Wild camping on the Griessstock

Wild camping on the Griessstock: the owner has already said yes

The Griessstock belongs to the Korporation Uri, and the Korporation allows camping on its land. The whole massif, its three summits, the Griessgletscher and the slopes down to Oberalp lie on one parcel of 11 km², Unterschächen no. 1023. The land register names the owner: the Korporation Uri in Altdorf. On its own page the Korporation states its position in two sentences: ^{1 2}

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.

In English: there is no general ban on wild camping in canton Uri; on the Korporation's land, camping is therefore allowed in principle and does not have to be registered. That is a standing permission, given to everyone in advance. For one night with a small group there is nothing to apply for and no fee. The page attaches conditions: follow the rules of nature and landscape protection zones, spare the pasture, speak to the alp farmer if you pitch near a farm, tell the Korporation beforehand for more than three nights or more than ten people, and carry your rubbish down in fee bags. On the plateau there is no farm within 1 km. ¹

The canton has no camping rule. Uri's government wrote on 4 November 2025, in its answer to a motion that asked for a general ban: "Im Kanton Uri besteht auf kantonaler Ebene, wie in vielen anderen Schweizer Kantonen, keine gesetzliche Regelung für Wildcamping." In English: at cantonal level Uri has no statutory rule on wild camping. It named the five communes with rules of their own, Göschenen, Gurtnellen, Andermatt, Hospental and Realp, and said the others have none. The Landrat declared the motion only partly adopted, in the government's version: a cantonal basis that keeps wild camping allowed in principle and lets communes draw ban perimeters. No draft has been published. ³

Unterschächen has no camping rule either. Its building and zoning regulation of 9 November 2017, approved by the government on 13 March 2018, mentions camping only to allow campsites in the zone for sport and leisure. The Griessstock lies in the "Reservezone, unproduktiv", the unproductive land outside any building or farm zone, and nothing in the regulation governs a night there. The commune publishes no police or camping regulation. ⁴

The 150-franc fine has nothing to attach to here. Uri's list of fixed fines prices "Lagern, Zelten oder Campieren in Schutzzonen" at CHF 150, but only together with the regulation of a protection zone that bans it. The cadastre of public-law restrictions places no nature or landscape protection zone on the massif, and the Korporation's own map of tent bans shows only the Aue Rüti on the floor of the Schächental for this commune. ^{1 2 5}

The crest is the edge of a cantonal game reserve

A boundary the federal geoportal does not show runs straight over the summits. The Griessstock crest is the eastern boundary of cantonal game reserve 2.4, "Oberalp-Brunnital-Schächental", in force since 1 July 2010. Uri's hunting rules describe its line in words: "auf den Vorder Griessstock. In südlicher Richtung auf den Mittler Griessstock P. 2717, von hier zum Hinter Griessstock immer dem Grat entlang". On the canton's official map the Hinter Griessstock summit is 35 m inside the reserve, the Mittler summit sits on the line and the Vorder summit is 244 m outside. The reserve covers the west flank towards the Brunnital and the Oberalp basin to the north. ⁶

The words and the map differ slightly, and it changes nothing. The regulation runs the line over the Vorder summit, while the canton's map draws it 244 m from it. Read as a straight line from the Vorder to the Mittler summit, the slab basin described below would lie about 75 m inside the reserve rather than 168 m outside. The answer is the same either way, because the reserve carries no rule on sleeping. ⁶

What the reserve forbids is hunting. Art. 7 para. 1 of Uri's hunting regulation (RB 40.3121) reads: "Die Jagd ist verboten: ... b) in den kantonalen Banngebieten gemäss Anhang 2". Neither that regulation nor the cantonal hunting ordinance (RB 40.3111) contains any rule on camping, tents, bivouacs, access or overnight stays. The federal ban on free tenting and camping, VEJ art. 5 para. 1 lit. e, applies in the federal game reserves of the national inventory, and the nearest of those begins about 8.6 km to the north. Uri's government lists the places where wild camping is forbidden as nature reserves, the National Park, "eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebieten", wildlife rest zones and areas with a general access ban. A cantonal reserve is none of these. ^{3 6 7}

It is still where the animals are. Art. 28 of the cantonal hunting ordinance asks that game be protected from disturbance, "insbesondere in seinen empfindlichen Lebensräumen", and Art. 44 makes breaches of the ordinance punishable by a fine. The clause names no conduct and has no fixed fine. It is a reason to stay on the plateau, keep lights low and leave the west flank to the chamois and ibex at dusk and dawn, not a ban on sleeping. ⁶

No wildlife rest zone touches the massif. The nearest, Wannelen, is about 2.2 km north-north-west of the Vorder summit and closed on foot from 1 December to 30 April. The nearest landscape protection area, the Maderanertal-Fellital region, begins about 770 m beyond the Hinter Griessstock. ⁶

Where you can lie down: the Vorder Griessstock plateau

The Griessstock is rock, scree and ice, and the level ground is bare limestone. The official survey records rock at all three summits. The parcel is about one third rock, one third scree and one seventh glacier. There is no turf, no marked trail to any summit, and no water on the plateau. Snow patches lie in the hollows on the summer aerial images, and in October the slabs can be icy in the morning. ^{2 7}

