Vals side lie in a Ruhezone of the Vals building act, whose Art. 51 bans tourist transport installations and motorised traffic, nothing about walking or sleeping. No federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone, landscape inventory object or mire covers the summit or any pitch below it. The national park project Parc Adula, which would have included Vals, failed at the ballot on 27 November 2016. Graubünden has no cantonal camping rule of general application.2687

The same ordinance decides three lakes in Vals: the Selvasee, the Zervreilasee and the Guraletschsee. For the Rheinwald building acts, see the Tanatzhöhi above Splügen; how the levels fit together, the Graubünden overview and the national overview.

Safiental and Rheinwald: the other two slopes

Safiental bans camping only in the forest. The north and east slopes below the summit are Safiental ground. Its building act in force, the Baugesetz Safien of 2005, keeps campsites to building zones or a camping zone and lets the building authority permit organised, temporary tent camps (Art. 18): law about campsites, not about one walker's night. The forest ordinance is plainer: "Das Campieren im Wald ist verboten. Nichtkommerzielle Zeltlager kann der Waldbesitzer nach Absprache mit den Forstorganen bewilligen." (Art. 24), with fines of CHF 100 to 5'000 (Art. 28). It reaches the valley forest on the way up from Thalkirch, far below the summit. Safiental has no police act.34

A new Safiental building act is waiting. The Gemeindeversammlung adopted it on 10 February 2026, and the cantonal government has not approved it yet. Its Art. 35 para. 5 lets the Gemeindevorstand permit temporary tent camps and single pitches outside the camping zone: a power to allow, not a ban.3

The Safien side under the top is lawful, and poor ground. The shoulder north-east of the summit, at about 2'690 to 2'705 m, is bare schist scree with solifluction lobes, wet hollows and a small tarn the maps do not show. It lies in the Naturpark Beverin, a regional nature park with no camping rule, and in a landscape protection zone that bans new buildings. Nobody would choose it over the grass by the Bäralücka.367

Rheinwald has no camping rule in force, until the canton approves one. For the head of the Butznertälli the cantonal register still lists the Baugesetz Nufenen of the former commune, and it does not mention camping, tents or bivouacs. Rheinwald has no police act. On 5 December 2025 the commune adopted the Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025, whose Art. 15 para. 1 reads "Das Campieren ausserhalb von Zonen mit erlaubter Campingnutzung ist unter Vorbehalt von Abs. 2 nicht gestattet." It enters into force with the cantonal government's approval, and on 19 October 2026 the commune still lists it as "Gemeindeversammlung - Beschwerdeauflage". The day it is approved, a tent on that slope is no longer lawful outside a camping zone.5

How it is possible: three ways to spend the night

1. Without a tent, on the tour: no permit, no fee. Two places are Vals ground and covered by the exemption. The summit itself, 2'929 m: the dome falls about 10 m in the first 30 to 40 m on every side, and the ground within 30 m of the top averages about 30 degrees, so there is room for a bivvy bag and nothing larger. It is exposed to wind and lightning. More comfortable is the hummocky alpine grass 50 to 60 m north-north-west of the Bäralücka saddle, at WGS84 46.58504 / 9.23624, LV95 2'737'765 / 1'160'885, 2'538 m, nearly level where you lie and 48 m from the path, about 1.1 km north of the summit and some 390 m below it.16

2. With a tent on Vals ground: the Gemeinderat's permit. Ask before you go, for a precise place and date. The ordinance names the Gemeinderat even on private ground, so the owner of the alp cannot give you the permit.1

Who to ask. The Gemeindekanzlei Vals, for the Gemeinderat: +41 81 920 77 02, gemeinde@vals.ch. Ask for a permit under Art. 7 of the Polizeiverordnung and say where, when and for how many people. No fee is published.1

3. With a tent and no permit: the head of the Butznertälli, while the old act stands. On Rheinwald ground south-east of the summit lies a bench of dry turf at WGS84 46.57276 / 9.24071, LV95 2'738'139 / 1'159'529, 2'639 m, 3.6 degrees where you lie, 737 m east-south-east of the summit and 289 m below it, 307 m inside Rheinwald. Pitch on the turf, not on the braided, wet stream flat about 58 m to the north-west. The bench is 340 m from the nearest path; the way down from the ridge is off the path and yours to judge. Before you go, check the status of the Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025 on the commune's law page: once it is approved, this option is gone.56

Leave the streams as they are. The Butznertälli is the compensation area of the Nufenen hydropower scheme, kept free of water use, and it lies in the Naturpark Beverin. Neither adds a camping rule.57

