As of: 10 October 2026

Wild camping at the Jaunpass

At the Jaunpass, 1'507 m, the road is the line: south of it, from the car parks up to the Hundsrügg, a Bernese wildlife reserve bans camping and bivouacking all year. North of it a tent needs the owner and the commune; the campsite at the pass needs neither.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked 10 October 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.

Wild camping at the Jaunpass: the road is the edge of a wildlife reserve

The Jaunpass lies in the Bernese wildlife reserve Bäder, and its road divides two zones. The reserve, no. 2 of the canton's wildlife protection ordinance (WTSchV), covers 3'490 ha of Boltigen and Oberwil im Simmental. North of the road lies zone 1a; south of it, through the forest and up to the crest of the Hundsrügg, core zone 1c. The road's high point sits exactly on the line; the swisstopo pass point, 378 m inside it, and both paid car parks south of the road are in zone 1c.14

In zone 1c the ordinance bans camping and bivouacking. Its annex 2 lists the rules for Bäder zone by zone, and for the core zones it adds:2

In Kernzone 1b und 1c zusätzlich: ... Freies/wildes Campieren und Biwakieren sind verboten.

In English: free or wild camping and bivouacking are also prohibited. No season is attached to that sentence, so it applies all year, and "Biwakieren" catches a bivvy bag without a tent as much as a tent. The fixed fine is CHF 100 under annex 1 no. 29 of the cantonal fixed-fine ordinance (KOBV). Neither a landowner nor the commune can lift a rule of the ordinance, so inside zone 1c there is no one to ask.3

Zone 1a, north of the road, carries no camping rule. In all zones of Bäder drones are banned, and dogs go on a lead in the forest from 1 December to 31 July. Zone 1c adds a path rule for the same months: from 1 December to 31 July you may enter it only on existing marked paths and roads, another CHF 100 under no. 29a. The walk from the pass to the Hundsrügg runs through zone 1c.23

The canton's geodata draw the line. The ordinance delimits its reserves with digital geodata (Art. 4 para. 1), and the road is the edge you can see on the ground. On map.geo.admin.ch the federal map of wildlife rest zones shows core zone 1c of Bäder; zone 1a is not drawn there.14

North of the road: the owner and the commune must both agree

Boltigen's camping regulation covers the whole commune (Art. 1). It dates from 1974 and is listed among the commune's current acts. It defines camping as a temporary stay in tents, caravans and motorhomes, and merely putting up a tent counts too (Art. 2). Art. 6 then reads: "Das vereinzelte Campieren abseits von bewilligten Campingplätzen ist verboten, es sei denn die Zustimmung des Grundeigentümers sowie der zuständigen Gemeindebehörden werden eingeholt, wobei insbesondere die hygienischen Einrichtungen zu genügen haben."5

In English: a single tent away from approved campsites is forbidden unless the landowner and the competent communal authorities both consent, and the sanitary arrangements must be adequate. Breaches carry fines of up to CHF 1'000 (Art. 28). On public ground the police regulation adds that camping is allowed only at places the local police authority designates (Art. 31 para. 1); Boltigen has published none.56

There is no fee and no standing arrangement. Every tent away from the campsite needs a yes for that ground and that night, from both. Start with the commune: it gives one of the two, and it can tell you who owns or farms the parcel; Bern's cadastre does not publish owners.69

Gemeindeverwaltung Boltigen, Vijelimatte 281h, 3766 Boltigen: +41 33 773 83 73, gemeindeverwaltung@boltigen.ch. For the Zweisimmen side of the Hundsrügg crest: Gemeindekanzlei Zweisimmen, +41 33 729 88 11, gemeindeverwaltung@zweisimmen.ch.68

A bivvy bag without a tent is not named, and that is no permission. Boltigen's definition names tents, caravans and motorhomes. In zone 1c the gap does not matter, because "Biwakieren" is banned by name. North of the road the open ground is grazed pasture below the tree line, which runs at about 1'950 to 2'000 m here, so treat a night without a tent like one with a tent and ask first.125

