As of: 10 August 2026

Wild camping at the Göscheneralp: the canton says nothing, the commune says put nothing up

Uri is one of the few cantons with no camping rule at all, which makes it easy to assume the whole canton is open. At the Göscheneralp it is not, and the reason is a two-page communal ordinance from 2022 that most people have never seen.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked in August 2026 · Published 10 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.

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.

The canton is silent, which is the first surprise

Start with what is not there, because it is the part people get wrong in both directions. Wild camping at the Göscheneralp sits in canton Uri, and Uri is one of the few Swiss cantons that has simply never written a camping rule.

Checked at the Urner Rechtsbuch rather than taken on trust: the Polizeigesetz (RB 3.8111) and the Polizeireglement (RB 3.8127) contain no provision on camping, tenting, bivouacking or overnight stays. The cantonal Gesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz (RB 10.5101) is the same story, and more strongly: the words campieren, zelten, lagern and biwakieren do not appear anywhere in its text. Its art. 34 punishes only the person who contravenes a Schutzmassnahme, a protection measure, with a fine of up to CHF 5'000.2

Uri does have a CHF 150 fixed penalty for camping, and its wording is the whole point:

"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"No. 2.1 of the Reglement über die Erhebung von Ordnungsbussen (RB 3.9223): camping in protection zones, under the nature protection act read together with the reglement of the particular zone.

In Verbindung mit dem jeweiligen Reglement. The offence only exists where a specific zone's own reglement forbids camping. So the question for any Uri spot is not "what does the canton say", it is "is this ground inside a protection zone that bans it".

And at the Göscheneralp the answer is no

Uri's nature protection collection runs to 23 enactments, RB 10.5101 to RB 10.5135. Exactly one of them concerns Göschenen: RB 10.5118, the Reglement über den Schutz der Gewässer im Gebiet Uri Mitte zwischen Silenen und Göschenen. It is worth reading, because the name makes it sound decisive and it is not.3

It is a hydropower instrument. Art. 1 says it implements the cantonal concept for renewable energy. Art. 2 lists ten named watercourses, of which nos. 3 and 4 are in Göschenen, the Voralpreuss and the Chelenreuss with the Dammareuss. Art. 3 forbids exactly two things: using the protected waters to generate energy, and erecting structures inside them. And art. 2 para. 3 draws the boundary in one line: Schutzobjekt ist jeweils nur das eigentliche Gewässer. Für die Uferbereiche gelten die gesetzlichen Bestimmungen. The protected object is only the watercourse itself; the banks are governed by ordinary law.

So there is no cantonal camping ban at this reservoir, and no protection zone to trigger the CHF 150. Which leaves the commune.

The rule that actually applies, and what it is aimed at

Göschenen wrote its own ordinance, and it is recent. The Campingverordnung der Einwohnergemeinde Göschenen was adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 29 April 2022. Its stated purpose in art. 1 is to keep camping orderly on communal territory and to stop public order and the look of the landscape being spoiled.1

"Das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen, Wohnmobilen und Campingbussen zum Campieren ausserhalb behördlich bewilligter Camping- oder Stellplätzen ist nicht gestattet."Art. 2: erecting tents, caravans, motorhomes and camping buses for camping outside officially authorised camping or parking places is not permitted.

Read what the verb is doing. The prohibition attaches to Aufstellen, putting something up: a tent, a caravan, a motorhome, a camping bus. It is a rule about structures on the ground, which is what the whole ordinance is about, and it is the same construction that decides the Pass La Stretta. A person lying in a bivvy bag with nothing erected is not the obvious target of that sentence, though art. 12 also penalises whoever ohne Bewilligung campiert, camps without a permit, and nobody should read the gap as an invitation.

