Wild camping at Pass La Stretta
Camping at Pass La Stretta needs a permit from Pontresina, which bans it across the whole commune and names the body that can say yes. The rule also defines camping as putting up a tent. Here is who to write to, and what that definition leaves open.
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.
One article, and it covers the whole commune
Wild camping at Pass La Stretta is decided by a single provision, and unusually for these reports it is not buried in an annex or a zone plan. It is the twenty-sixth article of the commune's police law, it has its own heading, and it reads across the entire territory of Pontresina.
"Auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde Pontresina ist das Campieren, d.h. das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen und Wohnmobilen zur Übernachtung, nur an den von den Behörden bezeichneten Stellen erlaubt. Ansonsten ist das Campieren ohne Bewilligung des Gemeindevorstandes untersagt."Art. 26, headed Campingverbot, of the Gesetz über die öffentliche Ordnung, Sicherheit und Ruhe in der Gemeinde Pontresina: on the territory of the commune, camping, that is the putting up of tents, caravans and motorhomes for overnight stays, is permitted only at the places designated by the authorities. Otherwise camping without a permit from the Gemeindevorstand is prohibited.
Three things follow from those two sentences, and they pull in different directions.
The first is scope. Auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde means the whole commune, and Pontresina's territory reaches from the village at 1'800 m up the Val dal Fain to this border ridge. There is no altitude limit, no exception for open alpine ground and no carve-out above the tree line. Being at 2'466 m does not put you outside it.
The second is that the ban is not absolute. The same sentence names two routes: the places the authorities designate, and a permit from the Gemeindevorstand. That is what keeps this at "it depends" rather than a flat no. Most communal camping bans in this guide simply prohibit and stop; this one tells you who decides and leaves the door visible.
The third is the definition, and it is the part worth slowing down for. The law is current: resolved by the Gemeindeversammlung on 3 April 2023 and partially revised by the ballot of 28 September 2025, so this is not an old text waiting to be replaced.1
The definition turns on the tent
Art. 26 does not just prohibit Campieren and leave the word to common sense. It defines it, with a d.h., that is: das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen und Wohnmobilen zur Übernachtung. The putting up of tents, caravans and motorhomes for the purpose of staying the night.
Every element of that definition is an act of erection. You put up a tent, you park and set up a caravan, you position a motorhome. A person who lies down in a bivvy bag on alpine turf puts up nothing at all. On the wording, that is not Aufstellen, and so it is not the Campieren that art. 26 prohibits.
This is the same distinction this site keeps returning to, and it is worth being precise about what it is and is not. It is a reading of the text, and a defensible one, because the commune chose to define the term instead of leaving it open. It is not a permission. Nobody has ruled on it, the commune has not published an interpretation, and a Pontresina official who finds someone sleeping out at a border pass is under no obligation to share the reading. If you rely on it and are asked to move, move.
What the reading does give you is a sense of proportion about the risk, and the risk is worth stating plainly because the number is large.
"Wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig die Bestimmungen dieses Gesetzes oder gestützt darauf erlassene Verordnungen und Verfügungen verletzt oder Anordnungen missachtet, wird mit Busse von CHF 50.00 bis CHF 10'000.00 bestraft."Art. 46 para. 1 of the same law. Para. 2 adds that in light cases a warning may be issued or the penalty waived entirely.
CHF 50 to CHF 10'000 is a range, not a tariff, and the bottom of it is CHF 50. Art. 46 para. 2 lets the commune warn instead of fining, which is what a first, tidy, one-night case would ordinarily attract. There is no fixed-penalty line for camping anywhere in Pontresina's published fine list.2
One provision deserves a specific flag on this pass, because most visitors here are crossing a border. Art. 47 para. 4 lets the commune secure a Bussendepositum, a deposit against the eventual fine and costs, from people without residence in Switzerland. If you are not Swiss-resident, the practical consequence of being caught is not a letter that arrives later. It can be money handed over on the spot.2
What the maps say, which is less than you would expect
For a pass inside one of the best-known landscapes in the Alps, the protected-area stack here is remarkably quiet, and that was checked rather than assumed.
