Wild camping at the Surenenpass

Three layers, and not one of them prohibits it

An absence is only worth something if you can say what was actually read. Here is each layer at the Surenenpass, named, with the number behind it.

Federal. Queried at the pass on 27 August 2026: hunting-ban districts, wildlife rest zones, BLN, parks of national importance, floodplains, raised and lowland mires, moor landscapes, amphibian spawning sites and dry meadows all return a genuinely empty result set. Two controls make that a real zero rather than a broken query: a deliberately invalid layer id surfaced as HTTP 400 in every run, and a positive control point in the Kiental returned its hunting-ban district as expected.¹

Cantonal. Uri's Polizeigesetz RB 3.8111 runs to 83'122 characters and contains not one of Zelt, campieren, Camping, Biwak, übernachten, nächtigen, Wohnwagen or Wohnmobil, against 208 occurrences of "Polizei" and 270 of "Artikel" as controls. The Polizeireglement RB 3.8127 is the same, with 99 control hits. So is the Gesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz RB 10.5101. The Planungs- und Baugesetz RB 40.1111 mentions camping exactly once, and it is "Campinganlagen" in the list of what belongs in a sport-and-leisure zone.³

And Uri does know how to write a tent ban, which is what makes that zero mean something. It writes them for named areas. The 1986 protection regulation for the Maderanertal and Fellital forbids in as many words "zu zelten und zu campieren". The 2023 regulation for the Aue Rüti am Vorderschächen in Unterschächen is the single Zeltverbot the Korporation puts on a map for visitors. Two valleys, two prohibitions, and neither of them is the Surenental.³

Communal. Attinghausen has no Polizeireglement at all, which is where a Swiss communal camping ban normally lives. Its published collection runs to sixteen acts and all sixteen were downloaded and read for this article, each with a non-zero count of control words behind it, so nothing is being mistaken for silence. Not one contains a prohibition on tents, camping or overnighting. The Bau- und Zonenordnung of 2023 uses "Campinganlagen" as a zoning term and the Parkplatzverordnung refuses caravans a permanent parking card. That is the whole harvest.⁵

The landowner says yes in writing, and names the two places where it does not

This is the part most Swiss spots cannot offer. On the Surenenpass you are not relying on the absence of a rule alone. The owner of the ground has published a permission, and you can read it before you go.

"Im Kanton Uri besteht kein generelles Verbot für Wildcamping. Auf Gebiet der Korporation Uri ist das Campieren somit grundsätzlich erlaubt und muss nicht angemeldet werden."Korporation Uri, information page "Wildcampieren/Biwakieren", consulted 27 August 2026.

Korporation Uri and Korporation Ursern together hold roughly 85 per cent of the canton's surface, and the alp at the pass is theirs. The conditions attached are short and reasonable: observe the rules inside nature and landscape protection zones, spare the pasture, get the right permit for private roads, make contact with the alp staff if your spot is near a farming operation, tell the Korporation in advance if you are staying more than three nights or coming with more than ten people, carry your rubbish out in charged bags, and leave the place tidy. The Korporation accepts no liability for weather or livestock.⁴

The two places where the same permission says no are worth knowing because they show the Korporation is not writing a blanket yes. Wild camping is prohibited in the commune of Göschenen, where you are told to use the official campsite, and it is prohibited in the Seewlisee area in Silenen unless you hold a permit obtained in advance. Neither is anywhere near the Surenenpass.⁴

The commune charges two francs for it, and that is the interesting part

Attinghausen does not forbid a night on its ground. It prices one. The commune adopted a new tourist-tax ordinance and its implementing regulation on 25 November 2024, both in force since 1 January 2025. The ordinary visitor's tax is one franc a night for children between six and sixteen and two francs a night for everybody older. Then comes the sentence that makes this article worth reading:

"Wird die Kurtaxe nicht bei einem Vermieter entrichtet, ist sie direkt auf der Gemeinde zu bezahlen. Dies gilt insbesondere dann, wenn öffentlicher Grund für Übernachtungszwecke genutzt wird."Reglement über die Tourismustaxen Attinghausen of 25 November 2024, art. 3 "Ordentliche Kurtaxen", para. 2.

