As of: 17 September 2026

Wild camping in the Erstfeldertal

The Erstfeldertal is the long side valley above Erstfeld in Uri: forest and farms with a toll road to Bodenberge, then a granite head basin with the Kröntenhütte, the Fulensee moors and the Krönten walls. A valley is not a pitch, so this report answers for its head, the shelf above the hut. There no rule bans a night, and the owner says yes in advance. What you must not touch is the bog.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked in September 2026 · Published 17 September 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.

What the Erstfeldertal is: forest and farms to 1'570 m, then a granite basin with a hut and a bog

Wild camping in the Erstfeldertal is a question about a valley, and a valley has no verdict: it has a road end, alps, a treeline and one place above it where a night would happen. From Erstfeld station at 472 m the valley road climbs through closed forest and past farmed alps to Bodenberge at 1'001 m, where it ends; the goat alp Chüeplangg and the Frutt dry meadows follow, and the closed forest tops out at about 1'570 m on both flanks. Below that line the ground is forest, farms and a toll road, and this series does not send anyone to sleep there. Above it the Fulensee step at 1'705 m opens the head basin: glacially polished granite, boulder fields, dwarf pine, a lake with a raised bog, the Kröntenhütte SAC at 1'903 m on its plateau, and the Krönten and Fulen walls behind.810

The pin is the federal gazetteer's own anchor for the valley name, LV95 2'686'908 / 1'184'199, 1'885 m, at Hüendergand, 381 m north-north-east of the hut and 930 m east-south-east of the lake. It is a bare granite slab on the lip of a rock step, 27 degrees at fine scale: not a pitch. What the shelf around it offers is small: of 529 cells in a 300 m box, 29 are under 10 degrees, and at 12.5 m resolution the usable ones shrink to two or three one-tent grass benches between the dwarf pines and the boulder field south of the pin. That is the same shape as the Bälmeten above Erstfeld, where the summit cell is rock and the pitch is 70 m away; the verdict describes the shelf, not the slab.8

Would anyone sleep here? Yes: the Kröntenhütte fills with climbers and the Päuggenegg path crosses the shelf 164 m from the pin. And the terrain gate passes: above the treeline, off the road, no farm in sight, the hut out of sight behind the rock step. So the question is the law, and in Uri the law is read at four levels, federal, cantonal, communal and the landowner's, because the camping norm can live at any of them.

No norm at any level, and a landowner who says yes in advance

Uri has no cantonal camping ban of general application. What it has is a tariff: the fixed-penalty regulation prices "Lagern, Zelten oder Campieren in Schutzzonen" at CHF 150, expressly "in Verbindung mit dem jeweiligen Reglement", and the nature-protection act behind it fines only breaches of Schutzmassnahmen, which the government enacts per object. The tariff is parasitic: it bites only where a protection regulation bans the conduct. So the question is whether such a regulation exists for the Fulensee. Every act in the Rechtsbuch from RB 10.5100 to 10.5159 was requested by number, 23 exist, and none names the Fulensee, the Erstfeldertal or the Krönten; Erstfeld's two protection regulations, Wilerschachen and Scheidnössli, are both on the valley floor. The regulations that do ban tents, the Urnersee south shore, the Maderanertal and the Unteralptal, spell out "zu lagern, zu zelten und zu campieren", which is the control: Uri writes the ban when it means one. The canton's only camping act, of 1961, regulates commercial campsites and says nothing about a night outside one; the police, forest and hunting acts carry no camping word either.2

Erstfeld adds nothing. Its Rechtssammlung of 28 acts was downloaded and read in full: no police regulation, no camping regulation, no tent, camp or bivouac word anywhere. The visitor-tax regulation taxes paid beds and exempts "Personen, die unentgeltlich in Erstfeld übernachten"; the building and zoning ordinance lists the moor objects "zur Information" with the measures columns blank, because they are the canton's to fill. Erstfeld is not among the five Uri communes the government named in November 2025 as having their own rules, and on 18 March 2026 the cantonal parliament ordered a cantonal act that keeps wild camping allowed and lets communes close specific areas; no draft has been published.412

The ground belongs to Korporation Uri: the land register shows parcel 298, 43 square kilometres from the Fulensee to the Schlossberg glacier, in its name, and the hut parcel in the SAC Sektion Gotthard's. The corporation publishes its position on its own page, re-read on 17 September 2026:1

"Im Kanton Uri besteht kein generelles Verbot für Wildcamping. Auf Gebiet der Korporation Uri ist das Campieren somit grundsätzlich erlaubt und muss nicht angemeldet werden."Korporation Uri, page "Wildcampieren": there is no general wild-camping ban in Uri; on the corporation's ground camping is permitted in principle and needs no registration.

