As of: 1 October 2026

Wild camping on Sur Trotg

Sur Trotg is open alp pasture at 2'324 m above Alp Foppa, on the ground of the former commune of Salouf. No rule in force bans a single night, but a commune-wide camping ban adopted in March is waiting for the canton's approval. The pin is a slope; the nearest bench is 170 m away.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked in 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 on Sur Trotg: alp pasture above Alp Foppa

What Sur Trotg is. The coordinates 46.6016331 N, 9.5124174 E lie at 2'324 m on an open grass slope that the national map labels Sur Trotg. It runs between the Piz Curvér ridge to the west and Alp Foppa to the south-east, in the commune of Surses, on the territory of the former commune of Salouf. The tree line is far below, and the nearest marked path, which climbs from the Ziteil church along the east flank of Piz Curvér, passes 499 m west of the pin.7

How you get there. From the Sars car park it is about 4.2 km on foot to the bench described in the next section, with about 540 m of climbing: roughly 3.7 km on farm road, track and path, 2.7 km of it to the alp buildings at 2'002 m, then about 0.5 km across pasture without a path. The road to Sars falls under the commune's vehicle-access law, so ask the commune what a trailhead visitor needs. From Savognin the gondola to Somtgant runs daily until 18 October 2026, and Somtgant lies 3.7 km from the pin as the crow flies.9

The pin is a slope: the nearest bench is 170 m away

The pin is steep tussock pasture. The elevation model gives a median slope of 24 degrees within 30 m of it, and a rock-lined stream wraps around its south side, 71 m away. It is no place to pitch.7

The nearest bench is 170 m north-north-east. A small patch of tussock pasture at 46.60299 N, 9.51343 E (LV95 2'758'951 / 1'163'405), 2'340 m and 16 m above the pin, has a median slope of 9 degrees within 30 m and 6 degrees across a tent's width. It lies 228 m from the nearest stream on the map and about 500 m from the nearest marked path. The aerial image shows grass, no pond and no standing water.7

The ground falls away within 40 m to the east, and two cattle troughs with trampled ground around them stand about 85 m to the north. Some ground that looks flat on the elevation model is worse: a shoulder about 250 m west-north-west of the bench holds a small pond that the map does not show.7

No rule in force bans a night here

Surses has no police law, and its assembly refused a camping ban. The commune says so itself. A draft police law with a ban on camping in tents and motorhomes on public ground, art. 12, came to the assembly on 7 April 2025 and was refused by 114 votes to 69. The commune's message to the assembly had said it needed a police law to be able to ban wild camping and had none.1

The building law in force for this ground only bans campsites. The pin lies on the territory of the former commune of Salouf, whose building law of 1993 still applies here as transitional law until the new one takes effect. Art. 47 says:2

"Die Anlage und der Betrieb von Campingplätzen ist ausserhalb einer Campingzone auf dem ganzen Gemeindegebiet verboten. Organisierte, zeitlich befristete Zeltlager können vom Gemeindevorstand bewilligt werden."Baugesetz Salouf, art. 47. In English: the installation and operation of campsites is banned outside a camping zone across the whole communal territory; organised, time-limited tent camps may be approved by the commune board.

That does not reach a lone tent. The article's verbs are installing and operating a campsite, and its second sentence permits organised tent camps. One hiker's night is neither. The heading reads "Campingplätze und Zeltlager" and there is no case law, so this is a reading of the text, not a ruling. Breaches of the building law carry a fine: its own art. 88 says up to CHF 30'000, and the cantonal planning act, which covers breaches of communal building laws, now sets CHF 200 to 40'000 (KRG art. 95). No tariff for camping exists.24

Graubünden and the federal layers add nothing for campers. The cantonal hunting ordinance bans tents outside campsites only for hunters (JBV art. 13), and no cantonal act that applies here bans camping for the public. No federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone or landscape and moor inventory lies at the pin or the bench, and the nearest cantonal wildlife reserve is 1'050 m from the pin. The ground lies in the regional nature park Parc Ela, which has no core zone and no access rule for visitors: its charter binds the communes, not campers. The cadastre puts the pin in the agricultural zone, outside every nature-protection, landscape-protection and spring-protection zone.5

Surses is nine former communes, and their building laws differ. Each old building law still applies to its own ground. Bivio's bans camping on the whole territory outside the building zone (art. 95); Salouf's, which covers Sur Trotg, bans campsites only.2

