Wild camping on the Grosser Güslen
The Grosser Güslen, 1'844 m above the Flumserberg in the commune of Quarten, is a narrow crest at the treeline with no flat ground beside the path. From 15 December to the end of the ski season nobody may enter it. In summer a grassy clearing 143 m lower takes one small tent.
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.
Wild camping on the Grosser Güslen: a viewpoint on the 7-Gipfel-Tour
Which Güslen. The Grosser Güslen, 1'844 m, is a summit in the commune of Quarten, canton St. Gallen, on the crest between the Flumserberg ski area and the Seebenalp, at the edge of the Murgtal. The swisstopo summit point lies at LV95 2'736'177 / 1'216'446. The Kleiner Güslen is a separate top 325 m south-south-east.1
A marked path runs over the top. The 7-Gipfel-Tour and the 4-Gipfel-Tour from the Tannenbodenalp and the Maschgenkamm follow the crest and pass through the summit point, which the tour pages list as a viewpoint. People come up here for the view and walk on.9
There is no level ground on the summit
The summit is a narrow crest. Within 30 m of the summit point the median slope is 36 degrees, three quarters of the ground is steeper than 30 degrees and a fifth is steeper than 45. Along the crest the ground falls gently north and south; to the east and the west it drops at 25 to 28 degrees, down to 1'801 m within 80 to 90 m.7
The only flat strip is the path. The nearest patch under 20 degrees lies 43 m north of the summit point and 9 m lower, and it is the marked ridge path. Ground under 10 degrees begins 274 m away and 143 m lower.7
The summit is the treeline. Spruce forest climbs to the crest on the west side; the east flank is grazed pasture with scattered spruce. Every level patch around the Güslen lies below the trees, on summer alp pasture.7
15 December to the end of the ski season: no entry
The summit lies in the wildlife rest zone Quarten, no. 18.0, one of the zones the commune fixed in its protection ordinance. The federal portal lists it as legally binding with the regime "Zutrittsverbot", an entry ban, from 15 December to the end of the ski season. The neighbouring zone Murgtal, no. 15.0, begins 110 m from the summit under the same article.12
"In den Wildruhezonen sind alle Wintersportaktivitäten sowie das Betreten und Befahren während der Zeit vom 15. Dezember bis Ende Skisaison untersagt. Der Zugang zu Bauten und Anlagen sowie die land- und forstwirtschaftliche Bewirtschaftung und die Jagd bleiben gewährleistet."Schutzverordnung der Politischen Gemeinde Quarten, Teil Landschafts- und Naturschutz, approved 1 March 2021, art. 18 para. 1 in the approved wording: in the wildlife rest zones all winter-sports activity and all entry and driving are prohibited from 15 December to the end of the ski season; access to buildings and installations, farming, forestry and hunting remain guaranteed.
The wording catches a bivouac. It bans being there, not camping: a tent, a bivvy bag and a snow hole are all "Betreten". Its exceptions are for buildings, the farmer, the forester and the hunter.2
What it costs. Art. 24 of the ordinance refers breaches to the federal nature protection act and the cantonal planning act. For a wildlife rest zone the St. Gallen hunting act sets a fine of up to CHF 20'000 (art. 65 para. 1 lit. a), and for light cases the canton has written a fixed penalty of CHF 100 into no. 22.1 of the annex to its criminal procedure ordinance, which the cantonal game wardens can issue on the spot.25
When the ski season ends. The ordinance names no date. In 2026 the Flumserberg lifts closed on Easter Monday, 6 April. If your night falls near that date, ask the commune rather than guess.9
Summer: no rule names a tent at the summit
The summit's other zone names no tent. The cadastre also puts the summit in a "Schongebiet", a buffer habitat. Art. 15 of the ordinance bans road building, extraction, dumps and "alle Tätigkeiten, welche eine Beeinträchtigung der Kerngebiete bewirken"; it does not mention camping. The nearest core habitat begins 107 m from the summit, and its art. 16 names no camping either.24
Tents are banned in the nature reserves, and none touches the summit. For Quarten's nature reserves the 1997 protection ordinance still applies, because the 2021 approval held that part back. Its art. 7 para. 2 bans "das Anfachen von Feuer, Lagern, Zelten, Campieren" there. The nearest reserve lies 158 m from the clearing below the summit; none lies at the summit.34
Quarten and the canton have no camping rule. Quarten has no police regulation, and its building regulation provides for camping only in an intensive recreation zone (art. 11). Canton St. Gallen has no general camping ban. No federal game reserve, BLN landscape, mire or forest reserve covers the summit or the clearing.61
Where you can sleep: a clearing below the summit in summer