The pass lies inside BLN object 1908, Oberengadiner Seenlandschaft und Berninagruppe. That sounds decisive and is not. The federal inventory of landscapes binds the authorities under art. 6 of the federal nature and heritage act: it constrains what the state may authorise and build. It carries no prohibition and no fine for a person with a tent. It is a duty on the state, not a rule for you, and it is the single most over-quoted layer in this whole subject.3
Everything else is empty at the point: no federal game reserve, no wildlife rest zone, no floodplain, no fen or raised bog, no mire landscape, no amphibian site, no dry grassland, no park of national importance. Because an empty point can hide a boundary a few metres away, the two layers that would actually carry a camping ban were sampled outward as well, on eight bearings at 500, 1'000 and 2'000 metres. Twenty-four probes, and nothing within two kilometres in any direction. Every query ran with a deliberately invalid layer alongside it, which returns HTTP 400, because on this service a wrong layer id looks exactly like a failed query.3
The cantonal level adds nothing either, and that is a settled finding rather than a gap in the research. Graubünden has no blanket cantonal wild-camping article that can be quoted. The canton has a reputation for strictness and that reputation is real in practice, but it lives in communal law and in enforcement, not in a cantonal statute number. Anyone who tells you "Graubünden forbids wild camping" and cites an article is citing something that does not exist.4
The border is half the story
The pass is the frontier. Walk over it and you are in Italy, in the Val Federia above Livigno, and everything above stops applying. Italian and Lombard rules on campeggio libero are a different system with different penalties, and this article does not cover them. If you are working out where to sleep near the col, the practical point is simple: know which side of the line you are on, and do not assume that a Swiss reading of a Swiss communal article travels across it.5
How to do this properly
Ask, because art. 26 tells you exactly whom to ask. The permit route is not theoretical: the article names the Gemeindevorstand. For a single night on open ground at a border pass, a short, specific request naming the date and the spot is a reasonable thing to send, and the answer is either a yes you can rely on or a no that saves you the trip. Pontresina's commune administration is the address. This is the only route in this article that ends with certainty.6
If you sleep out anyway, sleep out and not camp. The distinction that art. 26 draws is the one to respect: no tent, no structure, nothing erected. Arrive late, be gone at first light, leave the turf exactly as you found it. That is the reading the wording supports, and it is also simply how you avoid becoming the reason a commune tightens its article at the next ballot.
The nearby lawful beds. Pontresina itself is a full resort with a campsite and hostel beds, and the valley floor is well served. Berninapass and the huts on the Bernina side are the obvious fallback if the weather turns, and they are a short distance from the head of Val dal Fain.
And if you want an unregulated night instead. The Engadine is not short of ground where the answer is easier. The Albula Pass and the Silvaplanersee area are both already answered here, and the answers differ, which is the whole point of checking the commune rather than the canton.
Last thing, and it is specific to this place. Val dal Fain means the hay valley, and the name is not decorative: the flanks are grazed and mown alpine ground with a well-documented flora, and the valley is one of the busier ibex and marmot corridors on the Bernina side even without a formal rest zone drawn over it. There is no zone here telling you to stay away. That is not the same as nothing being there.5
General rules for wild camping
This applies wherever you are allowed to sleep outside, and on a pass where the commune has already written a ban with a door in it, behaving well is what keeps the door open.
- 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 law changes, and this one changed recently: the Pontresina Polizeigesetz was partially revised by ballot in September 2025. Check the current version in the commune's collection before relying on any of this, and follow instructions on site. The reading that a tentless bivouac falls outside art. 26 is mine and has not been confirmed by the commune or a court. The pass is on an international border and nothing here describes Italian law. 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
Is wild camping allowed at Pass La Stretta?
Does the ban catch a bivouac without a tent?
Doesn't the BLN protection settle it?
What about the Italian side of the pass?
Does canton Graubünden ban wild camping?