Place by place: what applies where

  • Bärenhorn summit, 2'929 m, Vals: a bivvy bag on a tour, yes. A tent only with the Gemeinderat's permit, and the dome has no room for one.16
  • Grass by the Bäralücka, 2'538 m, Vals: the best place for the tour bivouac. A tent there needs the permit.1
  • North-east shoulder, about 2'690 to 2'705 m, Safiental: lawful, but scree and wet hollows.3
  • Butznertälli bench, 2'639 m, Rheinwald: a tent is lawful until the Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025 is approved.5
  • Butznertälli stream flat: no. Braided, wet channels, not a pitch.6
  • The forest on the way up from Thalkirch, Safiental: no. Camping in the forest is banned, CHF 100 to 5'000.4
  • The Bärenhorn in Uri, above the Meiental: a different mountain, not covered here.6

Getting there, the season and the ground

From Vals. The way up leaves the village through the Riefawald and past Pradätsch, climbs to Alp Tomül and reaches the Bäralücka at 2'530 m. From the saddle the trace follows the north-east shoulder to the top, about 1 km to the south.6

From the Safiental. The start is the Turrahus above Thalkirch, at the head of the valley. The way crosses the valley forest, where Safiental bans camping, and climbs the Safien side; a ridge path to the east links the summit area with the Safierberg pass towards the Rheinwald.46

The season. The pitches named here are for the snow-free months. The wildlife rest zones around the mountain are winter closures in the valley forests, from 20 December to 30 April in Safiental and from 20 December to 15 April in Rheinwald, and none of them touches the summit or a pitch. Where an alp crew is at work, its word goes.45

Water. There is none on the summit. The nearest tarns lie about 780 m south-south-west of it, at 2'693 to 2'698 m. In a dry summer, check the fire warning for Graubünden before you go, even with a stove.6

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which on the Bärenhorn means a bivouac without a tent on a tour, a tent with the Vals permit, or a tent on Rheinwald ground while no rule forbids it. It is not legal text, it is decency on open alpine ground above three valleys that people farm.

  • No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains. A gas stove is enough.
  • Pitch late, strike early. Set up towards evening, gone again early. A bivouac is one night, not a base camp.
  • Leave no rubbish. Everything you carry up you carry down, organic scraps and toilet paper included.
  • At least 50 metres from any water for the big business, so you do not foul what people and livestock drink.
  • Stay small and quiet. A small group, no speaker, no drone, dogs on the lead, and the alp staff's word goes.

Disclaimer

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

The verdict rests on the Vals police ordinance, on the building and forest acts of Safiental and on the building act that the cantonal register lists for the Rheinwald slope. The Rheinwald option is time-limited: it ends when the cantonal government approves the Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025, and no date for that is published. The regulation of the Nufenen hydropower protection plan, which covers the Butznertälli, was not available; it is a water-use instrument. Landowners were not looked up, the ground between the ridge and the Butznertälli was not walked, and nobody at the three communes was asked. Every distance and coordinate is taken from official geodata, as accurate as the data and not as a marker on the ground. The verdicts are for the snow-free season. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself and follow instructions on site. A genuine emergency bivouac in distress is a separate question from a planned camp. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and any consequences 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.

Frequently asked questions

Is wild camping allowed on the Bärenhorn?
Without a tent on a mountain tour, yes; with a tent, only with a permit from Vals. The summit, 2'929 m, lies in the commune of Vals, 1.8 m from the line with Safiental. Art. 7 para. 2 of the Polizeiverordnung der Gemeinde Vals bans all camping on public and private ground without a permit from the Gemeinderat and states that the ban does not apply to the bivouac in the course of individual mountain tours. A breach is fined CHF 50 to 500, up to CHF 1'000 on repetition (art. 18). Open fire is banned on dry meadows and pastures, cooking included (art. 9).
Where do I sleep without a tent?
On the summit or on the grass by the Bäralücka, both Vals ground. The summit dome takes a bivvy bag and nothing larger, and it is exposed to wind and lightning. The better place is the alpine grass 50 to 60 m north-north-west of the Bäralücka saddle, 46.58504 / 9.23624, 2'538 m, 48 m from the path and about 1.1 km north of the summit. The exemption in art. 7 of the Vals police ordinance covers a bivouac on a tour at both, with no permit and no fee.
Who gives the permit for a tent?
The Gemeinderat of Vals, through the Gemeindekanzlei. Call +41 81 920 77 02 or write to gemeinde@vals.ch before you go, and say where, when and for how many people. Art. 7 of the Polizeiverordnung asks for the Gemeinderat's permit on public and private ground alike, so a landowner's yes does not replace it. No fee is published.
Can I pitch a tent on the Rheinwald side without a permit?
Yes, for now. Rheinwald ground begins about 80 m down the south-east ridge. The building act in force there, the Baugesetz Nufenen, has no camping rule, and Rheinwald has no police act. A dry turf bench at the head of the Butznertälli, 46.57276 / 9.24071, 2'639 m, 307 m inside Rheinwald, takes a tent; the wet stream flat beside it does not. Art. 15 para. 1 of the Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025 bans camping outside camping zones once the cantonal government approves the act; on 19 October 2026 it was still in its public appeal period.
Why is the verdict "It depends" and not "Legal"?
Because the answer depends on what you sleep in. The summit is Vals ground, and Vals bans camping without a permit: a tent needs the Gemeinderat's yes, while the bivouac on a mountain tour is exempt by name. The Rheinwald slope, where no camping rule applies, is a tip for a tent nearby, not the answer at the summit, and it ends when the 2025 building act is approved.
Leon Helg

