Wild camping at the Sämtisersee

Wild camping at the Sämtisersee: a lake in a grazed basin

Wild camping at the Sämtisersee is a question about alp ground. The lake lies at 1'208 m in the Bezirk Schwende-Rüte, between Brülisau and the Fälensee, in a basin of open pasture ringed by spruce forest. The Alpstein treeline runs roughly 500 m higher, so the whole basin lies below it, and in summer the cattle graze down to the shore.⁷

It is a karst lake, and its level moves. The water drains underground, with no outflow on the surface, and the level rises and falls strongly over the year. At both ends the flats lie only 0 to 3 m above the water over most of their area: that is the lake's high-water bed, and the national map draws a marsh on the south-west flats. A tent belongs at least 5 m above the water.⁷

Two alps share the shore. The south-west flats are the Alp Sämtis, no. 100 in the cantonal alp register; the north-east end, Seewees, belongs to the Alp Soll, no. 105. Both lie in the summer grazing zone. The canton lists the Sämtisersee among the Alpstein places where people camp wild, with the Seealp, the Saxerlücke, Bollenwees and the Kamor, and Appenzellerland Tourismus writes "Der Alpstein ist weder ein Zelt- noch ein Campingplatz. Wildes Zelten ist nicht erlaubt". That line is the tourism office's, not a norm.⁶⁸

Why the neighbours read differently. At the Fälensee the Fälenalp tenant openly lets people pitch, and at the Seealpsee there is a Senn to ask. At the Sämtisersee neither alp publishes a yes.

The law: the landowner's yes, and no fine

Appenzell Innerrhoden regulates a tent outside a campsite in one paragraph of its camping ordinance of 1973:

"Das gelegentliche Aufstellen von einzelnen Wohnwagen und Zelten ausserhalb bewilligter Campingplätze darf die Dauer eines Monats pro Jahr nicht überschreiten und ist an die Zustimmung des betreffenden Grundeigentümers gebunden. Besondere Erlasse der Bezirksbehörden zur Wahrung öffentlicher Interessen bleiben vorbehalten."Campingverordnung (GS 935.610), Art. 4. In English: the occasional setting up of single caravans and tents outside licensed campsites may not exceed one month a year and is tied to the consent of the landowner concerned. Special enactments of the district authorities to protect public interests are reserved.

The tent needs the owner's yes, from the first night. The article governs setting up a tent. A bivvy bag without a tent sets nothing up and, on the face of the text, is not caught; no decision has tested that. Treat a bivvy bag like a tent and ask.¹

On a strict reading the yes is necessary but not enough. Art. 6 para. 3 applies the exclusions for camping zones in para. 2 to Art. 4 by analogy. Para. 2 lit. d excludes areas "in Gebieten, denen aus Gründen des Natur- oder Heimatschutzes ein besonderer Wert zukommt", and the whole basin lies in the federal landscape inventory object 1612 Säntisgebiet. At the north-east end the cantonal hazard indication map also marks possible flooding, which brings lit. b into play, "in Gefahrengebieten von Überschwemmungen, von Steinschlag und dergleichen"; the south-west flats carry an avalanche indication only, a winter matter. No sanction stands behind any of this.¹⁵⁶

There is no fine. Arts. 11 to 15, the penalty provisions, were repealed on 31 October 2005, and the cantonal fixed-penalty ordinance (VOB, GS 311.010) has no camping, tent or bivouac item. Bezirk Schwende-Rüte has no Polizeireglement and no Campingreglement, so the reservation in Art. 4 for district enactments is unused here. The canton wants to change this: bivouacking is to be allowed in future only with the landowners' express permission, and on its own page "Die diesbezügliche gesetzliche Grundlage ist momentan nicht vorhanden".¹²⁸

Walking is free, sleeping is not. Art. 699 ZGB lets you walk across the pasture; it gives no right to stay the night, and an owner who says no has Art. 641 para. 2 ZGB behind them. The one offence a camper here realistically commits is littering, which Appenzell punishes.⁵²

What does not reach the basin: the moor decree and Marwees

The canton's one area camping ban is elsewhere. The decree on the Schwägalp and Fähnerenspitz mire landscapes (GS 454.001) says in Art. 5 para. 4: "Das Campieren ist verboten." It is the only area-specific camping ban in Appenzell Innerrhoden, and it applies inside its two perimeters. Neither reaches the Sämtis basin.⁴

The Marwees wildlife rest area ends about 2 km west-south-west. The Wildruheverordnung (GS 922.012), in force since 1 July 2025, creates three areas: Chalberer, Marwees and Brugger Wald. Marwees runs from the Marwees ridge east to the Bogartenlücke and Stiefel, and its eastern edge follows the Bogarten trail, about 2 km west-south-west of the pitch and about 2.3 km from the lake. Chalberer and Brugger Wald lie farther away. The boundaries are drawn on the ordinance's annex maps only; the federal map of wildlife rest zones carries no Appenzell zone.³