Two dated rules: the pasture entry rule and the new building law

One entry rule is on the books, and it ends on 31 October. Art. 6 para. 2 of the commune's Alp-, Weide- und Flurgesetz says that during the growing season pedestrians, riders and animals such as dogs may not enter other people's fields, and that this applies from 1 May to 31 October to all farmed land. Art. 19 applies it, with the necessary adjustments, to communal and private alps and pastures, and art. 22 sets a fine of up to CHF 5'000. It is an entry rule under the heading "Einfluss auf Vegetation", not a camping rule. Read literally it bars every walker from alp pasture in season, and it sits in tension with art. 699 of the Civil Code, which lets everyone enter pasture to the customary extent and allows only specific, delimited bans in the interest of crops. No fine or case against a hiker is published.3

The commune has already voted for a camping ban. On 9 March 2026 the assembly adopted a total revision of local planning, with a new building law, by 134 votes to 8. Art. 14 "Campieren" says, in the German version presented to the assembly:4

"Das Campieren ausserhalb von Zonen mit erlaubter Campingnutzung ist unter Vorbehalt von Abs. 2 nicht gestattet."Baugesetz Surses, art. 14 para. 1. In English: camping outside zones where camping is permitted is not allowed, subject to paragraph 2. Paragraph 2 lets the commune allow exceptions for offers aimed at single overnight stays, such as time-limited tent camps, designated pitches, car parks and farms; it names no exception for a hiker.

It takes effect on the day the canton approves it. The law says it enters into force "mit der Genehmigung durch die Regierung" (art. 98 para. 1) and then repeals the conflicting building laws of the former communes (para. 3). That approval had not been published by 30 September 2026: the cantonal gazette shows only the appeal exposure of April, and the cadastre extract of 1 October still lists the Baugesetz Salouf for this ground. No date is announced, so ask the commune before you go.4

What it would mean for a night. Breaches would be fined from CHF 200 to 40'000 (KRG art. 95). A tent would be covered. Whether the verb "Campieren" also reaches a bivvy bag without a tent is unsettled: the Graubünden Obergericht read the word on 3 February 2026, in a parking case, as sleeping in a tent or caravan and narrower than "Übernachten". That is one decision and binds no other court.4

Whose ground it is, what the tourist board says, and who to ask

The ground is very probably communal alp pasture. It lies on a single parcel of 9 km2 in the agricultural zone, and the land register is not public. The Flurgesetz defines the alps it runs as those owned by the commune, and the commune's accounts carry the alp road and storm damage at Alp Foppa, so the commune is the likely owner. Alp Foppa is described as a dairy-cow alp with pasture between 2'000 and 2'400 m. The tenant is not named in anything public.6

No rule asks for a permit for a night, and no offer is published. The Flurgesetz bars third parties from influencing or damaging the vegetation without the operator's permission (art. 6 para. 1); it is aimed at harvest and pasture, and a tent for a night is not what it names. No alp rules, fee or standing permission are published. A call to the commune is the courteous first step, and it can tell you whether the new building law has been approved: Gemeindeverwaltung Surses, +41 81 659 11 60.36

The tourist board says wild camping is not allowed in the Val Surses. Its page states "Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Wildcampieren im Val Surses nicht erlaubt ist" and cites no rule. It is true on Bivio's ground, and it describes what the new building law would make true across the commune. For the Salouf ground above Alp Foppa, no rule in force says so.82

Where to sleep: the bench 170 m north-north-east, or a bed at Somtgant

The realistic pitch is the bench 170 m north-north-east of the pin. It lies at 46.60299 N, 9.51343 E (LV95 2'758'951 / 1'163'405), 2'340 m. The slopes are 6 to 9 degrees, so it is a bench of tussock and not a platform. Pitch away from the eastern edge and from the troughs to the north, and stay off cattle tracks and wet hollows.7

One small tent or bivvy bag, one night, gone at first light. The alp is run for dairy cows, which normally go down in September, so the slope may be empty or may not. If cows are near, keep your distance and pitch elsewhere, and carry no food into the tent. The entry rule in the Flurgesetz ends on 31 October; if you want to be clear of it, go after that date and ask the commune first about the building law.63

Tgamon and Alpbeizli Somtgant, on the Alp Somtgant above Savognin, next to the mountain station and 3.7 km from the pin: a converted hay loft with a double bed and a glass roof, breakfast included, no shower, no heating, cash only. The page says "Normal offen von Ende Juni bis Mitte Oktober" and asks you to call at the start and end of the season; information from Tourismus Val Surses Savognin Bivio, +41 81 659 16 16. The gondola from Savognin runs daily from 9.00 to 16.30 until 18 October 2026.10

Naturzeltplatz Geissenhof, Rona, at 1'411 m: tents on the meadow or under old fir trees, simple toilets and a shower container, open until 18 October 2026 and closed from 19 October. A tent for one or two people costs CHF 20 a night plus CHF 0.50 tourist tax a person, +41 79 827 93 40. The Camping Julia in Savognin is open all year but has no tent pitches.10

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which above Alp Foppa means one small pitch on the bench, never a group. Keep away from cattle, their tracks and their troughs, carry your water 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.