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
- Gesetz über die öffentliche Ordnung, Sicherheit und Ruhe in der Gemeinde Pontresina (Polizeigesetz), resolved by the Gemeindeversammlung of 3 April 2023, partial revision resolved by the ballot of 28 September 2025 and in force from that date, signed by Gemeindepräsidentin Nora Saratz Cazin and Gemeindeschreiberin Jeannette Guadagnini. Art. 26, marginal heading Campingverbot: "Auf dem Gebiet der Gemeinde Pontresina ist das Campieren, d.h. das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen und Wohnmobilen zur Übernachtung, nur an den von den Behörden bezeichneten Stellen erlaubt. Ansonsten ist das Campieren ohne Bewilligung des Gemeindevorstandes untersagt." The provision is territorial and carries no altitude threshold and no exception for open alpine ground. Neighbouring art. 25 subjects Sondernutzung of public ground to a concession, and art. 27 para. 3 separately prohibits entering cultivated land and open private parcels from 1 June to 1 October, subject to civil-law rights of temporary use and to the express consent of the landowner. gemeinde-pontresina.ch. ↩
- Penalties in the same law. Art. 46 para. 1: "Wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig die Bestimmungen dieses Gesetzes oder gestützt darauf erlassene Verordnungen und Verfügungen verletzt oder Anordnungen missachtet, wird mit Busse von CHF 50.00 bis CHF 10'000.00 bestraft." Para. 2 allows a warning to be issued or the penalty waived in light cases; para. 3 removes the ceiling where the offender acts out of profit-seeking; para. 4 reserves conduct already threatened with punishment by federal or cantonal law. Art. 47 para. 1 places ordinary administrative penal proceedings with the Gemeindevorstand, and para. 4 permits a Bussendepositum in the probable amount of the fine and costs to be secured from persons without residence in Switzerland, including outside the fixed-penalty procedure, which is the provision most likely to matter to a foreign visitor on a border pass. Pontresina's published fixed-penalty schedule contains no camping line, so the CHF 50 to CHF 10'000 range is the operative one rather than a set tariff. gemeinde-pontresina.ch. ↩
- Official federal geodata, queried 6 August 2026. Identify at LV95 2'800'729 / 1'148'918, elevation 2'465.9 m via the federal height service, coordinates converted from WGS84 46.4615 N / 10.0521 E through the federal reframe service. The single hit across the whole protected-area stack is BLN object 1908, Oberengadiner Seenlandschaft und Berninagruppe. Empty at the point: federal game reserves, wildlife rest zones, floodplains, fens, raised bogs, mire landscapes, amphibian sites, dry grasslands and pastures, waterbird reserves, parks of national importance and Emerald sites. Because an empty point can sit metres from a boundary, the two layers that could carry a camping prohibition, wildlife rest zones and federal game reserves, were additionally ring-sampled on eight bearings at 500, 1'000 and 2'000 m, twenty-four probes in total, returning nothing within two kilometres in any direction. Every query carried a deliberately invalid layer id returning HTTP 400 as a control, because a stale layer id on this service is otherwise indistinguishable from a failed query. The commune at the point was confirmed as Pontresina from swissBOUNDARIES, filtering on the current-year flag because the service also serves historical boundary years. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
- The BLN and the cantonal level. The inventory of landscapes and natural monuments of national importance binds the authorities under art. 6 of the federal act on nature and cultural heritage protection: it governs what the state may authorise, plan and build within an object, and it neither prohibits an individual from sleeping nor attaches a penalty to it. The same object 1908 was worked through in detail for the Silvaplanersee report, where the operative bar likewise turned out to be communal rather than federal. On the cantonal level, Graubünden has no blanket wild-camping article capable of being cited. The canton is commonly listed among the stricter ones for sleeping out, and that practice picture is genuine, but it rests on communal enactments and on enforcement rather than on a cantonal statutory provision, so a cantonal article number quoted for a Graubünden camping ban is not one that exists. This is why every spot in this canton is answered commune by commune. fedlex.admin.ch. ↩
- Setting and access. Pass La Stretta lies at 2'466 m on the international border between the commune of Pontresina and the Italian commune of Livigno, linking the Val dal Fain on the Swiss side with the Val Federia on the Italian side. Val dal Fain, the hay valley, opens off the Bernina road above Pontresina and is grazed and mown alpine ground known for its flora and for ibex and marmot on the Bernina flanks; no formal wildlife rest zone is drawn over it, which is a statement about the map rather than about the animals. The Swiss approach is the track up Val dal Fain from the Bernina road, used by walkers and mountain bikers. Piz la Stretta, 3'104 m, and Alp la Stretta sit immediately to the north-west of the col, and the pass name recurs several times in the gazetteer across Graubünden, so a request naming only "La Stretta" is worth pinning to a coordinate before it is answered. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
- The lawful alternatives. Pontresina is a full resort at the mouth of the Val dal Fain with commercial campsite and hostel accommodation and frequent rail and bus connection over the Bernina, so the permitted-place route under art. 26 has real content nearby rather than being a formality. The permit route runs through the Gemeindevorstand, named in art. 26 itself, reachable through the commune administration. Already answered elsewhere in this guide and useful for comparison in the same canton: the Albula Pass, a road summit with a hospice where the common-sense gate rather than a statute decides the answer, and the Silvaplanersee, where a commune-wide camping prohibition in the Silvaplana Baugesetz produces a similar restricted answer inside the same BLN object. gemeinde-pontresina.ch. ↩