As of: 17 August 2026

Wild camping at the Gastlosen: the commune allows three nights in writing

Most of these reports end in a careful reading of silence: no rule found, therefore not forbidden. This one is different. The commune of Saanen has written the permission down, in its police regulation, with a number of nights attached. That makes the Gastlosen one of the clearest legal bivouacs we have researched. What it does not make it is easy, because the ridge is almost entirely too steep to lie down on.

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

This is about one night, a tent or bivouac bag, on the saddle above the Chalet du Soldat. The verdict is legal on the strength of a written communal provision, which is rarer than it sounds.

A commune that wrote the permission down

Start where the answer actually is. The saddle is in Saanen, canton Bern, and Saanen's Ortspolizeireglement, in force since 1 January 2013, has an article headed simply "Camping". Its third paragraph reads:

"Das Campieren in Wohnwagen, Campern oder Zelten abseits von bewilligten Campingplätzen ist an drei aufeinanderfolgenden Nächten bewilligungsfrei. Ab der vierten Nacht ist eine Bewilligung der Polizeiorgane der Gemeinde erforderlich." Camping in caravans, campers or tents away from approved campsites is free of permit for three consecutive nights; from the fourth night a permit from the communal police organs is required.2

That is not a tolerance, an absence, or an inference from silence. It is a commune putting a number on how long you may sleep outside its campsites without asking anyone. Across the spots in this series it is close to the strongest positive wording we have found.

Now the paragraph that will be quoted against it. Art. 29 para. 1 says: "Auf öffentlichem Grund ist das Campieren nur an den von den Polizeiorganen bezeichneten Stellen gestattet. Das Aufstellen von Wohnwagen ist grundsätzlich bewilligungs- und gebührenpflichtig." On public ground, camping is permitted only at the places the police organs designate, and putting up caravans is in principle subject to permit and fee.2

So which governs your tent? Read honestly, the two paragraphs do different jobs. Para. 1 is about public ground, the village square end of the problem, and it is also where the caravan rule sits. Para. 2 deals with anyone commercially offering private land for camping, which needs a building permit. Para. 3 is the general permit rule for tents and vehicles away from approved campsites, and it is unambiguous about the three nights. Para. 4 leaves the detail to a separate communal ordinance.2

The practical reading, and we would rather be careful than clever: on alp ground away from the village, with the landowner's agreement, a night or three needs no communal permit. If you were to pitch on genuinely public ground in the valley, para. 1 points you to the designated places instead. Nothing in this article is an invitation to camp in the middle of Gstaad.

Above the commune, nothing objects either. Canton Bern has no cantonal camping prohibition, which is why the Bernese spots in this series turn on communal rules and federal reserves rather than a cantonal statute. And at the saddle itself the federal layers are empty: no game reserve, no wildlife rest zone, no BLN landscape, no mire, no fen, no amphibian site, no dry meadow, no forest reserve, no building zone. An invalid layer name returns HTTP 400, so those empty answers are answers.1

One federal hit, and it is not a rule. The saddle lies in the Parc naturel régional Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut. A regional nature park is a label attached to a landscape with a development charter. It carries no camping prohibition of its own, and treating a park hit as a ban is a standard mistake.1

The nearest thing that would forbid a tent is 1.4 km away. The federal game reserve Hochmatt-Motélon begins about 1'406 metres to the northwest. Inside a federal game reserve free camping is banned outright and fined 150 francs. You are outside it here, comfortably, but it is close enough that a long wander northwest off the ridge is worth thinking about.13

The hard part is finding somewhere flat

First, which Gastlosen. The Gastlosen is a limestone chain, not a point, and swisstopo files it as "Massiv Gastlosen" across Fribourg, Vaud and Bern. This report is about one place in it: the saddle above the Chalet du Soldat, known as Wolfs Ort, at 2'586'582 / 1'157'339 in LV95, 46.56719 N / 7.26363 E, 1'914.6 metres, in Saanen. That is the ground the view is from, and it is what the rest of this section measures.1

It is above the treeline, and it is steep. A scan of 91 samples out to 450 metres around the saddle found exactly one point at or under 12 degrees. The saddle itself reads about 16 degrees. This is a ridge of rock towers, and most of what looks like ground on a photograph is a slope you would slide off.1