Place by place around the Jaunpass

  • The pass and its car parks: no. A road pass with car parks, restaurants and ski lifts. South of the road it is zone 1c with its year-round ban; north of it, public ground is open to camping only at places the commune designates, and it has designated none.246
  • The hamlet and the Bruchsee: no. Houses, a hotel zone and lifts at 1'512 m are no place to sleep out, even in zone 1a. The moor pond beside the campsite is nature reserve no. 93 "Bruchsee, Jaunpass": in the snow-free season its mire may be entered only to observe plants or animals, with care.79
  • Camping Jaunpass: yes. The approved campsite north of the road, in zone 1a, is the one night here that needs no one's yes; details in the next section.10
  • The Hundsrügg summit: no. The summit, 2'047 m, is a broad grassy dome with a path junction on top and cattle in summer. Zone 1c crosses the dome, and all its level ground lies on the 1c side of the line: the year-round ban and the CHF 100 fine apply wherever you would lie down up there.14
  • The Schiltenegg: only with two yeses. South-east of the summit, at LV95 2'590'251 / 1'155'903, 1'861 m, a small grassy bench lies on a knoll at the edge of scattered spruce, 548 m from the summit, 290 m outside zone 1c and 135 m from the path and the track. It is Boltigen ground, so a tent needs the landowner's and the commune's consent under Art. 6. The ground is open pasture just below the tree line, with a water trough about 95 m west. Not the flatter knoll at LV95 2'590'087 / 1'155'821, 1'899 m: cattle trample it, and it lies 9 m from the track.1459
  • The crest south-west of the summit: Zweisimmen's rule, private ground only. From the summit south-west, the crest path is both the edge of zone 1c and the boundary with Zweisimmen. On the Zweisimmen side, for example at LV95 2'589'081 / 1'155'413, 1'966 m, 33 m from the crest path, a single occasional night on private ground is allowed with the consent of the owner or tenant (Art. 2 para. 3); on public ground camping is banned, CHF 200. Nothing published says whether that parcel is private: ask Zweisimmen first.48
  • The Bäderhorn: only with two yeses, and not on top. North of the pass, the Bäderhorn, Bäderhore on the national map, 2'008.5 m, lies in zone 1a. Its top is no pitch: within 30 m the median slope is 42 degrees, and the north face is a forested cliff. The nearest level ground is a bench of about 32 m² at LV95 2'591'681 / 1'162'203, 1'816 m, 323 m south-east and 193 m lower, beside a sinkhole and about 60 m from a structure with trampled ground. Boltigen's Art. 6 applies: owner and commune.15

Where you sleep: Camping Jaunpass

Camping Jaunpass is the approved campsite at the pass, north of the road in zone 1a, run by Camping Jaunpass AG. Next to its residents' and seasonal pitches it has 35 pitches for passing guests, showers, washing machines, a shop with a bistro and a covered cooking place for tent campers. Its group house has 28 dorm places and 2 double rooms.10

What a night costs on the operator's price list: tent CHF 6.50, adult CHF 7.50, tourist tax (Kurtaxe) CHF 2.00 and lodging levy (Beherbergungsabgabe) CHF 1.00, so CHF 17 for one adult with a small tent; a car is CHF 5 a day. A dorm bed costs CHF 17 per person per night for 1 to 2 nights. Listings give the campsite as open all year, and the operator's page names no dates for 2026: confirm yours when you book.10

Camping Jaunpass AG, Postfach 33, Jaunpass 1073, 3766 Boltigen: +41 33 773 69 53, camping@jaunpass.ch, campingjaunpass.swiss.