The penalty. Art. 12 punishes intentional or negligent breach with a Busse, naming three cases in particular: camping without a permit, failing to observe the conditions of a permit, and repeatedly breaching the camping ban outside a camping or parking place. The ordinance itself sets no amount. The point of putting it in an ordinance, as the commune discussed when it was passed, was to make an on-the-spot fixed penalty possible rather than relying only on a report.1

The maps, and the shore

Queried at the reservoir, LV95 2'680'021 / 1'166'600, terrain surface 1789.5 m, commune of Göschenen, every federal inventory comes back empty: no federal game reserve, no wildlife rest zone, no BLN site, no floodplain, no raised or flat bog, no mire landscape, no dry grassland, no park of national importance. Each query ran alongside a deliberately invalid layer id, which the service answers with HTTP 400 while every real layer answered 200, so the zeros are genuine rather than a malformed request.4

So nothing federal is in play here at all, and the article really does come down to two pages of communal paper.

The shore is steep, which matters for where a permit would even help

This is a dammed lake in a hard granite trough, and the ground reflects it. Sampling the federal elevation model on a 100 metre grid over a 3 kilometre box, there is no land under 10 degrees anywhere within 300 metres of the water. The flattest ground near the shore is 11.9 degrees, 200 metres back and 130 metres above the waterline, with the next candidates at 12.6 and 13.5 degrees.5

That is worth knowing before you plan anything, permit or not. The picture people arrive with, a flat patch by the water at the head of the lake, is not what the terrain offers. The genuinely level ground in this basin is the ground the commune has already set aside for camping.

The easy answer is that the lawful option is already on site. There is an official campsite at the Göscheneralp, by the Gasthaus at the end of the road about 2.7 km east-north-east of the middle of the lake, which is precisely what art. 2 means by a behördlich bewilligter Campingplatz. If the plan was to wake up at this reservoir, that is the version with no legal question attached to it at all.6

If you want something other than the campsite, there is one address. Art. 3 of the Campingverordnung reserves exceptions to the Gemeinderat, and its third case is deliberately open: in anderen begründeten Ausnahmefällen, other justified exceptional cases, alongside the named ones for youth tent camps and for large events of at most four days. So the request goes to the Gemeinde Göschenen, Gemeindekanzlei, +41 41 885 13 89, gemeinde@goeschenen.ch. Ask before you travel, say how many nights and roughly where, and expect a small commune to weigh it against the summer traffic it wrote the ordinance for in the first place. One more route sits in art. 3 para. 3: with the owner's consent, temporary free camping is allowed on the plot of a residential house, which is a garden rule rather than a mountain one, but it is there.

If you are walking through, the huts are the better answer. The Bergseehütte of the Swiss Alpine Club sits about 1.3 km north of the lake, the Chelenalphütte about 4.4 km north-west at the head of the Chelenalptal, and the Voralphütte about 5 km north. All three are in Göschenen and all three are on the classic circuits out of the Göscheneralp, so none of them is a detour invented to solve a legal problem.6

And a word on the reservoir itself, because it is a working one. The water level is an operational decision, the drawdown zone is bare and unstable, and the flat-looking gravel near the waterline can be under water again with no notice. It is a bad place to lie down even where nothing forbids it.

For the same question answered elsewhere in this canton, both of which come out differently because no communal ordinance reaches them: Chaiserstuel above Isenthal and the Spilauersee at Sisikon.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you end up around the Göscheneralp, campsite included. The ordinance exists because a small commune at the end of a mountain road got more summer traffic than its verges could take.

  • 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 August 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.

Communal ordinances change, and this one is only a few years old. Check the current version in the commune's Rechtsgrundlagen before relying on any of this, and follow instructions on site. The terrain figures describe the ground and are not a safety assessment of your route, and the level of a working reservoir can change without warning. 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