The one usable pitch: 6.6 degrees at 1'771.4 m, about 450 metres southeast of the saddle, at 2'586'972 / 1'157'114. That is 143 metres below the pass, off the crest, and it is the only reading in the scan that a person could reasonably sleep on. Everything nearer the top is 14 degrees and upwards.1

A warning about map pins, including ours. If you navigate to the coordinates commonly attached to "Gastlosen", including the pin on our own spot page, you land at 2'588'000 / 1'159'004, which reads 1'613.5 m and about 36 degrees. That is a face, not a place to sleep, and it sits 1.6 km east-northeast of the saddle this article is about. Navigate to the saddle, not to the name.1

The border runs along here. The saddle is in Saanen (Bern). The Chalet du Soldat, 1.1 km northeast at 2'586'574 / 1'158'370, and the Gross Turm summit are in Jaun (Fribourg). So the three-night provision quoted above is Saanen's, and the Bernese side is the side it covers. Jaun has no camping prohibition of its own either, but if you want to rely on a written allowance, stay on the Bern side of the crest.12

There are nine buildings within 1.2 kilometres, so this is not wilderness, but it is not a village either.1

How to do it

Drive to the Chalet du Soldat and walk up. That is the normal approach, a short hike to the saddle that opens the whole range. The classic reason to be up here is an inversion at sunrise, with the towers standing out of the fog, which is also the reason to sleep on the ridge rather than drive up in the dark.

Aim for the shelf, not the pass. The pass is the viewpoint; the flat ground is 450 metres southeast and 143 metres lower, at about 1'771 m. Walk down to it, pitch there, and walk back up for the light.1

Keep it to one night and you are well inside the rule. Saanen allows three consecutive nights without a permit. One night on a shelf below a pass is not the case that provision was worried about, so behave accordingly: pitch late, strike early, leave nothing.2

Ask if you can find the alp tenant. The ridge is grazed in places and the flat ground is the same ground animals use. A written communal permission does not override a landowner's say over their own parcel, and around here the person to ask is whoever is working the alp that summer.

Stay off the climbing approaches. The Gastlosen is one of the busier limestone climbing venues in the Prealps, and the paths below the towers see parties moving early. Camp clear of the approach lines and the base of the walls.

Do not drift northwest. The federal game reserve Hochmatt-Motélon starts about 1'406 metres in that direction, and inside it free camping is prohibited under the federal game-reserve ordinance and fined 150 francs. On this ridge that is 20 minutes of walking, so it is worth knowing which way you are going.31

No fire, carry all water and all rubbish out, and if you are here in the shoulder season remember the pass is exposed and the shelf below it is the only sheltered option in the scan.

General rules for wild camping

You are on a limestone ridge at just over 1'900 m with a written communal permission in your pocket. That is a privilege worth not spoiling:

  • 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

Everything here is a journalistic assessment as of August 2026, from the sources linked below, and it is not legal advice.

The three-night provision is quoted from the Saanen Ortspolizeireglement in force since 1 January 2013. Communal regulations are revised, and art. 29 para. 4 expressly leaves the detail to a separate ordinance of the Gemeinderat which this report did not read in full. If you plan more than one night, or plan to rely on the permission rather than simply behave well, read the current regulation yourself at the link below.

Article 29 has to be read whole. Paragraph 1 restricts camping on public ground to designated places, and a search engine will hand you that paragraph on its own. The practical reading offered here, that alp ground away from the village with the landowner's agreement is covered by paragraph 3, is our reading and not a ruling.

This report is written for the saddle at Wolfs Ort, not for the coordinates commonly attached to the name Gastlosen, which land on a 36 degree face 1.6 km away. Distances and slopes are point samples from the national height model, not a survey.