Even inside, it has no camping rule. The ordinance binds only in the rest periods, which start on 15 December at the earliest and end on 30 June at the latest (Art. 3 para. 2). Then you keep to signposted paths and routes, dogs go on a lead and hunting stops (Arts. 4 and 5). A breach is punished with a fine whose amount the ordinance does not set (Art. 10).³

The federal layers. The federal game reserve Säntis, where a tent is banned outright, begins about 5.2 km west of the pitch. No federal wildlife rest zone, moor, floodplain, amphibian site, dry meadow or forest reserve lies at the lake or at either pitch. The landscape inventory binds the authorities under Art. 6 NHG and sets no rule for a camper; its weight here comes through Art. 6 para. 2 lit. d of the camping ordinance. Neither pitch is in a cantonal nature protection zone or a groundwater protection zone, and the plant protection area covers the Sigel slope north-west of the lake, not the flats.⁵⁶⁴

How a night could work: one yes, and the right flat

What is missing is a yes, and it has to be individual. This is grazed pasture below the treeline, and no alp at the lake has a standing arrangement for tents. With a yes from the alp for one tent and one night, the night is lawful under Art. 4, with the strict reading of Art. 6 para. 3 still in the background.¹⁹

Where to pitch with a yes: the Alp Sämtis flats. Around WGS84 47.268561 / 9.449568 (LV95 2'752'163 / 1'237'245), at 1'216 m, the pasture at the south-west end is almost level, 2 to 3 degrees, and lies about 8 m above the lake, about 440 m from the mapped shore. The Sämtiserbach meanders 40 to 60 m to the north, the alp track with the marked hiking route passes 58 m to the west, and the nearest building, an alp shed, stands 98 m away. A slightly wetter patch lies 20 to 60 m east-south-east: pitch at the point or west of it, not east.⁷

The north-east end is the weaker choice. At Seewees, around 47.273523 / 9.465249, 1'214 m, the open pasture lies about 6 m above the lake, but it slopes about 6 degrees, lies 27 m from the inflow gully, 36 m from a path and 85 m from the Alp Soll buildings, and the hazard map marks possible flooding there.⁷⁶

Where not. Not on the low flats at either end, 0 to 3 m above the water, which flood and turn to marsh. Not on the north-west shore strip with the main path, a grill place and benches. Not on the Plattenbödeli terrace by the inn and its chapel, and not in the forest belt.⁷

In autumn there is nobody on the alp. The alp seasons end in September, and from October until June nobody is on site to ask. Do not mix up the Alp Sämtis with the Alp Rheintaler Sämtis, a separate alp about 1.2 km further south-west towards Bollenwees.⁹

Where you sleep without a yes

• Berggasthaus Plattenbödeli, Plattenbödeli 1, 9058 Brülisau, about 860 m north-east of the pitch, +41 71 799 11 52. Open daily from early May to 1 November; in winter daily from 26 December to early January, then at weekends in January, February and April, with nights on Friday and Saturday. Beds come with dinner as a rule.¹⁰
• Alp Rheintaler Sämtis, Agnes and Albert Gmünder, about 1.2 km south-west towards Bollenwees: beds on the alp from June to September, +41 78 609 66 43 or +41 79 828 90 48.⁹
• Alp Soll, Brüllenstein, the Koch family: 12 places on the alp from June to September, CHF 59 for adults with breakfast, +41 71 794 11 17.⁹
• The Fälensee, the next lake to the south-west, where the Fälenalp tenant has a standing arrangement for tents: wild camping at the Fälensee. How the canton's rules fit together: the Alpstein overview and the national overview.

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which at the Sämtisersee means one tent on the Alp Sämtis flats with the alp's yes. No fire at the pitch: the grill place on the north-west shore is a day spot on the main path. And everything you carry in leaves with you, because litter is what turns a tolerated night into a complaint.

• 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. 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.

The verdict rests on the cantonal camping ordinance, on the alp register and on what the alps and the inn publish. Who owns the parcels of the Alp Sämtis and of the Seewees ground is not public, and no published source records an alp saying yes or no to a tent at the lake. The lake has no published high-water level, so the 5 metres above the water is a margin, not a measured line. The Marwees boundary is read from the ordinance's annex maps, accurate to roughly 50 metres, which does not matter at 2 kilometres. Every distance and coordinate is taken from official geodata, as accurate as the data and not as a marker on the ground. Seasons, prices and contacts are taken from their publishers as of October 2026 and can change. Nobody at the alps, the inn, the Bezirk or the canton was asked. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself, get the landowner's consent, and follow instructions on site. 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.

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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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