Jaun and the Gastlosen

West of the pass the road goes down to Jaun, in canton Fribourg. Next to the pass the Jaun side is forest and farmland down to the village; the commune's open ground above the tree line is the Gastlosen chain, 4 to 6 km west-south-west. A night on the Fribourg side therefore means the Gastlosen, not the pass. The Gastlosen report covers the chain from the Saanen side.1

General rules for wild camping

At the pass, the campsite is the one night that needs no one's yes. Wherever you sleep, leave the ground as you found it.

  • 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 10 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 owners of the alp parcels on the Hundsrügg, the Bäderhorn and the Zweisimmen side are not published, and no tourism page for the Jaunpass addresses camping. Ask the communes before you go, and follow signs and instructions on site. 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

Can you wild camp at the Jaunpass?
Not at the pass itself. South of the road, both paid car parks included, lies core zone 1c of the Bernese wildlife reserve Bäder (no. 2), where annex 2 of the WTSchV bans free camping and bivouacking all year; the fixed fine is CHF 100 under KOBV annex 1 no. 29. North of the road, Art. 6 of Boltigen's camping regulation allows a tent away from approved campsites only with the consent of the landowner and the commune.235
Can I sleep on the Hundsrügg?
Not on the summit. Zone 1c of the Bäder reserve crosses the summit dome, and all its level ground lies on the 1c side, so camping and bivouacking are banned there all year, CHF 100. On the Schiltenegg, south-east of the summit and outside the reserve, a tent is possible with the consent of the landowner and of the commune of Boltigen.345
Where can I sleep legally at the Jaunpass?
At Camping Jaunpass, the approved campsite north of the road: tent CHF 6.50 and adult CHF 7.50, plus CHF 2.00 tourist tax and CHF 1.00 lodging levy, or a dorm bed for CHF 17. Contact +41 33 773 69 53 or camping@jaunpass.ch, and confirm that it is open on your date.10
Who can allow a tent away from the campsite?
In Boltigen, the landowner and the commune together: Gemeindeverwaltung Boltigen, +41 33 773 83 73, gemeindeverwaltung@boltigen.ch, which can also tell you who owns the parcel. On the Zweisimmen side of the Hundsrügg crest, the owner or tenant of private ground can allow a single occasional night; on public ground camping is banned, CHF 200. No fee or standing arrangement exists for wild nights.568
What about a bivvy bag without a tent?
In zone 1c it is banned by name: the Bäder rule says "Biwakieren". Boltigen's definition names tents, caravans and motorhomes, not a bivvy bag, but the ground north of the road is grazed pasture below the tree line. Ask the landowner and the commune as you would for a tent.25
Can I sleep in a van on the Jaunpass car park?
The paid car parks south of the road are in zone 1c, where wild camping is banned. The Bäder rules do not define camping; Boltigen's regulation counts a stay in a caravan or motorhome as camping (Art. 2) and bans it away from approved campsites without the consent of the landowner and the commune (Art. 6). Plan the night at the campsite.245