Its conditions are the ones this series would write anyway: obey the rules in nature and landscape protection zones, spare the pasture, contact the Älpler if you are near a farm, tell the corporation if you stay more than three nights or come with more than ten people, pack out your rubbish, leave the place tidy. Its closed list of bans names only Göschenen and the Seewlisee, and its own eight-sheet map of tent bans on its ground, which draws the Reuss delta, the Chärstelenbach floodplains, the Urnerboden and five more, leaves the Erstfeldertal out. That list is stale for four other communes that have since adopted rules, which the Nidersee report in this series explains; it is not stale for Erstfeld, which has none.14

The Fulensee moors: three federal inventories, no regulation yet, and a line 114 m from the pin

The head basin is triple-listed. The Fulensee is a mire landscape of national importance, object 110, 158.9 hectares; a raised bog of national importance, object 438, 13.6 hectares; and a fen of national importance, object 2760, 2.3 hectares. Their geometry was pulled with the federal identify service and bisected: the mire landscape covers the whole basin south-west of a line that runs north-west to south-east just under the Hüendergand shelf, with the Kröntenhütte 248 m inside it and the pin 114 m outside; the raised bog's nearest polygon is 445 m from the pin, the fen 408 m from the pin and 217 m from the hut. Every flat cell on the shelf lies outside the mire-landscape line, by 11 to 148 m.5

What those listings do is bind the canton, not the camper. The three federal ordinances tell the cantons to protect the objects, keep them "ungeschmälert", guard the bogs "vor Trittschäden" and subordinate tourism and recreation to the protection goal; none names a tent or carries a fine of its own. The federal penalty that does exist is the nature-protection act's Art. 24: imprisonment or a monetary penalty for destroying or seriously damaging a protected biotope, a fine of up to CHF 40'000 for doing it negligently. That is a norm about wrecking the bog, not about sleeping 400 m from it, and it is the reason the article says: not on the Hochmoor, not on the fen, not on the floating turf at the lake.6

The cantonal instrument that would turn the listings into a camping rule does not exist yet. Uri's structure plan has carried "Erstfeld, Erstfeldertal (inkl. Moorlandschaft)" as a protection regulation to be enacted since 2019, and the canton's own inventory sheets for the mire landscape, the raised bogs and the valley landscape, all dated May 2020, say the same in one line: "Erlass eines Schutzreglementes ... in welchem sämtliche Schutzmassnahmen, aber auch die Tourismus- und Freizeitnutzung detailliert geregelt werden." The cadastre confirms the gap from the other side: the cantonal protection-measure layers are empty at the pin, the hut, the lake and the cells, with the Golzernsee returning its regulation as the positive control, and the extract for the hut parcel, which sits inside the mire landscape, lists "Schutzmassnahmen für Natur- und Landschaftsschutzobjekte nationaler und regionaler Bedeutung" among 56 themes not concerned. A canton-wide regulation on moors and dry meadows was put on public display in July 2022 and has not appeared in the Rechtsbuch since; whether it was withdrawn or is still pending could not be established. So today the CHF 150 has nothing to attach to. The day the Erstfeldertal regulation is enacted, this article changes.37

What the other layers say: reserve, rest zone, spring water, the alp, the hunt

At the pin the federal sweep returns nothing else: no game reserve, the Urirotstock reserve begins 5.1 km away; no wildlife rest zone within 7 km; no BLN object within 4 km; no floodplain, amphibian site, forest reserve, park or military perimeter, with the invalid-layer control returning HTTP 400 and the positive control hitting the Kiental reserve on every run. The dry meadows of national importance at Frutt, 678 m below the pin on the Chüeplangg route, are a farming inventory with no camper's fine.5

Two overlays shape the pitch without banning it. The cadastre draws a provisional summary groundwater protection zone, "Schattig Boden", over the pin and the hollows west of it: a spring catchment on the shelf, no camping clause in any Uri act, but the reason the named pitch lies outside it and the reason not to wash or dig anywhere near the hollows. And the alp register puts the hut and the lake inside the small-stock pasture "Erstfeldertal" of the Korporation, whose Älpler is the person to call if you camp near the animals; the shelf lies 187 m outside that perimeter. The hunting ordinance keeps hunters 200 m from SAC huts; the pin is 381 m out, and the high hunt's first block runs to 19 September, the second from 28 to 30 September 2026.711

