Wild camping at the Fälensee, why it is allowed

Unlike at the Oeschinensee: here "allowed" is real

Most wild camping stories in this journal end with "banned". At the Oeschinensee, real, enforceable law sits behind the ban. At the Saxer Lücke, in the same Alpstein, there is by contrast no law at all behind the "not allowed", only a tourism phrase. The Fälensee is the rare third case: here the "allowed" holds, and for three reasons that support each other.

At the Fälensee too the tourism page does write: "Wild camping is not allowed"⁵. That sounds strict, but it is exactly the kind of phrase you must not mistake for a law. The canton itself says openly that there is no basis for a ban. And Appenzell law expressly permits camping with the landowner's consent. It is precisely that consent the alp tenant at the Fälenalp sells you. Let us look at the three building blocks in turn: federal law, cantonal law, and the consent on site.

The decisive point: the lake lies outside the hunting-ban district

The Säntis towers over the Fälensee, and the whole high massif is a federal hunting-ban district (Jagdbanngebiet) (object no. 16 "Säntis"). In such an area a hard federal rule applies¹:

"Free camping and bivouacking is prohibited. The use of official camping sites is reserved. The cantons may grant exceptions."Ordinance on Federal Hunting-Ban Districts (VEJ), Art. 5 para. 1 lit. e

This is no paper tiger. Anyone who camps freely in the hunting-ban district risks a fine of up to CHF 20'000 under the Federal Hunting Act (JSG), enforced by the game wardens⁷. And, importantly: here a farmer's consent does not help. In the same article another activity is expressly tied to the "consent of the landowner", but the camping ban deliberately is not. Inside, only the canton can grant an exception, no private individual.

And exactly for that reason the next fact is so decisive: the Fälensee lies outside this hunting-ban district. I checked it on the federal map. The layer of federal hunting-ban districts returns nothing at the lake basin and at the Fälenalp, while a control point on the Säntis summit correctly returns object no. 16. The boundary of the ban district runs roughly half a kilometre to a good two kilometres west of the lake¹. Put concretely: at the lake the federal camping ban does not bite at all, and that is precisely why the alp tenant's consent becomes the decisive lever in the first place. Anyone who climbs from the lake up into the massif, by contrast, switches the ban back on.

Just for completeness, because it is often mentioned: the lake lies in the BLN inventory (object 1612 "Säntisgebiet")⁸. That binds the authorities to take care, but it is not a norm that fines an individual camper. The Alpstein is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What Appenzell law says: camping with consent

That leaves cantonal law, and here lies the actual reason why one may speak of "allowed". Appenzell Innerrhoden has no law that bans wild camping. On the contrary: the cantonal camping ordinance (Campingverordnung, GS 935.610) expressly permits occasional camping outside official sites, provided the landowner consents, limited to about one month per year and parcel, so that no permanent campsite arises. Its penalty articles were repealed in 2005, so the ordinance knows no fine for wild camping at all².

The canton says exactly that, repeatedly, itself. As a stand-in, a wording from the regional reporting that sums up the authorities' position⁴:

"As long as there is still no leisure law, there is no fine."Position of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, via the regional press

So the police and the game warden can move people on, but no more. And the Standeskommission, the cantonal government of Appenzell Innerrhoden, holds as the rule in force that camping should remain allowed "with the express permission of the landowners or the responsible Sennen"³. That is the gap the Fälenalp fits cleanly into.

One common counter-argument that does not hold here: the "access to forest and pasture is granted to everyone" of Art. 699 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) means passage and the gathering of berries and mushrooms, not overnight stays⁶. Camping needs the landowner's consent, and that is exactly the pivot here.

How you do it right: the Fälenalp

At the south-western end of the lake lies the Fälenalp. The Senn, Sepp Inauen, allows camping in a marked zone for a fee. In his own words to the regional press: "I do not do it for free any more", and for anyone who tries it outside the zone: "If I catch someone camping outside the zone, he has to pack up." The fee is around CHF 12 per person and night, with prior notice it is CHF 15⁴.