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.

Swiss Guide Wildcamping Checker Color Grading

Sources

  1. Polizeiverordnung der Gemeinde Vals, adopted by ballot on 20 May 1973, in force since 1 May 1974, version dated 1 August 2010, still the version on the commune's online counter on 19 October 2026. Art. 7 para. 1: "Der Gemeinderat bezeichnet die Plätze, die auf Gebiet der Gemeinde für das Kampieren mit Zelten und Wohnwagen benützt werden dürfen." Para. 2: "Ausserhalb dieser Plätze ist auf Gebiet der Gemeinde Vals auf öffentlichem und privatem Boden ohne Bewilligung des Gemeinderates jedes Kampieren verboten. Dieses Verbot bezieht sich nicht auf das Biwak im Rahmen von einzelnen Bergtouren." Art. 9 para. 1: "Es ist untersagt, in der Nähe von Häusern, Hütten und Ställen, im Wald sowie auf trockenen Wiesen und Weiden offenes Feuer zu entfachen. Dieses Verbot gilt auch für das Abkochen." Art. 18: fines from CHF 50 to 500, up to CHF 1'000 on repetition. Gemeindekanzlei Vals: +41 81 920 77 02, gemeinde@vals.ch. Polizeiverordnung (PDF), gemeinde-vals.ch, Onlineschalter, gemeinde-vals.ch, Kontakt. ↩
  2. Baugesetz der Gemeinde Vals, total revision approved by the cantonal government with RB 2341 of 1990, last amended by RB 502 of 2015, the version the cantonal cadastre of public-law restrictions lists as binding. Art. 51, Ruhezone: tourist transport installations and motorised traffic are not allowed; no rule on access or overnight stays. Art. 52, Landschaftsschutzzone: no new buildings, no motor traffic. The act has no camping clause; campsites appear only in the list of works that need a permit (art. 91). Cadastre extracts, read on 19 October 2026: Vals parcel 3860 at the summit, Übriges Gemeindegebiet and Ruhezone; parcel 3861 at the Bäralücka, Ruhezone, Übriges Gemeindegebiet and Landwirtschaftszone 1. Baugesetz Vals (PDF), cadastre extract, parcel 3860, cadastre extract, parcel 3861. ↩
  3. Baugesetz der Gemeinde Safien, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 14 March 2005, approved by the cantonal government on 5 December 2005 (RB 1451), last amended by RB 333 of 18 April 2017, listed as binding by the cantonal cadastre for Safiental parcel 1275 below the summit, Übriges Gemeindegebiet and Landschaftsschutzzone. Art. 18 para. 1: campsites only in building zones or a special camping zone; para. 2: "Organisierte, zeitlich befristete Zeltlager können von der Baubehörde bewilligt werden." Art. 38, Landschaftsschutzzone: no new buildings and installations. New Baugesetz Gemeinde Safiental, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 10 February 2026, title page "Von der Regierung genehmigt am:" with no date; art. 35 para. 5: "Zeitlich befristete Zeltlager und einzelne Stellplätze, die keine baulichen Massnahmen erfordern, können vom Gemeindevorstand ausserhalb der Campingzone bewilligt werden." The commune's published list of acts has no police act. Baugesetz Safien (PDF), cadastre extract, parcel 1275, Baugesetz Safiental 2026 (PDF), gemeinde.safiental.ch, Online-Schalter. ↩
  4. Waldordnung der Gemeinde Safien, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 1 June 1999. Art. 24: "Das Campieren im Wald ist verboten. Nichtkommerzielle Zeltlager kann der Waldbesitzer nach Absprache mit den Forstorganen bewilligen." Art. 28: breaches are fined CHF 100 to 5'000, on top of full compensation for damage. Gesetz betreffend Wildruhezonen in der Gemeinde Safien, adopted on 19 December 2011: the zones designated in the local plan may not be entered from 20 December to 30 April, fine CHF 200 to 1'000 (art. 3 and 6); none lies at the summit or at a pitch. Waldordnung Safien (PDF), Gesetz Wildruhezonen Safien (PDF). ↩