  • The Hüendergand shelf, one night, outside the moor line. Two or three one-tent grass benches between dwarf pines and granite: the ledge at LV95 2'686'958 / 1'184'212, 1'894 m, 52 m east of the pin along the foot of the pines, 159 m clear of the mire-landscape line, 16 m outside the spring zone, 216 m from the path, 412 m from the hut and out of its sight; and the more level bench at 2'686'933 / 1'184'049, 1'917 m, five to six degrees at every scale, 70 m off the path, 260 m from the hut, outside the spring zone and the alp perimeter, but only 11 m outside the mire-landscape line, which at inventory precision means on it. Take the ledge if you want to be clearly outside; take the bench if you want level ground and keep the tent on the granite side. Not the pin, a slab; not the hollows west of it, spring catchment and dwarf-pine scrub.85
  • Not on the moor, anywhere. The lake, its floating turf, the raised bog 445 m from the pin, the fen 217 m from the hut, and the basin south-west of the line: federal law punishes damaging them, the canton's regulation is coming, and the whole point of the shelf is that it is granite.63
  • Not on the hut's plateau or its meadow. The flattest ground in the basin is the meadow 84 m from the Kröntenhütte, inside the mire landscape and on the hut's doorstep. The hut publishes no tent policy; the courtesy call costs nothing, 041 880 01 22, and the SAC's own leaflet asks you not to camp close to huts without asking.9
  • The hut. Kröntenhütte SAC, 1'903 m, SAC Sektion Gotthard, 76 beds in 11 rooms, wardens Irene Aeberhard and Ueli Arnold, summer season 4 June to 27 September 2026, overnight CHF 40, SAC members CHF 26, half board CHF 90 / 76, visitor tax CHF 1; reservation online or by phone.9
  • Not the lower valley. Erstfeld to Bodenberge is forest, farmed alps and a road with a CHF 20 day permit and a rockfall section at Resti; the Chüeplangg goat alp above it is a working farm, Älpler Felix Bissig, 079 205 97 54. Below 1'570 m the night is somebody's pasture, not a wild camp. Nearest tent campsite: Camping Windsurfing Urnersee in Flüelen, April to October; Remo Camping in Altdorf takes no tents.1011
  • Getting there. No bus enters the valley. From Erstfeld station about 4 h on foot, or Alpentaxi Uri (079 665 58 81) to Bodenberge and 2 h 30 to 3 h 30 by the Geissfad, or 3 to 4 h by the Chüeplangg and the Fulensee; the pin is 380 m above the hut on the Päuggenegg side. Fire: a ban in the forest and within 50 m of it has stood since 25 August 2026, the shelf's dwarf-pine patches count as scrub forest, so stove only, and check the cantonal fire-danger page before you go. Water from the Fulbach and the tarns, filtered; nothing in the spring-zone hollows.1011

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which in the Erstfeldertal means the granite shelf above the hut and nowhere on the moor. It is not legal text, but decency and common sense, and next to a mire landscape whose protection regulation is still being written it is also what decides whether the corporation's yes survives the next draft.

  • 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 September 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.