Communal rules, the approval status of the new building law, opening dates and prices change, and the new building law takes effect on the day the canton approves it, with no date announced in advance. The alp's own rules, if any exist, are not published and would add to this text. The ground on the slope and the bench 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 Sur Trotg?
Yes for one night today, but the law is about to change. No rule in force for this ground bans a tent or bivvy bag: Surses has no police law, its assembly refused a camping ban in April 2025, and the old Salouf building law only bans campsites. A pasture entry rule runs to 31 October but protects crops. A new building law that bans camping outside camping zones takes effect the day the canton approves it, and no approval had been published by 30 September 2026. The pin is a steep slope; the bench 170 m north-north-east is the place to pitch.
Does Surses ban wild camping?
Not on this ground, as the law stands. Surses has no police law, and each former commune's building law still applies to its own territory. Bivio's bans camping outside the building zone (art. 95); Salouf's, which covers Sur Trotg, bans campsites only (art. 47). The tourist board's line that wild camping is not allowed in the Val Surses cites no rule; it is true on Bivio's ground and describes what the new building law would make true commune-wide.
What happens when the new building law takes effect?
Camping outside camping zones becomes banned across the whole commune. Art. 14 of the building law adopted on 9 March 2026, by 134 votes to 8, says camping is not allowed outside zones where it is permitted, with exceptions for offers such as tent camps or designated pitches and none for a hiker. It takes effect the day the canton approves it, and fines run from CHF 200 to 40'000. A tent would be covered; whether a bivvy bag is, is unsettled. Ask the commune before you go: +41 81 659 11 60.
Where can I pitch instead?
On the bench at 46.60299 N, 9.51343 E, or at Somtgant. The bench, 2'340 m, lies 170 m north-north-east of the pin with slopes of 6 to 9 degrees and 228 m from the nearest stream; keep away from the cattle troughs 85 m to the north. The Tgamon hay loft at Somtgant is open until about mid-October, and the Naturzeltplatz Geissenhof in Rona until 18 October 2026, CHF 20 a tent.
What is the fine?
No camping fine is set for a night in a tent today. The Salouf building law bans campsites only. The pasture entry rule in the Flurgesetz carries a fine of up to CHF 5'000 (art. 22) and runs to 31 October, but it protects crops and no case against a hiker is published. Once the new building law takes effect, breaches run from CHF 200 to 40'000 (KRG art. 95); no tariff for camping is published.
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. Gemeinde Surses, read 30 September 2026. Laws and regulations (Leschas page) and the assembly documents from 29 August 2016 to 22 June 2026: no police or camping regulation; the guest-tax law lists tent and caravan places as taxable accommodation, which is a tax and not a rule. Messadi of 27 March 2023, on the fireworks law: "Cunchegl tg'igl cumegn da Surses ò nigna lescha da pulizeia". Botschaft to the assembly of 7 April 2025, item 5: "Die Gemeinde Surses verfügt bisher über kein solches Polizeigesetz."; the commune wants "die Möglichkeit ... das Wildcampieren auf Gemeindegebiet zu verbieten" and says this "benötigt es eine rechtliche Grundlage auf kommunaler Ebene, sprich ein Polizeigesetz". Draft police law (German version), art. 12 "Campieren": "Das Campieren in Zelten, Wohnmobilen etc. sowie das ständige Stationieren unbewohnter Wohnwagen und Wohnmobile ist auf öffentlichem Grund untersagt." Decisions of the assembly of 7 April 2025: it "decidia cun 114 cunter 69 vouschs da refusar l'approvaziun e l'antrada an vigour dalla lescha da pulizeia". Gemeindeverwaltung, Veia Cantunala 57, 7453 Tinizong, +41 81 659 11 60, info@surses.ch. ↩
