As of: 22 October 2026

Wild camping on the Sustenhorn

The Sustenhorn, 3'503 m, is the glaciated summit between the Sustenpass and the Göschenertal. Its top is in Innertkirchen BE, which has no camping rule; Göschenen UR, which bans tents, begins a few metres east. The summit is rock, with glacier on every side.

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 the Sustenhorn: a summit on the cantonal line

Wild camping on the Sustenhorn means a night on the 3'503 m summit between the Gadmertal in Bern and the Göschenertal in Uri, the highest point of the Susten group. The summit lies at LV95 2'677'741 / 1'172'470, WGS84 46.69892 / 8.45511. The normal route starts at the Tierberglihütte SAC on the Bern side, grade F, three to four hours over the Steingletscher and the glacier plateau below the Sustenlimi. From the Voralphütte SAC on the Uri side the east ridge is graded AD+, six to seven hours.89

The summit is the boundary. The highest point is in the commune of Innertkirchen, canton Bern. The commune of Göschenen, canton Uri, begins 2 to 5 m away to the north and east, and the whole east and south flank is Uri ground. The two cantons and their communes answer the question differently, so both sides follow. The lines are on map.geo.admin.ch.6

The ground decides first. Within 30 m of the top the median slope is 42 degrees, and the aerial image shows broken rock slabs and snow patches above steep faces. The nearest 10 by 10 m of ground under 15 degrees lies 112 m south-west and 37 m lower, on the Steingletscher. Under 10 degrees, the nearest is 650 m north and 490 m lower, on the Wallenburfirn. Every level patch within a kilometre of the summit is glacier, much of it crevassed, and so is every level patch around the Tierberglihütte. A bivvy bag on the rock is the most the summit takes, and there is no dry level ground for a tent between the huts and the top.6

Bern side: no rule reaches the summit

Canton Bern has no camping norm of general application. Innertkirchen, the commune of the summit point, has no police, fixed-penalty or camping regulation. Its building regulation, approved in June 2026, mentions tents only for the campsite zone, and its high-mountain protection clause, Art. 59, names the Wendenstöcke and the massif above the Urbachtal, not the Sustenhorn, and contains no camping verb. The cadastre puts the summit in the agricultural and alpine zone of parcel 1658, 1'260 hectares around the Steingletscher, with no nature or landscape protection zone on it. No federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone or inventory object covers the summit, and the nearest Bernese wildlife protection area is 13.9 km away.46

The owner of parcel 1658 is not public, and no owner has published a refusal. Rock, scree, firn and glacier are, under Art. 664 para. 2 of the Civil Code, presumed to be in nobody's private ownership, and Bern places their use under the canton's supervision. The parcel's neighbours are the power company KWO's ground to the north and west and canton Uri to the east. The Bäuertgemeinde Gadmen, which announced a camping ban on all of its land in 2026, owns none of the ground around it.5

The one ban on the Bern approach is lower down. The cantonal nature reserve In Miseren-Seeboden, south of the Steinwasser and west of the Steinsee between 1'800 and 2'400 m, 3.4 km north-west of the summit, forbids "das Aufstellen von Zelten und anderen Unterständen sowie das Biwakieren": tents and nights without a tent alike, and breaches are fined. Anyone looking for a night on the moraine ground below the Steingletscher should know where its edge runs.10

Uri side: Göschenen bans the tent, the landowner sends you to the campsite

Canton Uri has no camping rule. In November 2025 its government turned down a cantonal ban as disproportionate; in March 2026 the cantonal parliament asked instead for a cantonal basis that lets communes draw ban zones, and no draft has been published. The cantonal fixed penalty of CHF 150 applies only in protection zones whose own regulation bans camping, and the Göschenen flank of the Sustenhorn lies in an unproductive reserve zone with no protection zone on it.3

The rule is communal. Göschenen's Campingverordnung of 29 April 2022 governs camping on the whole communal territory, with no altitude limit, and Art. 2 is the ban:1

"Das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen, Wohnmobilen und Campingbussen zum Campieren ausserhalb behördlich bewilligter Camping- oder Stellplätzen ist nicht gestattet."Campingverordnung der Einwohnergemeinde Göschenen, Art. 2: putting up tents, caravans, motorhomes and camper vans for camping outside officially authorised camping or parking places is not permitted.