Cantonal acts, communal regulations, the landowner's position and hut seasons change, and this valley is a candidate for change: a cantonal protection regulation for the Erstfeldertal including the mire landscape has been on Uri's structure plan since 2019, a canton-wide moor regulation was put on display in 2022 without appearing in the law collection, and a cantonal wild-camping act was ordered by the parliament in March 2026. The cadastre extract for the 43 km² parcel could not be obtained and the cantonal layers were read point by point instead; the mire-landscape boundary is inventory geometry at 1:25'000. 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 in the Erstfeldertal?
One night at the head of the valley, yes. No federal inventory reaches the Hüendergand shelf above the Kröntenhütte, canton Uri has no general camping norm and no protection regulation in force for the Fulensee moors, the commune of Erstfeld has no camping or police regulation, and the landowner, Korporation Uri, publishes a standing permission for up to three nights without registration. The moor itself, the hut's surroundings and the farmed lower valley are where you do not pitch.
What is the fine?
None reaches a tent on the shelf. Uri's fixed penalty of CHF 150 for camping in protected zones applies only in connection with a protection regulation that bans it, and none exists for the Erstfeldertal. What does exist is the federal nature-protection act's Art. 24, which punishes destroying or seriously damaging a protected biotope such as the Fulensee raised bog, with a fine of up to CHF 40'000 if done negligently: a reason to stay off the moor, not a camping tariff.
Where exactly is the moor landscape boundary?
114 m south-west of the pin, running north-west to south-east under the shelf. The mire landscape of national importance Fulensee covers the whole basin on the lake side of that line, including the Kröntenhütte, which is 248 m inside it. The named ledge is 159 m outside the line, the level bench 11 m outside, which at 1:25'000 inventory precision means on it. The raised bog starts 445 m from the pin, the fen 217 m from the hut.
Can I camp next to the Kröntenhütte?
Not without asking, and the hut publishes no rule. The hut and its meadow stand inside the mire landscape, the flattest ground in the basin is on its doorstep, and the SAC's own leaflet asks people not to camp close to huts or grazed alps without asking. The wardens are reachable on 041 880 01 22; no fee, corner or arrangement for tents is documented, and the summer season ends on 27 September 2026.
Will this change?
Probably, and the article says when. Uri's structure plan has listed a protection regulation for the Erstfeldertal including the mire landscape since 2019, the canton's inventory sheets of 2020 call for one, a canton-wide moor regulation was put on display in July 2022 and has not surfaced since, and in March 2026 the parliament ordered a cantonal wild-camping act with communal opt-out zones. On 17 September 2026 none of them was in force. Check the Rechtsbuch and the corporation's page before you plan a trip on this report.
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. Landowner. Grundbuchauskunft Uri, parcel Erstfeld 298, read 17 September 2026: "Liegenschaft Nr. 298 ... 43'042'153 m² ... Eigentümer Korporation Uri, UID CHE-116.071.058, Gotthardstrasse 3, 6460 Altdorf UR"; named localities on the parcel include Fulensee, Obersee, Frutt, Hinteren Bänder, Wischflüe, Firnplanggen and Schlossberggletscher; land cover Fels 12'726'680 m², geschlossener Wald 12'357'465 m², Gletscher/Firn 6'414'084 m², Acker/Wiese/Weide 4'775'751 m², Geröll 4'771'168 m², Hoch-/Flachmoor 80'754 m², See 63'475 m². Parcel Erstfeld 898, "Obersee", 295 m²: "Eigentümer SAC Sektion Gotthard, UID CHE-100.210.489". Korporation Uri, page "Wildcampieren", re-read 17 September 2026: "Im Kanton Uri besteht kein generelles Verbot für Wildcamping. Auf Gebiet der Korporation Uri ist das Campieren somit grundsätzlich erlaubt und muss nicht angemeldet werden. Jedoch raten wir dazu, sich vorgängig über alles Notwendige und eventuelle Verbote zu informieren."; conditions: "In Natur- und Landschaftsschutzzonen sind die entsprechenden Regelungen einzuhalten. Das Weideland ist zu schonen", "Auf privaten Strassen ist die passende Bewilligung einzuholen", "Ist der gewählte Platz in der Nähe eines landwirtschaftlichen Betriebes, ist mit dem Älpler/der Älplerin Kontakt aufzunehmen", "Ist der Aufenthalt länger als 3 Nächte oder mit mehr als 10 Personen, sind wir vorgängig zu informieren", rubbish in fee bags to the next collection point, place left tidy, no liability; closed list "In der Gemeinde Göschenen ist das wilde Campieren verboten" and "Im Gebiet rund um den Seewlisee ist das Wildcampieren grundsätzlich verboten". The corporation's map set "Zeltverbot" (eight A4 sheets, 2020, modified 2023): Reussdelta, Auengebiete Chärstelenbach, Urnerboden, Brunnen/Fliessmatt, Gitschenen, Wilerschachen, Bäz, Aue Rüti am Vorderschächen; the Erstfeldertal is not on it. Korporation Uri, Gotthardstrasse 3, 6460 Altdorf, 041 874 70 90, mail@korporation.ch. geo.ur.ch (Grundbuchauskunft 298), korporation.ch, Zeltverbot map (PDF). ↩