  2. Baugesetz Salouf, cadastre of public-law restrictions, attachment 20719: adopted by the assembly on 18 June 1993, approved by the Regierung with RB no. 1257 of 17 May 1994, last change RB no. 130 of 24 February 2026. Art. 1: "Das Baugesetz gilt für das ganze Gemeindegebiet." Art. 47 "Campingplätze und Zeltlager" (quoted in the text). Art. 88: "Busse bis zu Fr. 30'000.--" by the Gemeindevorstand. Applicable after the merger as transitional law: until the new legislation takes effect, the commune board applies "las leschas tg'èn anc an vigour per igl territori digls anteriours cumegns" (Messadi of 26 June 2023, item 5). The cadastre extract of parcel 8604 (EGRID CH343941788663), created 1 October 2026, names "Baugesetz Salouf" as the provision for the parcel. Baugesetz Bivio (27 October 2015, RB no. 409 of 9 May 2017), art. 95: "Auf öffentlichem Grund sowie auf dem ganzen Gemeindegebiet ausserhalb der Bauzone ist das ständige Stationieren bewohnter und unbewohnter Wohnwagen und Wohnmobile sowie das Campieren untersagt." ↩
  3. Gemeinde Surses, Alp-, Weide- und Flurgesetz (Flurgesetz), adopted on 26 June 2023 by 81 votes to 7. Art. 6 para. 1: "Dritte dürfen ohne Erlaubnis des Bewirtschafters die Vegetation und das Erntegut nicht beeinflussen oder schädigen." Art. 6 para. 2: "Während der Vegetationsperiode dürfen Fussgänger, Reiter und Tiere, wie etwa Hunde, die fremden Fluren nicht betreten. Dies gilt vom 1. Mai bis 31. Oktober für alle landwirtschaftlich genutzten Flächen." Art. 19: "Die Artikel 5, 6 und 8 gelten sinngemäss für die privaten sowie die gemeindeeigenen Alpen und Weiden." Art. 22: "Busse bis zu 5000.00 Franken". Swiss Civil Code art. 699 para. 1 (as of 1 July 2026): "Das Betreten von Wald und Weide und die Aneignung wildwachsender Beeren, Pilze u. dgl. sind in ortsüblichem Umfange jedermann gestattet, soweit nicht im Interesse der Kulturen seitens der zuständigen Behörde einzelne bestimmt umgrenzte Verbote erlassen werden." Canton Graubünden, EGzZGB (BR 210.100) art. 14 para. 1: "Der Gemeindevorstand ist für den Erlass von Verboten betreffend Wald und Weide auf Gemeindegebiet (Art. 699) zuständig." ↩
  4. Baugesetz Surses (total revision of local planning), German version presented to the assembly: art. 14 paras. 1 to 3 (para. 1 quoted in the text); art. 97 para. 2: the Romansh version governs interpretation; art. 98 para. 1: the law enters into force "nach Annahme durch die Gemeindeversammlung mit der Genehmigung durch die Regierung"; art. 98 para. 3: conflicting earlier provisions of the former communes, "insbesondere die Baugesetze", are then repealed. Decisions of the assembly of 9 March 2026: "approvo cun 134 cunter 8 vouschs la revisiun totala dalla planisaziun locala". Kantonsamtsblatt Graubünden, publication 00.149.590 of 16 April 2026: appeal exposure of the revision adopted on 9 March 2026; no approval decision published as of 30 September 2026. Raumplanungsgesetz für den Kanton Graubünden, KRG (BR 801.100), art. 95: fines "zwischen 200 Franken und 40 000 Franken". Obergericht Graubünden, VR2 25 63, 3 February 2026, E. 4.1: "Nach dem allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch wird unter Campieren oder Campen das Übernachten in einem Zelt oder Wohnwagen verstanden ...; der Begriff ist somit enger als der allgemeinere Begriff des Übernachtens, der auch das Nächtigen in einem Biwak (biwakieren) oder unter blossem Himmel umfasst." ↩
  5. Federal and cantonal layers, read 30 September 2026 and 1 October 2026. Canton Graubünden, Bündner Rechtsbuch (gr-lex): no act that bans camping for the public at this ground; Jagdbetriebsverordnung JBV (BR 740.025) art. 13 "Campieren und Biwakieren": "Für die Ausübung der Jagd sind das Aufschlagen von Zelten und Blachen zur Übernachtung sowie die Übernachtung in Motorfahrzeugen, Wohnwagen, Anhängern und dergleichen nur auf gekennzeichneten Campingplätzen erlaubt." No hit at the pin or the bench for federal game reserves, wildlife rest zones, BLN, floodplains, fens, raised bogs, mire landscapes, amphibian sites, dry meadows, Ramsar sites, Emerald sites, forest reserves or military areas; nearest dry meadow "Sur Trotg" 586 m from the pin and 435 m from the bench, nearest fen 774 m, nearest federal wildlife rest zone (Got Grond, winter) 1'681 m. Cantonal wildlife reserves and rest zones (web feature services of the canton): none at the points; nearest wildlife reserve no. 633 "Maranga" 1'050 m. Cadastre of public-law restrictions, parcel 8604: Landwirtschaftszone, outside every nature-protection, landscape-protection and spring-protection zone. Parc Ela: regional nature park of national significance (NHG art. 23e to 23k; Pärkeverordnung art. 19 to 27, art. 26 charter between the park body and the communes); access limits exist only for the core zone of a national park or nature experience park, and a regional nature park has none. ↩