Can you wild camp at the Göscheneralp?
Not with a tent outside the authorised sites, and there is a campsite at the lake. Art. 2 of the Campingverordnung der Einwohnergemeinde Göschenen of 29 April 2022 provides that erecting tents, caravans, motorhomes and camping buses for camping outside officially authorised camping or parking places is not permitted, and art. 12 backs that with a fine. Art. 3 lets the Gemeinderat grant exceptions, including in other justified exceptional cases, so there is a permit route. The official campsite by the Gasthaus at the end of the road is the option with no legal question attached.
Does canton Uri ban wild camping?
No, and Uri is one of the few cantons where that is simply true. Checked at the Urner Rechtsbuch: the Polizeigesetz (RB 3.8111) and the Polizeireglement (RB 3.8127) contain no camping provision, and the cantonal Gesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz (RB 10.5101) contains no occurrence of campieren, zelten, lagern or biwakieren anywhere in its text, its art. 34 punishing only breach of a Schutzmassnahme. The CHF 150 fixed penalty at no. 2.1 of the Ordnungsbussenreglement (RB 3.9223) is expressly limited to protection zones read together with the reglement of the particular zone. Uri's camping bans are therefore communal, not cantonal.
Isn't the Göscheneralp in a cantonal protection zone?
Not one that says anything about camping. Uri's nature protection collection runs to 23 enactments and exactly one concerns Göschenen: RB 10.5118, the Reglement über den Schutz der Gewässer im Gebiet Uri Mitte zwischen Silenen und Göschenen. It is a hydropower instrument. Art. 2 lists ten named watercourses, including the Voralpreuss and the Chelenreuss with the Dammareuss in Göschenen, and art. 3 forbids only using those waters to generate energy and erecting structures inside them. Art. 2 para. 3 adds that the protected object is only the watercourse itself and that the banks are governed by ordinary law. It creates no camping ban.
What would a fine be?
A Busse under art. 12, with no amount set in the ordinance itself. Art. 12 of the Campingverordnung punishes intentional or negligent breach, naming in particular camping without a permit, failing to observe the conditions of a permit, and repeatedly breaching the camping ban outside a camping or parking place. The commune's purpose in adopting the ordinance was to make an on-the-spot fixed penalty possible rather than relying only on a report. Note that the cantonal CHF 150 figure people quote for Uri is the protection-zone tariff and does not apply here, because this is not a protection zone.
Where can I sleep near the Göscheneralp?
The campsite at the lake, or one of three SAC huts. The official campsite sits by the Gasthaus at the end of the road, about 2.7 km east-north-east of the middle of the reservoir. For a hut, the Bergseehütte is about 1.3 km north, the Chelenalphütte about 4.4 km north-west at the head of the Chelenalptal, and the Voralphütte about 5 km north, all in the commune of Göschenen and all on the usual circuits from the Göscheneralp. Avoid the drawdown zone by the waterline entirely: it is bare, unstable, and the level of a working reservoir can rise without notice.
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. Campingverordnung der Einwohnergemeinde Göschenen, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 29 April 2022, published as a signed scan in the commune's Rechtsgrundlagen. Art. 1 states the purpose: to ensure orderly camping on communal territory and to prevent public quiet, order, safety and decency being disturbed or the local and landscape character being impaired. Art. 2: "Das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen, Wohnmobilen und Campingbussen zum Campieren ausserhalb behördlich bewilligter Camping- oder Stellplätzen ist nicht gestattet." Art. 3 para. 1 allows the Gemeinderat to grant exceptions (a) to youth organisations for a tent camp, (b) to organisers of large events for at most four event days where the site is suitable, has traffic access, sanitary supply and waste disposal and no other public infrastructure is available, and (c) "in anderen begründeten Ausnahmefällen"; para. 2 requires that no public or private interests be impaired and that use is at one's own risk; para. 3: with the consent of the owner, temporary free camping is permitted on the plot of a residential house. Art. 4 defines a Campingplatz and art. 5 a Stellplatz. Art. 12 (Strafbestimmungen) punishes with a Busse whoever intentionally or negligently breaches the ordinance or decisions based on it, in particular whoever (a) camps without a permit, (b) fails to observe the conditions or requirements of the permitting authority, or (c) repeatedly breaches the camping ban outside a camping or parking place; no amount is named in the ordinance. The document is a scan without a text layer and was read by OCR. goeschenen.ch. ↩