The nearest workable ground is a clearing 273 m east-south-east. A small grassy hollow with scattered boulders, ringed by spruce and shrubs, at 47.08415 N, 9.23547 E (LV95 2'736'435 / 1'216'355), 1'701 m, 143 m below the summit. A 10 by 10 m patch there slopes at no more than 6.7 degrees. It lies 158 m from the nearest path, outside the nature reserves, the groundwater protection zones and the core habitats, on summer pasture below the treeline.74
Mind the edges. Groundwater protection zones of the spring catchments begin 140 m from the clearing and a nature reserve 158 m away, so do not move the tent towards them. The clearing lies inside the winter rest zone too, which makes it a summer place only. No lake or mapped stream lies within about 600 m; the Seebenalp lakes are 700 m away and more, so carry your water.47
Ask the landowner first. The summit and the clearing lie on parcel 60 of Quarten, about 7.9 square kilometres of alp around the Seebenalp, and the cadastre names no owner. The most likely owner is the Ortsgemeinde Quarten, which owns the neighbouring Chamm alp, but that is not confirmed. Below the treeline, one night on alp ground wants the owner's yes.48
Ortsgemeinde Quarten, Bodenstrasse 5, 8882 Unterterzen, +41 81 720 30 80, office hours weekday mornings and afternoons. For the protection plan and the winter zone: Bauverwaltung Quarten, +41 81 720 33 33.86
In winter there is no night outside here. The rest zones surround the summit; the nearest ground outside them is a narrow strip in the Guetental forest 383 m west, inside a core habitat. For a bed, the Berghotel Seebenalp stands at the Grosssee, about 1.3 km south-east: wild camping at the Grosssee. Two more Quarten spots with their own answer: the Chammseeli and the Oberer Murgsee.1
General rules for wild camping
This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which at the Grosser Güslen means one small tent in the clearing in summer, with the owner's yes. Carry your water, keep away from the reserve and the spring zones, and 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 to the best of my knowledge, as of October 2026, based on the official and public sources below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement by a public authority.
The Gemeinderat Quarten adopted an amendment to the protection ordinance on 5 February 2026 and laid it out until 20 March 2026; no approval has been published, and the cadastre still showed the 2021 text in force on 3 October 2026. The owner of the alp parcel is not published. The ground at the summit and in the clearing was judged from official aerial imagery and the federal elevation model, not surveyed on site. 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 night. 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.
Frequently asked questions
Is wild camping allowed on the Grosser Güslen?
Can I go up in winter?
What is the fine?
Where can I pitch instead?
Why does the verdict read 'Not allowed' and not 'Illegal'?
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.
Sources
- Federal geodata, read 3 October 2026. Swisstopo gazetteer: summit "Grosser Güslen", LV95 2'736'177 / 1'216'446, WGS84 47.08502 / 9.23210, 1'844 m (swissALTI3D 1'843.6 m), commune Quarten SG; "Kleiner Güslen", LV95 2'736'275 / 1'216'136. Federal wildlife rest zone portal at the summit and at the clearing: "Quarten (Nr. 18.0)", canton SG, status "rechtsverbindlich", regime R10 "Zutrittsverbot", period "15.12. bis Ende Skisaison", basis "Schutzverordnung", decision year 2021. The zone "Murgtal (Nr. 15.0)" begins 110 m from the summit. The nearest ground outside both zones lies 383 m west, at about 2'735'811 / 1'216'332, in the Guetental forest. No hit at the summit or the clearing for federal game reserves, parks, BLN, floodplains, fens, raised bogs, mire landscapes, amphibian sites, dry meadows, Ramsar sites, Emerald sites, forest reserves or military areas. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
- Politische Gemeinde Quarten, Schutzverordnung Teil Landschafts- und Naturschutz, adopted 17 May 2018 with a correction round of 21 February 2019, approved by the Amt für Raumentwicklung und Geoinformation on 1 March 2021 (file 19-7958), in force on approval (art. 25). Art. 18 para. 1 in the approved wording quoted above, the words "und die Jagd" added as condition 1 lit. b of the approval. Art. 15 (Schongebiete) prohibits road building, extraction and dumps and "alle Tätigkeiten, welche eine Beeinträchtigung der Kerngebiete bewirken"; art. 16 (Kerngebiete) and art. 4 para. 2 (surroundings of protected objects) contain no camping clause. Art. 5 para. 1 names "Lager, Zelten, Campieren" for nature reserves, but the approval decision holds back the nature reserves for reworking (order no. 2) and rules that for them the ordinance of 7 July 1997 remains in force (order no. 3). Art. 24 refers sanctions to the federal nature protection act (NHG, SR 451) and the cantonal planning act, deliberate and negligent breaches alike. Amendment: cantonal gazette publication no. 00.246.247, adopted by the Gemeinderat on 5 February 2026, laid out until 20 March 2026; no approval published, and the cadastre extract of 3 October 2026 lists no pending change. Documents: ordinance text oereblex.sg.ch, attachment 17832; approval attachment 16289; amendment notice publikationen.sg.ch. ↩