Read that again with the map in front of you. The commune anticipated people spending the night on public ground, decided what they owe, and told them where to hand it over. A commune that wanted to stop you does not write a payment channel for you.⁶

The honest wrinkle, because it exists. The enabling ordinance is narrower than its own implementing rule. Art. 4 para. 1 lit. a makes the Kurtaxe payable by people who "entgeltlich übernachten" in Attinghausen, that is, who pay for their bed. A free bivouac on an open pass is not obviously a paid overnight stay, so whether the two francs are legally owed is arguable. What is not arguable is what the commune thinks of the activity. Two francs at the Gemeindekasse is a cheap way to be unambiguously in the clear, and it is the kind of gesture that keeps a place open.⁶

Which commune are you actually in? The pass is Attinghausen, and it stays Attinghausen for the whole south side. Erstfeld weaves in on the east, first at about 75 m on a south-easterly bearing and consistently from 100 to 150 m due east. That changes nothing: Erstfeld is the neighbouring Uri commune whose Bälmeten summit this journal already publishes as lawful, on the same cantonal chain. Isenthal is 707 m to the north-west and Engelberg, the Obwalden side of the whole Surenen crossing, only starts 4'150 m to the west, well down the other side.²

The ground, the reserve, and the 689 metres between them

The pass itself is a pitch, which is not something you can say about most passes. The height model puts the saddle at 2'292.3 m with a slope of 6.0 degrees measured over a 25 metre window. Sample the terrain on a 25 metre grid out to 400 m in every direction and 49 of 961 nodes come in at or under 8 degrees. This is a broad grassy saddle well above the treeline, not a notch in a ridge.²

• The shelf 106 m east-south-east, LV95 2'684'527 / 1'187'775, 2'303.3 m, 3.3 degrees. Higher than the saddle, flatter than the saddle, and still Attinghausen.
• The broad flat 210 to 235 m south-south-west, around LV95 2'684'400 / 1'187'650, 2'220 m, 1.2 to 1.9 degrees. The flattest ground anywhere near the pass, 70 m lower and out of the wind that funnels through the saddle.
• The saddle itself, 2'292 m, if you want the sunrise over the Urner Alps more than you want shelter.

Now the reserve. Walk north-north-west along the ridge and at 689 metres you cross into federal game reserve no. 6, "Urirotstock", 2'086.2 hectares, listed as an area with integral protection. The boundary was found by stepping outward in fifty metre increments on each bearing and then bisecting to two metres, so the figure is reproducible rather than eyeballed off a map.²

"Das freie Zelten und Campieren ist verboten. Vorbehalten bleibt die Benutzung offizieller Zeltplätze. Die Kantone können Ausnahmen bewilligen."Verordnung über die eidgenössischen Jagdbanngebiete (VEJ), SR 922.31, art. 5 para. 1 lit. e.

Two things about that sentence matter on the ground. It has no zone qualifier, so it bites everywhere inside the reserve. And only the canton can permit an exception, which means no alp tenant and no landowner can wave you through. The price is not the CHF 20'000 you will see quoted: that is the ceiling of the hunting act in ordinary proceedings. What a camper faces is the tariff, CHF 150, at annex 2 no. 12005 of the federal fixed-penalty ordinance, and a fixed penalty can be handed over on the spot.²

Courtesy, which is not law. The Alpine Club's leaflet is the standard worth following: one considerate night by a small group above the treeline is generally unproblematic, and you should not sleep close to huts or on grazed alps without asking. On the Surenenpass the grazing half is the live part, because 1'300 animals share the slope with you.⁸

Where you can legally sleep

• The shelf east-south-east of the pass, LV95 2'684'527 / 1'187'775, 2'303 m, 106 m from the saddle, 3.3 degrees².
• The broad flat south-south-west, around 2'684'400 / 1'187'650, 2'220 m, 1.2 to 1.9 degrees, sheltered².
• The saddle itself, 2'292 m, exposed but lawful and spectacular at first light².
• Not north-north-west along the ridge past 689 m. That is federal game reserve no. 6 Urirotstock, free tenting prohibited, CHF 150².
• Not right beside the Blackenalp buildings without a word to the alp staff first. Hirteverwaltung Surenen, 041 874 12 02⁷.

General rules for wild camping

This matters more where the answer is yes than where it is no. Uri has never needed a camping rule at 2'292 metres and the Korporation prefers to publish conditions rather than prohibitions. The list below is not law. It is the reason the answer above is still yes.

• 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.

The verdict covers the pass and the flat ground immediately around it, and it rests on the absence of any prohibition at the federal, cantonal and communal level plus a published landowner permission. An absence can end and a permission can be withdrawn. The federal game reserve 689 metres north-north-west is a real prohibition with a real tariff, and the boundary is not marked on the ground. 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 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

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