  2. Canton Uri, Urner Rechtsbuch, consulted August 2026, on the absence of any cantonal camping rule. The Polizeigesetz (RB 3.8111) and the Polizeireglement (RB 3.8127) contain no provision on camping, tenting, bivouacking or overnighting. The Gesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz of 18 October 1987 (RB 10.5101) contains no occurrence of campieren, zelten, lagern or biwakieren anywhere in its consolidated text; its art. 34 "Strafen" para. 1 provides that a fine of up to CHF 5'000 is imposed on whoever intentionally or grossly negligently (a) contravenes protection measures, (b) disregards the plant protection provisions, or (c) breaches the permit and notification duty under art. 21. The Reglement über die Erhebung von Ordnungsbussen (RB 3.9223), no. 2.1, tariffs "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)" at 150 francs, so the offence exists only inside a protection zone whose own reglement forbids camping. rechtsbuch.ur.ch. ↩
  3. Reglement über den Schutz der Gewässer im Gebiet Uri Mitte zwischen Silenen und Göschenen of 1 December 2015 (RB 10.5118, in force since 1 January 2016), the only one of Uri's 23 nature-protection enactments (RB 10.5101 to RB 10.5135) that concerns Göschenen. Art. 1 states that the reglement serves the undiminished preservation of sensitive water systems and implements the cantonal Schutz- und Nutzungskonzept Erneuerbare Energien. Art. 2 para. 1 lists ten protected objects by name and commune, of which no. 3 is the Voralpreuss and no. 4 the Chelenreuss and Dammareuss, both in Göschenen; para. 2 extends protection to all natural waters in the area not listed as usable under the energy concept; para. 3: "Schutzobjekt ist jeweils nur das eigentliche Gewässer. Für die Uferbereiche gelten die gesetzlichen Bestimmungen." Art. 3 para. 2 forbids only (a) using the protected waters to generate energy and (b) erecting buildings and installations of any kind within the protected waters. The reglement contains no provision on camping, tenting, bivouacking or access, and therefore creates no protection zone of the kind the fixed-penalty tariff requires. rechtsbuch.ur.ch. ↩
  4. Official federal geodata, queried 10 August 2026 at LV95 2'680'021 / 1'166'600 (WGS84 46.64585 / 8.48389), terrain surface 1789.5 m via the federal height service, commune of Göschenen. Identify returns empty for federal game reserves, wildlife rest zones, BLN, floodplains, raised bogs, fens, mire landscapes, dry grasslands and pastures, and parks of national importance. Every query ran alongside a deliberately invalid layer id: that control returned HTTP 400 while all the real layers returned HTTP 200, which is what distinguishes a genuine empty answer from a malformed request. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  5. Terrain analysis from the official federal elevation model, queried 10 August 2026 through the federal profile service. A 100 m grid over a 3 km box centred on the reservoir sampled 961 points, 132 of them on the water surface. Of the 168 land cells within 300 m of the water, none is under 10 degrees; the flattest is 11.9 degrees at 1'921 m, about 200 m back from the waterline, followed by 12.6 degrees at 1'934 m and 13.5 degrees at 1'893 m. The water surface was taken as 1789.5 m, the constant value the model returns across the reservoir. geo.admin.ch. ↩
  6. Reference points from the swisstopo gazetteer, with distances and bearings computed from the lake pin, all in the commune of Göschenen: the Gasthaus Göscheneralp with the campsite 2.7 km at bearing 72 degrees, at the end of the road up from Göschenen; the Staudamm 1.3 km at bearing 84 degrees; Bergseehütte SAC 1.3 km at bearing 3 degrees; Chelenalphütte SAC 4.4 km at bearing 310 degrees; Voralphütte SAC 5.0 km at bearing 3 degrees. Check hut opening dates and book before you travel; these are seasonal mountain huts. sac-cas.ch. ↩