  6. Ownership and alp. Flurgesetz art. 12: alps and pastures in the sense of the law are the "Sömmerungsflächen und deren Gebäude, welche im Eigentum der Gemeinde Surses sind". Communal accounts and assembly documents carry the alp road "Veia Alp Foppa, Salouf" (2017) and a mudflow "all'Alp Foppa" in the storm-damage credit of 28 October 2019. Colour, not an official source: the Swiss alpine cheese association describes the alp as a "Milchkuhalp für 72 Kühe, 20 Schweine" with pasture from 2'000 to 2'400 m (schweizeralpkaese.ch). Land register and tenant: not public. ↩
  7. Terrain and map data, read 30 September 2026. Swisstopo swissALTI3D (2 m, 2023): pin LV95 2'758'877 / 1'163'252, 2'324 m, slope 27 degrees at the cell and a median of 24 degrees within 30 m; bench LV95 2'758'951 / 1'163'405, WGS84 46.60299 / 9.51343, 2'340 m, 170 m at bearing 26 degrees from the pin and 16 m higher, median slope 9 degrees within 30 m and 6 degrees over a 6 m window. Profiles through the bench at 10 m steps: the ground holds 2'339 to 2'341 m from 10 m south to 40 m north; to the east it steps from 2'336 m at 30 m to 2'327 m at 50 m, with slopes of 20 to 30 degrees. Swissimage aerial image (10 cm): tussock grass at the bench; two cattle troughs with trampled ground at about 2'758'963 / 1'163'490, about 85 m north of the bench; a small pond 15 m west of the shoulder at 2'758'725 / 1'163'517. swissTLM3D: nearest marked hiking path 499 m from the pin and 498 m from the bench. OpenStreetMap (map data, not an official source): nearest stream 71 m from the pin and 228 m from the bench; no mapped pond within 600 m. Route figures are estimates from map data, not measured on foot. ↩
  8. Destination pages, colour and not an official source. Tourismus Val Surses Savognin Bivio, parking and pitches: "Bitte beachten Sie, dass das Wildcampieren im Val Surses nicht erlaubt ist." and, on the campsites page: "Wild camping on municipal land or on private land without the owner's consent is prohibited." Neither page cites a rule. The Parc Ela pages name no rule on wild camping or bivouac. ↩
  9. Access. Gemeinde Surses, vehicle-access law (Gesetz für das Befahren von Feld-, Flur-, Wald- und Alpstrassen, version of 24 June 2024), art. 5 para. 2: "Salouf - Cre digl Lai bis Parkplatz Sars" is among the roads with a driving ban for motor vehicles and permit exceptions (art. 6 and 7). Sars car park (OpenStreetMap) at about 1'796 m above sea level, 2.7 km from the pin as the crow flies; 2.7 km on farm road and track from there to Alp Foppa at 2'002 m. Savognin mountain cableways, summer 2026: "28 September - 18 October 2026 Daily operation from 9.00 - 16.30 (2nd section until 16.15)". ↩
  10. Operators, read 30 September 2026. Tgamon and Alpbeizli Somtgant, Alp Somtgant above Savognin, 2'200 m: hay loft with glass roof, double bed, breakfast included; "Eine Duschmöglichkeit gibt es nicht."; "nicht geheizt werden"; "Nur Barzahlung möglich!"; "Normal offen von Ende Juni bis Mitte Oktober. Zu Beginn und zum Ende der Saison am besten kurz anrufen." Tourismus Val Surses Savognin Bivio AG, Stradung 42, 7460 Savognin, +41 81 659 16 16, ferien@valsurses.ch. Naturzeltplatz Geissenhof, Gicrs 9, 7454 Rona, +41 79 827 93 40: "Geöffnet durchgehend von Mitte Juni - 18. Oktober 2026", "Winterpause vom 19. Okt. 2026 - Mai 2027"; tent for 1 to 2 persons CHF 20 a night (CHF 18 from 3 nights), family CHF 25, tourist tax CHF 0.50 per person and night; simple toilets and shower container. Camping Julia, Veia Sandeilas, 7460 Savognin: "ganzjährig geöffnet", "Es sind keine Zeltplätze vorhanden." ↩