- Gemeinde Quarten, Schutzverordnung, adopted by the Gemeinderat on 24 February 1994 and approved by the Baudepartement on 7 July 1997, published on the cadastre as a scan. Art. 7 para. 2 prohibits in nature reserves, among other things, "das Anfachen von Feuer, Lagern, Zelten, Campieren sowie das Überlassen von Standplätzen dafür"; art. 22: "Verstösse gegen die Bestimmungen dieser Verordnung werden mit Haft oder Busse bestraft." Text oereblex.sg.ch, attachment 17830; approval of 1997 attachment 8734. ↩
- Cadastre of public-law restrictions on landownership, canton St. Gallen, extract for parcel 60 Quarten (EGRID CH478877770764, 7'873'831 m2, 181 restrictions), fetched 3 October 2026 with geometry. At the summit: "Wildruhezone mit Vorschriften im Winter WiW" and "Lebensraum Schongebiet LR S" under the protection ordinance, basic zoning "übriges Gemeindegebiet"; agricultural zone 11 m, forest 21 m, core habitat 107 m, water space 195 m, groundwater protection zone S3 310 m. At the clearing: the same rest zone and buffer habitat, agricultural zone; water space 58 m, forest 132 m, groundwater protection zone S3 140 m, nature reserve "Naturschutzgebiet feucht A" 158 m, core habitat 353 m. The extract names no owner. oereb.geo.sg.ch. ↩
- Jagdgesetz des Kantons St. Gallen vom 17. November 1994 (sGS 853.1), art. 39 para. 1 lit. d: "allgemein verbindliche Schutzmassnahmen, insbesondere Wildruhezonen. Die politische Gemeinde kann Wildruhezonen festlegen"; art. 65 para. 1 lit. a: "Mit Busse bis zu Fr. 20 000.- wird bestraft, wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig ... ein in einer Wildruhezone geltendes Verbot oder Gebot missachtet". Strafprozessverordnung vom 23. November 2010 (sGS 962.11), annex no. 22.1: "Missachtung geltendes Verbot oder Gebot in einer Wildruhezone in leichten Fällen (Art. 39 Abs. 1 Bst. d und 65 Abs. 1 Bst. a)", CHF 100; art. 10 lit. b authorises the organs of the state to issue the fixed penalties of the annex. gesetzessammlung.sg.ch. ↩
- Canton St. Gallen has no camping prohibition of general application. The camping line of the cantonal fixed-penalty catalogue, no. 21.6 at CHF 80, sits under breaches of communal reglemente and requires a communal rule; Quarten has no police regulation and no camping rule. Its Baureglement provides for camping and caravan facilities only in the Intensiverholungszone C (art. 11). Building reglement: oereblex.sg.ch, attachment 17750. Bauverwaltung Quarten, +41 81 720 33 33. ↩
- Terrain and map data, read 3 October 2026. Swisstopo swissALTI3D (2 m): summit 1'843.8 m; within 30 m of the summit point the median slope is 36.3 degrees, 75 percent of the ground is steeper than 30 degrees and 21 percent steeper than 45; nearest ground under 20 degrees 43 m at bearing 13, 9 m lower, on the ridge path (2'736'187 / 1'216'489); under 15 degrees 105 m at bearing 116, 71 m lower; under 10 degrees 274 m at bearing 109, 143 m lower. Clearing: LV95 2'736'435 / 1'216'355, WGS84 47.08415 / 9.23547, 1'700.7 m, steepest slope 6.7 degrees in a 10 by 10 m window, 273 m at bearing 109 from the summit, 158 m from the nearest path. Swissimage aerial image: spruce forest to the crest on the west side, grazed pasture with scattered spruce on the east flank, the clearing a grassy hollow with boulders ringed by spruce and shrubs. Federal agricultural land-use layer: summer grazing at the clearing. No lake or mapped stream within about 600 m of the clearing; the Seebenalp lakes lie 700 m and more south-east. Approach figures are estimates from the elevation model, not measured on foot. ↩
- Ortsgemeinde Quarten, Alpreglement Quartner Alpen, in force since 1 July 2024, art. 1: "Die Ortsgemeinde Quarten ist Eigentümerin folgender Alpen: a) Bachlaui - Guflen - Chamm ..."; the Chamm alp lies on parcel 56, next to parcel 60. Neither the cadastre nor the reglement names the owner of parcel 60. Contact: Ortsgemeinde Quarten, Bodenstrasse 5, 8882 Unterterzen, +41 81 720 30 80, office hours weekday mornings and afternoons. og-quarten.ch. ↩
- Season and route, read 3 October 2026. Bergbahnen Flumserberg AG, press release of 6 April 2026: "Nach 134 Tagen Wintersportbetrieb endet am Flumserberg am Ostermontag, 06.04.2026 die Wintersaison 2025/26." Route pages, colour and not an official source: outdooractive.com, viewpoint Gross Güslen; myswitzerland.com, 7-Gipfel- und 14-Seeblick-Tour. ↩