Wild camping at the Engstlensee: forbidden at the lake, legal over the pass

A nature reserve, not a free lake

Wild camping at the Engstlensee runs into a norm most visitors never see. The lake, its shores and the meadows around it form the cantonal Naturschutzgebiet Engstlensee-Jungibaeche-Achtelsass, protected by the Canton of Bern and governed today by a decree of 3 December 2012 that replaced older protection orders reaching back to 1973¹. Tents have been forbidden here for over fifty years. The decree lists what is banned, and two lines settle this article:

"g) das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen und anderen Unterstaenden; h) das Biwakieren im Freien sowie das Lagern mit Ausnahme von Notsituationen"Schutzbeschluss Engstlensee, Ziff. 4: pitching tents, caravans and other shelters (g), and bivouacking in the open and camping (h), are prohibited, emergencies excepted. Year-round.

There is no altitude loophole and no consent loophole. Fires are allowed only at the marked fireplaces (Ziff. 4 lit. f). And the penalty is not theoretical: a breach of the decree is punishable under the Bern Nature Protection Act (NSchG) Art. 57 with a fine from CHF 100 up to CHF 50'000, and up to CHF 100'000 in severe cases². Pro Natura, which helps look after the site, has documented the reality in plain words: illegal tents and campfires at the lake, and wardens who patrol and fine⁴. This is one of the Bernese spots where the "no" has teeth.

How it is possible: the hotel, or over the pass

The honest answer at the lake is no. But there are two lawful ways to spend the night up here, and they are worth knowing. The first sits right on the shore: Hotel Engstlenalp, family-run since 1892, a proper mountain hotel with beds and a dormitory, open through the season⁹. It is the intended way to wake up to this lake, and it keeps you inside the law rather than dodging a warden.

The second is a walk. Climb north from the lake to the Jochpass, and the far side is a different canton. Over the pass you are in Kerns, canton Obwalden, on the Melchsee-Frutt side, and Obwalden is one of the rare cantons that expressly tolerates a single night's tent above the treeline (GDB 971.4 Art. 8)⁷. A discreet one-night camp on the Obwalden side, above the treeline and away from any wildlife rest zone, therefore stands on a legal footing that the Bern shore of the same walk does not. One pass, two rulebooks.

What the reserve protects, and where its edges run

The Engstlensee reserve is not a token label. Inside its perimeter, which reaches from about 1,400 to over 3,000 metres, sit an alluvial zone and a fen of national importance, alongside the lake itself³. That is why the decree also bans leaving the marked paths in parts of the area, restricts dogs, and reserves any change to the cantonal nature office. The camping ban of Ziff. 4 is the part that touches a visitor most directly, but it sits inside a genuinely protected landscape, which is worth respecting on its own terms.

The commune underneath all this is Innertkirchen (the former Gadmen, merged in 2014), and here is the twist most people get backwards: Innertkirchen has no communal camping rule at all. Its published register carries a building reglement and a zoning plan, but no camping or police prohibition⁵. So the ban at the Engstlensee is not the commune's doing. It is the cantonal reserve, and the reserve alone. Step outside the reserve perimeter, and the communal silence is what remains, the same pattern as most Bernese spots.

What the maps say

I checked the official geodata at the lake and the alp, point by point⁶. No federal hunting-ban district at the lake: the nearest, the Hutstock district, sits about four kilometres north around its summit, on the Obwalden side. No BLN inventory at the shore. The decisive layer here is not federal at all, it is the cantonal reserve, which the federal aggregate maps do not show, and which is exactly why a quick map glance undersells this spot as "just another alp lake".

The boundary check also settles the escape route. The lake, the hotel and the Jochpass saddle itself are all Innertkirchen, canton Bern. Immediately north over the pass is Kerns, canton Obwalden; the ridge to the southeast, the Jochstock, is Wolfenschiessen in Nidwalden. So the legal Obwalden ground begins a short climb north of the lake, not at the water. For the wider logic of Swiss camping law, see our national overview, and for a Bernese lake where the "no" also carries a real fine, the Bachalpsee.

Where you can legally sleep

• Hotel Engstlenalp, on the lake at 1,850 m, beds and dormitory, open through the season: the night this lake is made for⁹.
• A tent over the Jochpass in Obwalden, above the treeline, away from any wildlife rest zone, one night, no fire: legal on the far side under Obwalden law⁷.
• Melchsee-Frutt lodging over the pass, if you would rather have a roof on the Obwalden side.
• Camping Aareschlucht in Innertkirchen, the valley campsite down the Gental toll road, the designed answer for a tent in this commune.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, on the Obwalden side of the Jochpass too. It is not legal text, but decency and common sense, and in a reserve like this it is also self-preservation.

• No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains, and in this reserve it is banned outside the marked fireplaces without exception. 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 off the marked paths only where you are allowed.

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. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

Reserve boundaries, cantonal rules, alpine operators' rules and enforcement practice can change. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself, respect the reserve, and follow instructions on site. 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.

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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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