  2. Canton Uri, law collection, enumerated on 17 September 2026. Reglement über die Erhebung von Ordnungsbussen (OBR), RB 3.9223, in force 1 July 2009, annex section 2 Umwelt- und Naturschutz, Ziff. 2.1: "Lagern, Zelten oder Campieren in Schutzzonen (Art. 34 Abs. 1 Bst. a des Gesetzes über den Natur- und Heimatschutz, RB 10.5101 in Verbindung mit dem jeweiligen Reglement) 150 Franken"; Ziff. 2.3: breach of a fire ban in protected zones outside designated rest places, CHF 100, same construction. Gesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz, RB 10.5101, of 18 October 1987: Art. 10 Abs. 1 ("Schutzmassnahmen für Schutzobjekte von nationaler und regionaler Bedeutung erlässt der Regierungsrat, solche für Schutzobjekte von lokaler Bedeutung die betreffende Gemeinde."), Art. 19 Abs. 1 ("Das Schutzinventar hat hinweisenden Charakter."), Art. 34 Abs. 1 ("Mit Busse bis zu 5'000 Franken wird bestraft, wer vorsätzlich oder grobfahrlässig: a) Schutzmassnahmen zuwiderhandelt"); no camping term in the act (controls Artikel 59, Kanton 45). Every number from RB 10.5100 to 10.5159 requested from the Rechtsbuch API: 23 acts exist (10.5101, 10.5105, 10.5106, 10.5110 to 10.5122, 10.5126, 10.5127, 10.5131 to 10.5135); full-text scan for "Fulensee", "Erstfeldertal" and "Krönten": zero hits in every act; Erstfeld's protection regulations are RB 10.5115 Wilerschachen (21 June 2011) and RB 10.5135 Scheidnössli (11 June 2024), both on the valley floor. Positive controls on drafting: RB 10.5110 Südufer Urnersee (lagern 12, zelt 3, campier 3), RB 10.5111 Maderanertal/Fellital (zelt 9, campier 6), RB 10.5132 Unteralptal, in force 1 January 2026 (zelt 3, campier 3, lagern 3). Verordnung über Errichtung und Betrieb von öffentlichen Zeltplätzen, RB 70.2431 (12 June 1961, version of 1 June 1995), Art. 1 Abs. 1 (scope: public campsites "welche regelmässig und gewerbsmässig zur Verfügung gestellt werden"), Art. 15 (fine CHF 5 to 200); no word on a night outside a campsite. Read in full with zero camping terms: Polizeigesetz RB 3.8111, Polizeireglement RB 3.8127, Kantonale Waldverordnung RB 40.2111, Kantonales Waldreglement RB 40.2115, Jagdverordnung RB 40.3111, Jagdbetriebsvorschriften RB 40.3121 (Art. 7 Abs. 1 lit. c: no hunting "im Abstand von 200 m zu SAC-Hütten und öffentlichen Berghütten mit Übernachtungsmöglichkeit"). rechtsbuch.ur.ch (OBR), rechtsbuch.ur.ch (RB 10.5101), rechtsbuch.ur.ch (RB 70.2431). ↩
  3. The planned regulation. Richtplan Uri, Kapitel 6.1 Landschaft und Biodiversität, version of 4 September 2019, measure: "Der Kanton erlässt für die folgenden Landschaftsschutzgebiete und alpine Ruhegebiete Schutzreglemente: ... Erstfeld, Erstfeldertal (inkl. Moorlandschaft), Festsetzung". Kantonales Schutzinventar, Amt für Raumentwicklung Uri, sheets of 26 May 2020, each stamped "Technische Kopie: keine Rechtswirkung": LS.1206.01 "Moorlandschaft inkl. Wasserfall Fulensee/Obersee" (national, parcels 298 and 898; "Die Landschaft ist intakt, mit Ausnahme der Kröntenhütte sind keine Bauten und Anlagen vorhanden."), NS.1206.01 "Hochmoore Fulensee/Obersee" (national, parcel 298; "Durch das Objekt führt der Wanderweg Richtung Kröntenhütte."), LS.1206.02 "Landschaft Erstfeldertal inkl. Bachläufe und Wassefälle" (regional); identical Schutzmassnahmen line on all three: "Erlass eines Schutzreglementes (als Bestandteil des Landschaftsschutzgebietes Erstfeldertal), in welchem sämtliche Schutzmassnahmen, aber auch die Tourismus- und Freizeitnutzung detailliert geregelt werden; Abschluss von Naturschutzverträgen für die allfällig notwendige Bewirtschaftung und Nutzung der Moore." Amtsblatt Uri Nr. 28 of 15 July 2022, p. 1176: "Der Regierungsrat legt, gestützt auf Artikel 10 des Gesetzes vom 18. Oktober 1987 über den Natur- und Heimatschutz (NHG; RB 10.5101), das Reglement über den Schutz der Moore und der Trockenwiesen und -weiden im Kanton Uri am 15. Juli 2022 öffentlich auf"; no act of that title in the Rechtsbuch on 17 September 2026 and no measure from it in the cadastre at the Fulensee. No draft, consultation or display of an Erstfeldertal regulation found on ur.ch, in the Amtsblatt or on erstfeld.ch. Richtplan 6.1 (PDF), LS.1206.01 (PDF), Amtsblatt 28/2022 (PDF). ↩