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. Federal geodata, 10 October 2026: swissNAMES3D pass point Jaunpass, LV95 2'591'914 / 1'159'757, 1'507 m, and the road's high point, 2'592'504 / 1'159'997, 1'508 m; hamlet Jaunpass, 2'592'330 / 1'160'119, 1'512 m; Hundsrügg (ridge), high point 2'589'775 / 1'156'175, 2'046.8 m; Bäderhore, 2'591'477 / 1'162'453, 2'008.5 m. Current commune boundaries (swissBOUNDARIES3D): all these points in Boltigen; the crest south-west of the Hundsrügg summit is the boundary with Zweisimmen; west of the pass lies Jaun FR, with forest and farmland down to the village and the Gastlosen chain 4 to 6 km west-south-west. Terrain from swissALTI3D (2 m, 2025): Hundsrügg summit, median slope 13.6 degrees within 30 m; Bäderhore summit, 42.2 degrees; Schiltenegg bench, 2'590'251 / 1'155'903, 1'861 m; Bäderhore bench, 2'591'681 / 1'162'203, 1'816 m. Aerial images © swisstopo: cattle on the Hundsrügg dome; a water trough about 95 m west of the Schiltenegg bench; spruce up to about 2'000 to 2'030 m on the north-west flank of the Hundsrügg and scattered spruce at 1'850 to 1'880 m around the Schiltenegg, so the tree line runs at about 1'950 to 2'000 m. Federal inventories (game reserves, parks, BLN, mires, dry meadows, forest reserves, military areas): none at the Hundsrügg, Schiltenegg or Bäderhorn points. Paid car parks south of the road, from OpenStreetMap (colour): 2'592'169 / 1'159'993 and 2'592'424 / 1'160'052. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  2. Canton of Bern, Verordnung über den Wildtierschutz (WTSchV), BSG 922.63, version in force since 1 December 2024: Art. 3 para. 1 lit. f, restrictions on disturbing leisure, sport and tourism activities (category F); Art. 4 para. 1 "Die kantonalen Wildschutzgebiete werden anhand digitaler Geodaten und Beschreibungen im Anhang 2 abgegrenzt." Annex 1: "Bäder (Nr. 2) | Wildraum 12 | C/D/E/F". Annex 2, no. 2 "Bäder", all zones (1a, 1b, 1c): category E, dogs on a lead in the forest from 1 December to 31 July; category F, drones banned. "In Kernzone 1b und 1c zusätzlich": category D, from 1 December to 31 July only on existing marked paths and roads; category F, "Freies/wildes Campieren und Biwakieren sind verboten." No season is attached to that sentence. Object sheet "Bäder (Nr. 02)": communes Boltigen and Oberwil im Simmental, decided in 1938, 3'490.45 ha. WTSchV (belex), WTSchV Anhänge (PDF), Objektblatt Bäder (PDF). ↩
  3. Canton of Bern, Kantonale Ordnungsbussenverordnung (KOBV), BSG 324.111, version in force since 1 March 2023, annex 1, section "Jagd und Wildtierschutz": no. 29 "Missachten von Verboten in Wildschutzgebieten (Art. 3 Abs. 1 Bst. f WTSchV i.V.m. Art. 31 Abs. 1 Bst. c JWG)", CHF 100; no. 29a, disregarding the path rules in wildlife reserves, CHF 100. KOBV (belex). ↩
  4. Canton of Bern, geodata of the wildlife reserves (WILDSG), which set the legal boundary under WTSchV Art. 4, read on 10 October 2026. Bäder no. 2: zone 1c at the swisstopo pass point (378 m inside the line) and at both paid car parks; the road's high point exactly on the line between zones 1a and 1c; the hamlet and the campsite in zone 1a; the Hundsrügg summit in zone 1c, with all ground under 8 degrees within 120 m of the summit on the 1c side; south-west of the summit zone 1c follows the crest, east of it the line leaves the crest, so the Schiltenegg bench lies 290 m outside; the Bäderhorn in zone 1a. The federal map of wildlife rest zones on map.geo.admin.ch draws only core zone 1c of Bäder. WILDSG (geofiles.be.ch). ↩
  5. Gemischte Gemeinde Boltigen, Campingreglement, adopted by the commune assembly on 20 December 1974, approved by the cantonal police directorate on 15 June 1979, listed among the commune's current acts on its online counter (April 2026): Art. 1 "Durch dieses Reglement wird das Campieren auf dem gesamten Gemeindegebiet geordnet"; Art. 2 "Unter Campieren versteht man das vorübergehende Verweilen in Zelten, Wohnwagen und Mobilheimen. Das blosse Aufstellen von Zelten und Wohnwagen fällt ebenfalls unter den Begriff des Campierens."; Art. 6, consent of the landowner and of the competent communal authorities; Art. 28, fines up to CHF 1'000. Campingreglement Boltigen, web.archive.org, Online-Schalter Boltigen. ↩