It catches the tent, and probably not the bivvy bag. The verb is putting up, the objects are tents and vehicles, and Göschenen's own building and zoning regulation defines camping as "Unter Campieren wird das vorübergehende Verweilen und Übernachten in Zelten, Wohnwagen und Wohnmobilen verstanden." A sleeping bag without a tent falls outside that wording on a literal reading; no court has tested it. Art. 3 lets the Gemeinderat permit exceptions "in anderen begründeten Ausnahmefällen", and Art. 12 punishes breaches with a fine whose amount the ordinance does not name. The cantonal government describes how communes enforce such ordinances: they send people away and, where needed, impose a fine by decision, without the on-the-spot fixed-penalty procedure.13

The landowner closes the gap. The whole Göschenen flank, the summit ridge, the Wallenburfirn and the Flachensteinfirn, is one parcel of 32.4 km² owned by Korporation Uri. Its published policy allows camping on its ground elsewhere in the canton without notice and names Göschenen as the exception: "In der Gemeinde Göschenen ist das wilde Campieren verboten. Dort muss für das Übernachten der offizielle Zeltplatz benutzt werden." So on the Uri side even the tentless night the ordinance may not reach has no owner's consent.2

Who to ask. An exception under Art. 3 is granted by the Gemeinderat of Göschenen: Göscheneralpstrasse 8a, 6487 Göschenen, 041 885 13 89, gemeinde@goeschenen.ch. A night on the summit or the glacier is not an obvious exceptional case, no fee is published, and the consent of Korporation Uri, 041 874 70 90, is a separate question.12

The army firing area: the Bern side closes on firing days

The army's firing area 1305.090 "Sustenpass" covers the Steingletscher basin, the Tierberglihütte and the summit, which lies 3.1 m inside its edge. It ends on the ridge, so the Göschenen flank is outside it. On firing days the notice is unambiguous: "Das Betreten des gefährdeten Gebietes ist lebensgefährlich und daher verboten. Den Weisungen der Absperrposten ist Folge zu leisten." Firing is signalled with red and white flags or balloons at the edge of the area, at night with three red lamps in a triangle.7

The October 2026 notice lists the remaining days: 22 October 08:00 to 17:00, 23 October 08:00 to 12:00, 26 October 13:00 to 17:00, 27 to 29 October 08:00 to 17:00, and 30 October 08:00 to 12:00. In September, firing twice ran until 23:00. A bivouac still standing at 08:00 on a firing day is inside a closed area. Check the notice for your date at armee.ch or on +41 58 483 48 06. The air force's Dammastock area covers the summit and the whole Uri side as well, both huts included, with no dates published at present. Outside firing hours neither area carries a camping rule.7

Where you can legally sleep

  • Voralphütte SAC, 2'126 m, Göschenen, 2.7 km east-south-east of the summit. Unstaffed since 27 September 2026, staffed again from 5 March 2027. The winter room has 18 places in two rooms with wool blankets, a wood stove and cold running water in front of the hut. Reservation is obligatory, online or on +41 41 887 04 20, and you pay into the hut cash box. Start of the east ridge, AD+.9
  • Tierberglihütte SAC, 2'795 m, Innertkirchen, 3.1 km west. Closed until 19 March 2027, the hut phone, 033 971 27 82, for emergencies only. The hut team keeps the shelter room open while the hut is unstaffed: 6 places, no duvets, no cooking equipment, no drinking water. The SAC hut portal marks it closed from November to February, so write to info@tierbergli.ch before you go. Start of the normal route, F.8
  • Chelenalphütte SAC, 2'350 m, Göschenen, 3.2 km south-south-west. Closed, and the bridges on the hut path are dismantled. The winter room has 7 places, only with reservation, wood tax CHF 25 per group and night; warden +41 79 683 97 73.9

Where not.