  4. Commune of Erstfeld, Rechtssammlung, 30 entries and 28 unique acts, all downloaded, de-hyphenated and scanned with per-file control terms on 17 September 2026 (every file has a text layer, Artikel / Gemeinde / Erstfeld non-zero in each): Gemeindeordnung 2019, BVV, GVV, Entschädigungs-, Personal- and Gemeindewerke-Verordnung, Verordnung Spannort, Feuerwehr-, Hundeverordnung, Reglement Notorganisation, Freizeit-, Gesundheits-, Jugend- and Energiestadtkommission, Benutzungsreglement ESC, Tarifordnung Pfaffenmatt, Verordnung and Tarifreglement Parkieren, Reglement Erschliessungsstrasse Erstfeld-Bodenberge, Bau- und Zonenordnung, Verordnung Ersatzabgabe Abstellplätze, Verordnung Schutz von Trinkwasserquellen, Verordnung Wasserversorgung, Friedhof-, Markt- and Kurtaxenreglement, Reglement Beiträge an Seilbahnen. Across the collection: Zelt 0, Campier 0, Lagern 0, Biwak 0, Nächtig 0; "Camping" only as Campinganlagen (BZO Art. 21) and Campingplätze (Kurtaxenreglement Art. 3); Wohnwagen and Wohnmobil only in the parking ordinance. Kurtaxenreglement of 20 November 2013: Art. 1 Abs. 2 ("Gast ist jede Person mit auswärtigem Wohnsitz, die in der Gemeinde Erstfeld gegen Entgelt übernachtet."), Art. 2 lit. e exempts "Personen, die unentgeltlich in Erstfeld übernachten", Art. 3 Abs. 2 (CHF 1 for camps, group lodgings, campsites, sleeping in straw, SAC huts), Art. 8 Abs. 1 (fine up to CHF 1'000). Bau- und Zonenordnung of 1 June 2017, version of 26 June 2023, Art. 29 Abs. 3: "Rechtskräftige nationale und regionale Natur- und Landschaftsschutzzonen, Ortsbilder sowie Natur- und Kulturobjekte, für die der Bund bzw. der Kanton zuständig ist, werden im Nutzungsplan zur Information aufgeführt (siehe Anhänge 3 - 7)."; annex 3 lists NS.1206.01 and NS.1206.22, annex 4 LS.1206.01 and LS.1206.02, with the Schutzziel, Schutzmassnahmen and Pflegemassnahmen columns blank; Art. 27 Reservezonen (a building rule). No Polizeireglement, no Campingverordnung, no notice on wild camping 2024 to 2026. Gemeindekanzlei Erstfeld, Gotthardstrasse 99, 6472 Erstfeld, 041 882 01 30, gemeindekanzlei@erstfeld.ch. erstfeld.ch (Rechtssammlung), Kurtaxenreglement (PDF), BZO Erstfeld (PDF). ↩
  5. Official federal geodata, queried 17 September 2026 with tolerance 0 at the pin LV95 2'686'908 / 1'184'199 (gazetteer "Tal Erstfeldertal (UR)", 1'884.7 m) and at the Fulensee label point 2'686'006 / 1'184'415 (1'705.1 m, on the water), invalid-layer control HTTP 400 on every run, positive control at 2'626'000 / 1'154'500 returning game reserve Kiental. At the pin: game reserves, wildlife rest zones, parks, BLN, floodplains, fens, raised bogs, mire landscapes, amphibian sites, Ramsar, Emerald, forest reserves, national wildlife corridors and the military plan all return no object; ÖREB cadastre introduced, parcel Erstfeld 298, EGRID CH767907465786. At the lake: HIT raised bog 438 Fulensee (open-water polygon) and HIT mire landscape 110 Fulensee. Geometries (6 km envelope, returnGeometry=true) and bisected distances: Moorlandschaft 110 Fulensee, one polygon of 94 vertices, 158.9 ha, north-eastern boundary from 2'686'478 / 1'184'265 over 2'686'732 / 1'184'218, 2'686'855 / 1'184'089, 2'686'945 / 1'184'027 and 2'687'010 / 1'183'963 to 2'687'129 / 1'183'842; pin 114 m outside (edge point 2'686'825 / 1'184'120, bearing 226), Kröntenhütte 248 m inside, cells 2'686'758 / 1'184'249 41 m outside, 2'686'858 / 1'184'274 130 m, 2'686'933 / 1'184'049 11 m, 2'686'958 / 1'184'212 159 m. Hochmoor 438 Fulensee, 7 polygons, 13.58 ha (Hochmoorfläche 2.54 ha, Umfeld 11.04 ha): nearest polygon 445 m from the pin, 446 m from the hut. Flachmoor 2760 Fulensee, 2.34 ha: 408 m from the pin, 217 m from the hut. Dry meadows: Frutt 10186 (9.2 ha) 678 m, Hinteren Bänder 10185 1'166 m, Wischflüe 10403 1'492 m. Nearest game reserve Urirotstock 5'063 m (Fellital 6'811 m); nearest wildlife rest zones Uf der Laui-Schafschild (OW) 7'344 m and Lattenwald-Gampelen (UR) 7'786 m; nearest BLN 1606 Vierwaldstättersee 4'475 m. api3.geo.admin.ch, object sheet 110 (PDF). ↩
  6. Federal moor law. Moorlandschaftsverordnung, SR 451.35, object 110 Fulensee (Erstfeld, 158.94 ha, survey 1996, revision 2017): Art. 4 Abs. 1 lit. a ("ist die Landschaft vor Veränderungen zu schützen, welche die Schönheit oder die nationale Bedeutung der Moorlandschaft beeinträchtigen"), Art. 5 Abs. 1 ("Die Kantone treffen nach Anhören der Betroffenen ... die zum Erreichen der Schutzziele erforderlichen Schutz- und Unterhaltsmassnahmen.") and Abs. 2 lit. e (the cantons see to it that "die touristische Nutzung und die Nutzung zur Erholung mit den Schutzzielen in Einklang stehen"). Hochmoorverordnung, SR 451.32, object 438 Fulensee (13.58 ha, survey 1991): Art. 4 ("Die Objekte müssen ungeschmälert erhalten werden"), Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. i ("die Moore vor Trittschäden geschützt werden") and lit. k ("die touristische und die Erholungsnutzung dem Schutzziel untergeordnet werden"). Flachmoorverordnung, SR 451.33, object 2760 Fulensee (2.34 ha, survey 1994). Word-boundary scans of all three consolidated texts: Zelt, Campier, Lager, Biwak, Übernacht, Betreten, Busse all zero, control "Erholung" 1 each. Bundesgesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz, SR 451, Art. 23c Abs. 2 ("Die Kantone sorgen für die Konkretisierung und Durchsetzung der Schutzziele. Sie treffen rechtzeitig die zweckmässigen Schutz- und Unterhaltsmassnahmen."), Art. 23d Abs. 1, Art. 24 Abs. 1 lit. a ("Mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu einem Jahr oder Geldstrafe wird bestraft, wer vorsätzlich und ohne Berechtigung: a. ein aufgrund dieses Gesetzes geschütztes Natur- oder Kulturdenkmal, eine geschützte geschichtliche Stätte, eine geschützte Naturlandschaft oder ein geschütztes Biotop zerstört oder schwer beschädigt") and Abs. 2 ("Handelt der Täter fahrlässig, so ist die Strafe Busse bis zu 40 000 Franken."). fedlex.admin.ch (SR 451.35), fedlex.admin.ch (SR 451.32), fedlex.admin.ch (NHG). ↩