  6. Gemeinde Boltigen, Ortspolizeireglement, adopted on 16 December 1986, approved on 14 June 1989: Art. 31 para. 1 "Auf öffentlichem Grund ist das Campieren nur an den von der Ortspolizeibehörde bezeichneten Stellen gestattet."; para. 4, camping operations follow the camping regulation; Art. 70, fines up to CHF 1'000. Commune administration, Vijelimatte 281h, 3766 Boltigen, contact data as published on boltigen.ch (April 2026). Ortspolizeireglement Boltigen, web.archive.org, Gemeindeverwaltung Boltigen. ↩
  7. Canton of Bern, nature reserve no. 93 "Bruchsee, Jaunpass", government decision no. 4631 of 4 December 1974, 1.94 ha of raised and transition bog with a moor pond: no. 3 "Das Moorgebiet darf in der schneefreien Zeit nur zu botanischen oder zoologischen Beobachtungen schonend betreten werden." Its edge lies 39 m from the hamlet point. NSG 93 Bruchsee (PDF), Schutzplan Bruchsee (PDF). ↩
  8. Einwohnergemeinde Zweisimmen, Campingreglement of 25 September 1992 with amendments of 23 September 2025, in force since 1 January 2026, with its Verordnung in the same document: Art. 2 para. 2 "Das Campieren ausserhalb von bewilligten Plätzen ist grundsätzlich nicht gestattet."; para. 3 "Das vereinzelte, gelegentliche Campieren auf privaten Grundstücken ist mit der Einwilligung des Grundeigentümers, Pächters oder deren Vertreter erlaubt."; para. 4, more than one night needs a permit of the commune; Art. 27, fines up to CHF 5'000; Verordnung Art. 1, the Stelle Tourismus und Sportkoordination grants that permit; Verordnung Art. 2, camping on public ground banned, CHF 200. Cadastre extract, Zweisimmen parcel 432: no owner published. Campingreglement Zweisimmen, Publikation Zweisimmen, ÖREB Zweisimmen 432. ↩
  9. Bern cadastre of public-law restrictions on landownership (ÖREB), extracts of 10 October 2026, which publish no owners. Boltigen parcel 849, 306 ha, at the Hundsrügg summit and the Schiltenegg: agricultural zone and communal landscape protection area; the Naturwaldreservat Hundsrügg (contract 2020 to 2059) and the Moorlandschaft no. 118 Sparenmoos/Neuenberg lie on the parcel but not at these points, the moorland 31 to 50 m from the Schiltenegg bench. Parcels 782 and 625 at the Bäderhorn: agricultural zone and landscape protection area. Parcels 1632 and 1965: special plan no. 14.01 "Camping Jaunpass". A hotel zone lies 17 m from the hamlet point. Boltigen building regulation of 2011, Art. 24, landscape protection areas: it bars changes to the terrain and buildings and names no tent. The zone plan of the Sparenmoos moorland contains no camping rule. ÖREB Boltigen 849, ÖREB Boltigen 1965, Baureglement Boltigen 2011, Zonenplan Moorlandschaft Sparenmoos. ↩
  10. Camping Jaunpass AG, Postfach 33, Jaunpass 1073, 3766 Boltigen, operator page and price lists, read on 10 October 2026: 117 residents' pitches, 20 seasonal pitches and 35 pitches for passing guests; showers, washing machines, shop and bistro, covered cooking place for tent campers; group house with 28 dorm places and 2 double rooms. Tent CHF 6.50, adult CHF 7.50, Kurtaxe CHF 2.00, Beherbergungsabgabe CHF 1.00, car CHF 5 a day; dorm CHF 17 per person per night for 1 to 2 nights. The operator page gives no season dates for 2026. campingjaunpass.swiss, Preisliste Touristenplatz (PDF), Preisliste Gruppenhaus (PDF). "Open all year": campsite listings, colour, not a basis for the verdict: parking.ch, eurocampings.co.uk, madeinbern.com. ↩