  5. Baugesetz der Gemeinde Nufenen, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 15 December 2009, approved by the cantonal government on 16 November 2010 (RB 1054), last amended by RB 22 of 14 January 2014, listed as binding by the cantonal cadastre for Rheinwald parcel 2500 at the head of the Butznertälli, Landwirtschaftszone with the area of water use under the protection and use plan (art. 22a). The act contains no rule on camping, tents, bivouacs or overnight stays. The protection and use plan of the Nufenen hydropower scheme, approved by the cantonal government on 19 May 2009, keeps the Butznertälli free of water use as compensation. Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 5 December 2025, status on the commune's law page on 19 October 2026: "Gemeindeversammlung - Beschwerdeauflage"; title page "Von der Regierung genehmigt am:" with no date. Art. 15 para. 1: "Das Campieren ausserhalb von Zonen mit erlaubter Campingnutzung ist unter Vorbehalt von Abs. 2 nicht gestattet." Art. 99 para. 1: the act enters into force with the cantonal government's approval. Rheinwald has no police act. Wildruhezonenreglement Rheinwald of 16 December 2025: the zones Böschi, Wandfluh-Casanawald and Butzwald are closed from 20 December to 15 April, fixed penalty CHF 150, all in the valley forests. Baugesetz Nufenen (PDF), cadastre extract, parcel 2500, Baugesetz Rheinwald 2025 (PDF), rheinwald.ch, Gesetze, Wildruhezonenreglement (PDF). ↩
  6. Official federal geodata, queried on 19 October 2026. Geographical names: Bärahora, alpine summit, label point LV95 2'737'462.5 / 1'159'816.9; Bäralücka, pass, LV95 2'737'777 / 1'160'828, 2'530 m. Highest point on the 2 m terrain model 2'928.1 m at LV95 2'737'461 / 1'159'817, WGS84 46.57549 / 9.23196; map height 2'929 m. Communes, current-year boundaries: the summit in Vals, 1.8 m from the Safiental boundary; the Vals, Safiental and Rheinwald tripoint about 82 m south-east of the summit, near LV95 2'737'525 / 1'159'766. Terrain: the ground within 30 m of the top averages about 30 degrees and falls about 10 m in the first 30 to 40 m on every side; bare schist debris. Bäralücka grass: LV95 2'737'765 / 1'160'885, WGS84 46.58504 / 9.23624, 2'538 m, 48 m from the path, Vals. Butznertälli bench: LV95 2'738'139 / 1'159'529, WGS84 46.57276 / 9.24071, 2'639 m, 3.6 degrees, 307 m inside Rheinwald, 340 m from the nearest path, 737 m east-south-east of the summit and 289 m lower; the braided stream flat about 58 m away. North-east shoulder, Safiental, about 2'690 to 2'705 m: scree, wet hollows and a tarn not on the map. Tarns about 780 m south-south-west of the summit at 2'693 to 2'698 m. At the summit and at every pitch: no federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone, BLN object, floodplain, mire, amphibian site, dry meadow or forest reserve; the Safiental and Rheinwald points lie in the Naturpark Beverin. The other Bärenhorn: Attinghausen UR, LV95 2'681'326 / 1'181'038, about 2'930 m, between the Spannortgletscher and the Chüefadfirn above the Meiental. map.geo.admin.ch, communes. ↩
  7. Canton of Graubünden: the consolidated texts of the Polizeigesetz (BR 613.000), the Kantonales Jagdgesetz (BR 740.000), the Raumplanungsgesetz (KRG, BR 801.100) and the Kantonales Waldgesetz (BR 920.100) contain no camping, tent or bivouac provision. The Naturpark Beverin, the regional nature park on the Safien and Rheinwald slopes of the Bärenhorn, has no camping rule of its own. gr-lex.gr.ch. ↩
  8. Parc Adula: the national park project needed 13 of its 17 communes and failed at the ballot on 27 November 2016; Vals voted 276 to 63 against. swissinfo.ch: Vals and the Parc Adula, why voters said no. ↩