The pitch: a slab basin on the Vorder Griessstock. At 46.83762, 8.80157 (LV95 2'703'969 / 1'188'289), 2'634 m, the rock lies at 4.2 degrees, and a 10 by 10 m patch stays under 10 degrees. It is 249 m south-west of the Vorder summit and 30 m lower. The ground stays within 4 m of that height for 120 m to the north, then rises; it falls about 20 m over 80 m to the south and only gently to the east. On the canton's map this point is 168 m outside the game reserve. A freestanding tent weighted with stones works here, or a bivvy bag. Pegs do not. ^{6 7}

For a bivvy bag only: the summit ridge. About 60 m west of the Vorder summit, at 46.83932, 8.80286 (LV95 2'704'064 / 1'188'480), 2'661 m, the crest stays within a few metres of 2'660 m for about 150 m from west to east. To the north it holds for 20 m, then the north face drops 17 m within the next 10 m and 58 m within 30 m. Lie on the south side of the crest, not towards the edge. ⁷

Not the other two summits. The Mittler Griessstock has a median slope of 47 degrees within 30 m of its top, the Hinter Griessstock 57 degrees, and the Griessgletscher lies 266 m from the Hinter summit. The level-looking shelf 280 m south of the Vorder summit is a closed hollow that held a snowfield in the 2019 and 2022 aerial images. The first grass and water are at the small lake under the Wäspen, west-north-west of the massif at about 2'144 m, 520 m lower and inside the game reserve. The law there is the same, but parts of its bank are steep or wet. ⁷

For a tent on grass: the lawn below the lake, 2'072 m. At 46.84464, 8.79588 (LV95 2'703'521 / 1'189'061), 301 m north-east of the lake and 72 m lower, short turf lies at 3 degrees, with level ground for about 250 m². It is alp pasture inside the game reserve, about 20 m from a marked hiking trail. The Korporation asks you to spare the pasture: pitch some 25 m off the trail, and if cattle or alp staff are about, speak to them first. ^{1 7}

Getting up, and the October season

The route is a T4 from the Klausenpass. The SAC route portal grades the Vorder Griessstock T4 from the Klausenpass: 3 hours 15 up and 900 m of ascent, 2 hours 30 down. There is no marked path to the top; the nearest marked trail ends about 550 m west of the plateau, below the Wäspen. Plan the last part in daylight. ⁸

The season on the pass ends on 18 October 2026. The last PostAuto of line 408 leaves Klausen Passhöhe on 18 October at 16:10, towards Attinghausen, and there is no service from 19 October. Hotel Klausenpass is open until the same day. After that, the start is Unterschächen: the Ribi-Wannelen cable car runs on a timetable from May to September, and outside it on a CHF 15 token sold at Hotel Alpina or by the cable-car warden. ¹⁰

The hunt starts on 12 October. Uri's small-game and roe-deer hunt runs from 12 October to 30 November 2026, with no hunting on Thursdays except 15 October. Snow hare and ptarmigan follow from 2 to 30 November, on exactly this kind of ground. From 7 November the deer follow-up hunt can open the cantonal reserves. Wear something bright and make yourself seen in the morning. ⁹

No fire. Since 25 August 2026 Uri's Sicherheitsdirektion has banned lighting a fire at any improvised fireplace in the canton, and any fire in or within 50 m of forest. No lifting has been published, and the federal forest-fire map has shown high danger for Uri since 8 October 2026. Cook on a stove, on rock. ⁹

Where to sleep, and where not

• The slab basin on the Vorder Griessstock, 2'634 m. 46.83762, 8.80157. One night, a small group, no registration, rock underfoot. ^{1 7}
• The Vorder summit ridge, 2'661 m. Bivvy bag only, south of the crest, 60 m west of the top. ⁷
• The lawn below the lake, 2'072 m. 46.84464, 8.79588, short turf, the place for a tent on grass. Alp pasture: spare it. ^{1 7}
• Hotel Klausenpass, on the pass road. Rooms until 18 October 2026, +41 41 879 11 64. ¹⁰
• The camper and tent pitch in Unterschächen village. Small tents on the area set aside for them, paid on arrival, at most seven nights. ¹⁰
• Not on the Mittler or Hinter summit, and not on the glacier. Both tops are rock blocks, and the Griessgletscher lies on the south and east side of the Hinter Griessstock. ⁷
• Not at the alp buildings, the cable-car stations or the Alpbeizli of Oberalp, Wannelen and Chammli, and not in the forest or on the valley floor. On the Aue Rüti in the Schächental a tent is fined CHF 150. ⁵

General rules for wild camping

The owner gives you the night, so the rest is on you. A standing permission stays standing for as long as the people using it leave nothing behind.

• 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 as of 8 October 2026, based on the official sources linked below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

The Korporation Uri can change its page, the canton is preparing a basis for communal ban perimeters, and the boundary of the cantonal game reserve on the ground follows the crest. Check the Korporation's page before you go and follow signs and instructions on site. Snow, ice and hunting change the mountain in October. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and its consequences. 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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