A small correction to the anecdote in circulation: the figure of 15 francs is right, that is the tariff with prior notice. The name "Zürcher", which is sometimes given, is however not confirmed for the current tenant of the Fälenalp, who is called Inauen. Possibly a former tenant or a mix-up. Anyone who wants to be sure simply asks directly at the alp.

Where it does not apply: Seealpsee and hunting-ban district

The beauty of the Fälensee is also its trap: the situation is spot-specific. Three places where the same logic flips, and where "allowed" no longer holds.

• The Seealpsee. Only one valley over, and yet the opposite. There the land belongs to the canton, and it refuses consent: "We do not want a campsite around the Seealpsee, and one would not even be legally possible"⁹. Same canton, reversed result, and the only difference is who owns the land and whether they consent.
• High up in the hunting-ban district. If you climb from the lake into the massif, you are in the federal hunting-ban district, where free camping is banned and fineable up to CHF 20'000, and where a farmer's consent is of no use to you.
• Anywhere without any consent. Without the yes of a landowner or Senn you have no positive permission. You will not be fined today, but you can be moved on at any time, and rubbish or faeces are in any case a matter for environmental protection law.

In short: "Fälensee allowed" does not mean "Alpstein allowed". Which status applies where hangs on the landowner and on the federal map. When in doubt, before the tour check the hunting-ban district layer on map.geo.admin.ch and ask the alp tenant.

Bivouac, emergency bivouac 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 and is not a binding legal norm¹⁰. At the Fälensee it fits badly anyway, because the lake sits at 1'447 metres, below the local treeline, in a wooded valley basin. But that is secondary here, because the route via consent legalises camping at the Fälenalp independently of altitude. The treeline rule is the fallback for places where nobody gives their consent, and at the Fälenalp someone does.

To be kept apart from this is the genuine emergency bivouac: anyone caught out by a sudden change in the weather, an injury or nightfall and no longer able to descend safely may stay out. That is an emergency, not a planned camp, and precisely for that reason generally permissible. Appenzell additionally tolerates a bivouac with the Senn's permission and above the treeline.

What is changing soon

An assessment with an expiry date, to be honest. Appenzell Innerrhoden is currently drafting a new camping law. On 18 June 2025 the Standeskommission gave the order to draw up a law: on private as well as public car parks wild camping should in future be banned as a rule, bivouacking only possible "under certain conditions and with the express permission of the landowners as well as in consultation with the responsible alpine operations"³. The earliest Landsgemeinde vote on it is estimated at around 2028, and an accompanying revision of the hospitality law was out for consultation until 29 May 2026.

Until any of that is in force, the consent rule described here applies. So take this article as a snapshot, as of 19 June 2026, and before a tour check briefly whether the legal situation has changed in the meantime.

General rules for wild camping

This applies everywhere you are actually allowed to sleep outside, so at the Fälenalp with consent too. It is not legal text, but decency and common sense, and it is the reason alp tenants like Inauen still allow camping at all.

• 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 towards evening, gone again early in the morning. 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. It was exactly that rubbish that was the trigger when, on one weekend, over 20 tents stood at the lake.
• 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, and the instructions of the alp staff take priority.

The one rule that sums up all the others: leaving a place better than you found it is, in general, a valuable attitude. At the Fälensee it is also the condition for the "allowed" staying that way.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my research and assessment to the best of my knowledge, as of 19 June 2026. It is based on the publicly accessible and official sources linked below, and on my own observation in the Alpstein. It is prepared to the best of my knowledge, but does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

Cantonal ordinances, ownership, protected areas and the tariffs of the alpine operations can change, and Appenzell Innerrhoden is expressly working on a new camping law. What is described here may already be out of date by the time you read it. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself, ask the alp tenant or landowner on site, and check the protected-area layers, in particular the hunting-ban district, on map.geo.admin.ch. 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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