Wild camping on the Chimmispitz

Wild camping on the Chimmispitz: a wooded top on the cantonal border

Which mountain. The Chimmispitz, 1'814 m, is written Chemispitz on the swisstopo map. It is the wooded top of the ridge between Pfäfers and St. Margrethenberg in St. Gallen and the former commune of Mastrils, now part of Landquart, in Graubünden. The summit point is at LV95 2'757'247 / 1'202'356, WGS84 46.95366 N, 9.50459 E.⁷

The cantonal border runs across the top. The summit point is in Pfäfers, and Landquart begins 0.8 m east and 3.7 m south of it. The northern and western flanks, with the Maton alp, are Pfäfers; the southern and eastern flanks are Landquart. What applies depends on the side you stand on.⁷⁹

The summit is in the forest

Closed spruce forest covers the top. The aerial image shows the summit inside closed spruce forest, and the Pfäfers zoning plan marks the point as forest. Within 30 m of the summit point the median slope is 30.7 degrees, and 53 percent of that ground is steeper than 30 degrees. The few level patches, 18 to 43 m north and north-east and 10 to 15 m lower, lie in the same forest and straddle the cantonal border.⁷³

Open pasture begins lower down. The Maton pasture starts about 130 to 150 m west and south-west of the top. A small building without dwellings stands 64 m north-north-west of the summit, and Wikipedia places an observation post of the Festung Furggels on the north slope.⁷⁹

The flat yard about 220 m north-north-west is not a pitch. It is the trampled yard of the Maton herders' hut, with a stall beside it, and the cattle gather there. Keep a tent away from it.⁷

On the Pfäfers side, no rule names a tent at the summit

Pfäfers has no police regulation. Its communal law collection holds 29 acts, and none is a police or camping rule. Two mention tents: the Kurtaxenreglement, which taxes pitches for tents, caravans and motorhomes, and the Schutzverordnung, the commune's nature-protection ordinance.¹

The Schutzverordnung bans tents in two kinds of zone, and the summit is in neither. Its art. 8 forbids "Lagern, Zelten, Campieren und das Anfachen von Feuer, ausser an den bezeichneten Stellen" in nature reserves, and the cadastre shows no nature reserve on the parcel that holds the summit and the Maton pasture. Its art. 18 adds "zelten, campieren" only for the core area Calfeisental, 9 to 10 km south-west.²³

The summit and the pasture lie in a core habitat area without a camping clause. Both are in a "Lebensraum Kerngebiet" of the Schutzverordnung. Its art. 17 bans buildings, roads, transport installations, extraction, tourist and sports events, motocross, off-road mountain biking, model aircraft and paraglider launches, and says nothing about tents. The commune's own wildlife rest zones under art. 20 do not reach the parcel.²³

St. Gallen adds no ban. The canton's forest, nature-protection, police and minor-offences acts contain no camping or bivouac rule for the public, and the Ortsgemeinde Pfäfers, which runs the alp, has none in its own regulations.⁴

One step east, Landquart bans camping outside its campsites

Landquart's police law covers the whole commune. Its Polizeigesetz applies "auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde Landquart" (art. 1), private ground included, and its art. 13 para. 1 says:⁵

"Das Campieren sowie Aufstellen von Zelten und bewohnten Wohnwagen ist nur auf den vom Gemeindevorstand bezeichneten Campingplätzen zulässig."Polizeigesetz der Gemeinde Landquart, art. 13 para. 1, in force since 1 January 2013. In English: camping and putting up tents and occupied caravans is permitted only on the campsites designated by the municipal executive.

A tent is squarely covered, and a bivvy bag most likely too. The rule names camping as well as putting up a tent. Whether a night in a bivvy bag without a tent counts as "Campieren" is settled by no published text or decision, so treat it as covered. Breaches are fined up to CHF 5'000 (art. 54): up to CHF 100 by the police office, above that by the municipal executive (art. 55). No tariff is published. Only scout and holiday camps can be given other tent sites, with the executive's permission (art. 13 para. 2).⁵

Graubünden adds no camping rule of its own. The cantonal forest act and forest ordinance contain no tent or camping provision, and the cadastre puts the Landquart side of the summit in a forestry zone with no nature-protection zone. The ban that applies is Landquart's.⁵

The wildlife rest zone Chimmiwald, Fürhoptwald: closed in winter

From 27 December to 15 April the Landquart side of the top is closed. The wildlife rest zone "Chimmiwald, Fürhoptwald" (no. 185) is legally binding, covers 187.8 ha and bans entry, with crossing allowed only on the marked route. Its edge runs 0.7 m from the summit point, and the nearest permitted route is 658 m away, so in the protection season the Graubünden side of the summit is off-limits.⁶

The fine in the zone is not spelled out. The federal fixed-fine list prices entering a wildlife rest zone off the permitted routes at CHF 150 (OBV annex 2 no. 12003). This zone rests on a communal decision of 2004, and whether that fixed fine applies to it is not published.⁶

The Maton pasture lies 265 m outside the zone. No federal game reserve lies within about 8 km, and no federal inventory object, park or military area covers the summit or the pasture.⁶⁷

Who runs Alp Maton, and who to ask

The Ortsgemeinde Pfäfers runs the alp. Its own page describes Alp Maton as a heifer alp operated by the Ortsgemeinde: 209 ha in all, 72 ha of pasture, the Säss Maton at 1'757 m, and in summer 1 cow and 113 young cattle and calves. The cadastre does not name the owner of the parcel, so the Ortsgemeinde, as the operator of the ground, is the body to ask.⁸³

No standing permission and no fee are published. The Ortsgemeinde publishes nothing on camping. Write before you go, to info@ortsgemeinde-pfäfers.ch, and say where you want to pitch, for one night, and when.⁸

In season, ask at the alp itself. The Alp Beizli Maton, the alp's small restaurant, is open from early July to mid-August, and the people running it are the practical first contact on the day. For communal rules, the Gemeindeverwaltung Pfäfers answers on +41 81 300 42 42.⁹¹

Where you can sleep: on the Maton pasture, 267 m west

The open pasture west of the summit is the lawful spot, with the alp's okay. The point at 46.95382 N, 9.50110 E (LV95 2'756'981 / 1'202'367), 1'688 m, lies 267 m west of the summit and 125 m lower, on Pfäfers ground in the agricultural zone. The slope is 5.5 degrees at the point and 10.9 degrees in the median within 30 m. No rule of Pfäfers or St. Gallen bars a single night there, and the Landquart boundary is 309 m east.⁷³²

Pitch west or north-west of the point. A cattle trough with converging tracks lies about 75 m south-east, where the marked hiking path crosses the pasture; the path itself passes 51 m away. The inhabited house Maton 1734 stands 207 m north-north-east and the herders' hut about 300 m north-east; do not pitch in the hut's yard. This is open grazed pasture with scattered spruce, below the tree line, and in summer the young cattle are out on it.⁷

More on the neighbouring Pfäfers ground: wild camping on the Vättnerberg and wild camping at the Läger in the Calfeisental. On the other side of the Rhine valley: wild camping on the Vilan. How to read the protected-area layers yourself: protected areas explained.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which near the Chimmispitz means one small pitch on the Maton pasture with the alp's okay. Keep away from the cattle trough and the herders' hut, give the young cattle room and leave nothing behind.

• 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, based on the official and public sources below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement by a public authority.

Communal rules, protection zones, opening dates and contacts change. The owner of the alp parcel is not on public record, and the alp's own rules would add to this text. The ground at the summit and on the pasture was judged from official aerial imagery and the federal elevation model, not surveyed on site. 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 night. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and its consequences. 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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