  7. Cadastre and cantonal layers, canton Uri (geo.ur.ch WMS, invalid-layer control returns a ServiceExceptionReport, positive control at the Golzernsee returns RB 10.5111 in the cantonal protection-measure layer), queried 17 September 2026 at the pin, the Kröntenhütte, the Fulensee and the candidate cells: "rechtskräftige Schutzmassnahmen nat./reg." (cantonal and via Nutzungsplanung) and "Schutzmassnahmen lokal": no feature at any point; Grundnutzung: Wald (hinweisend) at the pin, Reservezone unproduktiv at the hut and the cells, Gewässer at the lake; no overlaying or object-related designation; cantonal Schutzinventar (hinweisend): LS.1206.02 at the pin and cells, LS.1206.01 and NS.1206.01 added at the hut and the lake; groundwater protection zones: "Schattig Boden", summarische Schutzzone, provisorisch, 86'792 m² (E 2'686'692 to 2'686'953, N 1'184'079 to 1'184'594), covering the pin and cells 2'686'758 / 1'184'249, 2'686'858 / 1'184'274 and 2'686'858 / 1'184'299, not the hut (258 m outside), not cell 2'686'933 / 1'184'049 (56 m outside) nor 2'686'958 / 1'184'212 (16 m outside); static forest boundaries, forest reserves, watercourse space, protective forest, cantonal rest zones and cantonal game reserves: no feature (no positive control available for these; the federal layers, which have controls, agree). ÖREB extract for the hut parcel 898 (inside the mire landscape), obtained in 4.2 s: two concerned themes (Gemeindliche Nutzungsplanung, Reservezone unproduktiv; Gewässerschutzbereich Au, RRB 2014-470) and 56 not concerned, among them "Schutzmassnahmen für Natur- und Landschaftsschutzobjekte nationaler und regionaler Bedeutung" and "... lokaler Bedeutung". ÖREB extract for parcel 298 (43.0 km²): timed out at 300 s and 900 s in JSON and PDF; Uri extracts carry no geometry. Alp register: hut and lake inside alp "Erstfeldertal" 1206/57/2, Kleinviehweide, 34'757 a; pin 187 m outside every alp perimeter, "Kuhplangg" 1206/53/1 426 m. geo.ur.ch (Grundbuchauskunft 898), ur.ch (Schutzinventar). ↩
  8. Terrain, 17 September 2026 (swissALTI3D via the profile service at 25, 12.5 and 6.25 m, swissimage orthophoto at 0.17 to 0.25 m per pixel, swissTLM3D forest and paths via the federal WMS with a ServiceExceptionReport control): closed forest ("Wald", code 12) in the upper Erstfeldertal tops out at about 1'570 m (highest sampled forest pixel 1'573 m on the Sulzwald flank, 1'535 m on the Bodenberg/Frutt side); scrub forest ("Gebüschwald", dwarf pine and green alder) in patches to about 2'090 m; no forest polygon at the pin. Pin cell 18.6 degrees at 25 m, 27.4 at 12.5 m, 27.6 at 6.25 m: a bare granite slab on the lip of a rock step, sight line to the hut blocked at 220 m; marked path 164 m away. 300 m box: 529 cells, median 24.7 degrees, 29 under 10. Candidate cells: 2'686'758 / 1'184'249 (1'846 m; 4.0 degrees at 25 m but 12.5 to 12.8 at finer scale, a clearing in dwarf-pine scrub at a boulder field, Gebüschwald, wet hollow, inside the spring zone, 408 m from the hut in sight); 2'686'858 / 1'184'274 (1'863 m; 4.5 / 8.3 / 7.1 degrees, grass clearing at the Gebüschwald edge, pond 40 m north, inside the spring zone, 440 m from the hut, sight line blocked); 2'686'933 / 1'184'049 (1'917 m; 5.1 / 5.6 / 6.2 degrees, grass with scattered dwarf pines at the west edge of a large boulder field, 70 m from the path, 148 m outside the alp perimeter, 56 m outside the spring zone, 260 m from the hut with the sight line blocked, 11 m outside the mire-landscape line); 2'686'958 / 1'184'212 (1'894 m; 0.2 degrees at 12.5 m, 11.4 at 6.25 m, 7.6 at 25 m, a one-tent grass ledge along the foot of the dwarf pines 52 m east of the pin, 159 m clear of the mire-landscape line, 16 m outside the spring zone, 216 m from the path, 412 m from the hut, sight line blocked); 2'687'008 / 1'184'099 (3.2 degrees at 12.5 m, 17.7 at 6.25 m, too rocky); 2'687'233 / 1'184'024 (0.5 degrees, on the marked Päuggenegg path). Inside the mire landscape the flattest ground is the meadow 84 m north-east of the hut (1.5 degrees, 2'686'858 / 1'183'862) and the hut plateau. api3.geo.admin.ch (profile), map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  9. Kröntenhütte SAC, 1'903 m, SAC Sektion Gotthard, read 17 September 2026: 76 beds in 11 rooms, hut telephone 041 880 01 