Frequently asked questions

Is wild camping allowed at the Gastlosen?
Yes, on the Bern side. The saddle is in Saanen, and Saanen's Ortspolizeireglement art. 29 para. 3 provides that camping in tents away from approved campsites is free of permit for three consecutive nights, with a permit needed from the fourth. No federal protection applies at the saddle and canton Bern has no camping prohibition.
But I read that camping is only allowed at designated places in Saanen.
That is paragraph 1 of the same article, and it applies to public ground. Paragraph 3 is the provision about tents away from approved campsites and it grants three permit-free nights. Both are quoted in this report, because reading either one alone gives you the wrong answer.
Where exactly can I pitch?
Not on the pass, which reads about 16 degrees, and definitely not at the coordinates usually attached to the name, which are a 36 degree face. Of 91 samples around the saddle only one is at or under 12 degrees: a 6.6 degree shelf at 1'771.4 m, about 450 metres southeast of the saddle and 143 metres below it.
Does the regional nature park ban camping?
No. The saddle is in the Parc naturel régional Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut, which is a landscape label with a development charter, not a protected area with its own tent ban. The federal camping prohibition people sometimes cite applies to national park core zones.
What about the Fribourg side?
The Chalet du Soldat and the Gross Turm are in Jaun, canton Fribourg, which has no camping prohibition of its own either. But the written three-night allowance is Saanen's, so if you want to rely on a provision rather than on an absence, stay on the Bern side of the crest.
Is there anywhere nearby where it is forbidden?
Yes, about 1'406 metres to the northwest. The federal game reserve Hochmatt-Motélon begins there, and inside a federal game reserve free camping is prohibited outright and carries a 150 franc fixed penalty.
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. Official federal geodata and the national height model, queried 17 August 2026. Report point: the saddle Wolfs Ort, LV95 2'586'582 / 1'157'339, WGS84 46.56719 N / 7.26363 E, 1'914.6 m, canton Bern, commune Saanen. The game-reserve, wildlife-rest-zone, BLN, mire, fen, amphibian, dry-meadow and forest-reserve layers and the building-zone layer all return an empty result set there, verified with an invalid-layer control returning HTTP 400. The one hit is the Parc naturel régional Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut on the parks layer, a label without a camping provision. Nearest federal game reserve by radial bisection on the inventory layer: Hochmatt-Motélon at about 1'406 m, bearing 300. Terrain: 91 samples to 450 m around the saddle, one at or under 12 degrees, namely 6.6 degrees at 1'771.4 m, 450 m on bearing 120 (2'586'972 / 1'157'114); the saddle itself about 16 degrees. Nine buildings within 1.2 km. For contrast the coordinates usually attached to the name Gastlosen, 46.5822 / 7.28208 = 2'588'000 / 1'159'004, read 1'613.5 m at about 36 degrees, 1.6 km east-northeast. Chalet du Soldat 2'586'574 / 1'158'370 and Gross Turm 2'587'075 / 1'158'214 are both in Jaun (FR). map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  2. Ortspolizeireglement der Einwohnergemeinde Saanen (OPR), in force since 1 January 2013, read in full on 17 August 2026 (the commune's server refuses a plain request and needs browser headers). Art. 29, headed "Camping": Abs. 1 "Auf öffentlichem Grund ist das Campieren nur an den von den Polizeiorganen bezeichneten Stellen gestattet. Das Aufstellen von Wohnwagen ist grundsätzlich bewilligungs- und gebührenpflichtig." Abs. 2 "Wer privaten Boden gewerbsmäßig für Campingzwecke zur Verfügung stellt, bedarf einer Baubewilligung." Abs. 3 "Das Campieren in Wohnwagen, Campern oder Zelten abseits von bewilligten Campingplätzen ist an drei aufeinanderfolgenden Nächten bewilligungsfrei. Ab der vierten Nacht ist eine Bewilligung der Polizeiorgane der Gemeinde erforderlich." Abs. 4 "Das Weitere regelt der Gemeinderat in der Verordnung." The regulation's annex records that it repeals the older "Reglement über das Campieren der Gemeinde Saanen vom 14. Mai 1975". saanen.ch. ↩
  3. Verordnung über die eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebiete (VEJ), SR 922.31, art. 5 Abs. 1, which opens "In den Banngebieten gelten folgende allgemeine Bestimmungen" and provides at Bst. e: "Das freie Zelten und Campieren ist verboten. Vorbehalten bleibt die Benutzung offizieller Zeltplätze." with the cantons able to permit exceptions. The fixed penalty is 150 francs under the Ordnungsbussenverordnung (OBV), SR 314.11, Anhang Ziff. 12005. Cited here only because the reserve Hochmatt-Motélon begins about 1'406 m northwest of the saddle; it does not reach the ground this report is about. fedlex.admin.ch. ↩