22, off-season 079 786 65 94, info@kroentenhuette.com, online reservation via hut-reservation.org; wardens since October 2025 Irene Aeberhard and Ueli Arnold (after Irene and Markus Wirsch, 46 years); season 2026: spring 12 March to 10 April, summer 4 June to 27 September; prices (list of 18 December 2025): overnight SAC member CHF 26 (CHF 76 with half board), non-member CHF 40 (CHF 90 with half board), youth 12 to 17 CHF 21, sleeping-bag liner rental CHF 5, self-catering surcharge CHF 8, visitor tax CHF 1 per person and night; no WLAN, mobile reception about 20 minutes from the hut. The hut's pages and PDFs contain no word on Zelt, Biwak or Camping. SAC Merkblatt "Campieren und Biwakieren in den Schweizer Bergen" (guidance, not law): "Ansonsten ist eine einzelne Übernachtung einer kleinen Anzahl Personen im Gebirge oberhalb der Waldgrenze in der Regel unproblematisch, wenn sie rücksichtsvoll erfolgt." and "Übernachte nicht zu nahe bei Hütten und beweideten Alpen oder erkundige dich, ob eine Übernachtung in der Nähe möglich ist". kroentenhuette.com, sac-gotthard.ch, sac-cas.ch (Merkblatt). ↩
  10. The lower valley and access, read 17 September 2026. Reglement über die Benützung der land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Erschliessungsstrasse Erstfeld-Bodenberge (Talstrasse), 10 August 1993, version of 4 April 2005: Art. 1 (driving ban with "Zubringerdienst gestattet" to Reckenlaui and "Fahrt nur mit Bewilligung des Einwohnergemeinderates Erstfeld gestattet" from Reckenlaui to Bodenberge), Art. 5 lit. a ("Für eine Bewilligung im Einzelfall Fr. 20.-"), Art. 9 lit. a (penalty for breaching the ban), annex 1 (the hut warden's permit is free). Infoblatt Tagesbewilligungen Erstfeldertal, Gemeinderat Erstfeld, 20 August 2026: day permits at the Migros Kiosk (041 880 04 03), the Bahnhofkiosk (041 880 25 15) and the Gemeindekanzlei (041 882 01 30), valid for one ascent on the day of issue and one descent the next day, one permit per number plate every five days; "Als Folge von mehreren Felsabbrüchen im Jahre 2025 besteht im Gebiet 'Resti' eine akute Felssturz- und Steinschlaggefahr", a 500 m no-stopping section, and the Gemeinderat reserves the right to close the Schwybogen to Bodenberge section at any time; parking "innerhalb eines Weidegebietes" at own risk. Routes (SAC Gotthard, hut site): Erstfeld to Bodenberg about 1 h 30, Bodenberg via Hasenrüteli and the Geissfad 2 h 30 to 3 h 30 (T2, 910 m), via Chüeplangg and the Fulensee 3 to 4 h (T2), Sunnigtäler Höhenweg from the Wilerli cable car 4 h 30 to 5 h (T3+); no bus in the valley; Alpentaxi Uri 079 665 58 81. Alp Chüeplangg (1'450 to 1'800 m), Korporation Uri alp portal: Älpler Felix Bissig, 079 205 97 54, 200 milk goats and 100 dry goats, run from late May to late September, guests served cheese and drinks. Accommodation: the commune's list carries only the Bielenhof (village), the Kröntenhütte and the Pfadiheim Uri; Camping Windsurfing Urnersee, Flüelen, tents, April to October; Remo Camping Moosbad, Altdorf, takes no tents. Talstrasse-Reglement (PDF), Infoblatt 20.08.2026 (PDF), urneralpen.ch, windsurfing-urnersee.ch. ↩
  11. Fire and hunting, canton Uri. Sicherheitsdirektion, notice of 2 July 2026: "Es ist verboten: im Wald und an Waldrändern (50 Meter Abstand) Feuer zu entfachen (gilt auch für eingerichtete Feuerstellen sowie für mitgebrachte Holz-/Kohle-Grills); im übrigen Kantonsgebiet an unbefestigten Feuerstellen Feuer zu entfachen"; the absolute ban of 16 July 2026 was lifted on 25 August 2026 back to the forest-and-50-m ban (press: "Der Kanton Uri hebt das absolute Feuer- und Feuerwerksverbot vom 16. Juli 2026 auf und stellt stattdessen ein Feuerverbot im Wald und in Waldesnähe (50 Meter Abstand zum Wald)"); no later cantonal release through 16 September 2026. Jagd 2026: "Hochwildjagd: 1. Block: 7. September bis 19. September 2026 (Gäms-, Murmeltier- und Rothirschjagd); 2. Block: 28. September bis 30. September 2026 (Rothirschjagd); Niederwildjagd: 12. Oktober bis 30. November 2026". ur.ch (Feuerverbot 02.07.2026), bote.ch (25.08.2026), ur.ch (Jagd 2026). ↩
  12. The cantonal wild-camping debate (press, labelled as such). Regierungsrat Uri, answer of 11 November 2025 to the Inderkum motion: the communes with their own rules are Göschenen, Gurtnellen, Andermatt, Hospental and Realp (as carried in this series' Nidersee report). Keystone-SDA via swissinfo, 18 March 2026: the Landrat declared the motion partly material by 52 to 11, ordering "eine kantonale Rechtsgrundlage ausgearbeitet, welche Wildcampieren im Kanton Uri grundsätzlich erlaubt, den Gemeinden aber zulässt, bei Bedarf bestimmte Gebiete zu verbieten und dies durchzusetzen"; of the 1961 campsite ordinance: "Zum Campieren ausserhalb dieser Plätze macht die Verordnung jedoch keine Angaben". No draft act published by 17 September 2026. Uri Tourismus, page "Wild campen und biwakieren" (colour). swissinfo.ch, uri.swiss. ↩