  • A tent on the summit: no room on the rock, and a few metres east it is Göschenen ground.61
  • Any tent on the Göschenen side outside the campsite: Art. 2 of the ordinance, and the landowner says no.12
  • The moraine ground west of the Steinsee: the In Miseren-Seeboden reserve bans tents and bivouacs.10
  • The Bern side during firing hours: entry is forbidden.7

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you are genuinely allowed to sleep outside, which around the Sustenhorn means a hut winter room or, at most, a bivvy bag on Bern ground outside firing hours. It is not legal text, it is decency on high glacier ground in which the army, two cantons and a corporation all have a say.

  • 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 Göschenen camping ordinance of 29 April 2022 as the commune published it in August 2026, on the Innertkirchen building regulation of 2026, on the cadastre of public-law restrictions and on the army's firing notice for October 2026. The owner of the Bern summit parcel is not public, and nobody at the two communes, the Korporation or the huts was asked. Every distance and coordinate is taken from official geodata, as accurate as the data and not as a marker on the ground. The Sustenhorn is a glacier summit: the terrain, the season and the firing hours decide more than any rule. 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

Is wild camping allowed on the Sustenhorn?
Not in any sensible way: the summit is rock among glaciers, and the Uri side bans tents. The highest point, 3'503 m, is in Innertkirchen BE, where no federal, cantonal or communal rule bans a single night. Göschenen UR begins 2 to 5 m east; art. 2 of its Campingverordnung of 29 April 2022 bans putting up tents outside authorised sites, and the landowner, Korporation Uri, states that wild camping in Göschenen is banned. The summit is a rock cap with a median slope of 42 degrees, every level patch within a kilometre is glacier, and the Bern side lies in the army's Sustenpass firing area. Sleep in the Voralphütte or Tierberglihütte winter room.
Why is the verdict "Not allowed" and not "Illegal"?
Because no rule forbids a night on the Bern summit point; the ground does. Bern and Innertkirchen have no camping rule, and no owner has published a refusal. What rules out a night outside is the terrain: a rock summit over steep faces, with glacier all around. Göschenen's tent ban begins a few metres east and tells you where not to pitch; it is not the answer at the summit.
Can I bivouac without a tent on the Göschenen side?
The ordinance's wording may not reach it, but the landowner says no. Art. 2 of the Göschenen Campingverordnung bans putting up tents, caravans, motorhomes and camper vans, and Göschenen's building and zoning regulation defines camping as overnighting in tents, caravans and motorhomes. A sleeping bag without a tent falls outside that wording on a literal reading, and no court has tested it. But the whole flank belongs to Korporation Uri, whose published policy says that wild camping in Göschenen is banned and the official campsite must be used. Without the owner's consent there is no lawful night there.
When is the army firing area closed?
On the days and hours in the current firing notice. Firing area 1305.090 Sustenpass covers the Bern side, the Tierberglihütte and the summit. The October 2026 notice lists 22 October 08:00 to 17:00, 23 October 08:00 to 12:00, 26 October 13:00 to 17:00, 27 to 29 October 08:00 to 17:00 and 30 October 08:00 to 12:00; in September firing twice ran until 23:00. During those hours entry is forbidden and the guards' instructions apply. Check armee.ch/schiessanzeigen/1305.090 or +41 58 483 48 06 for your date.
Which hut is open in late autumn?
The Voralphütte winter room, with reservation. The Voralphütte SAC, 2'126 m, on the Uri side, has been unstaffed since 27 September 2026; its winter room has 18 places, wool blankets and a wood stove, and must be reserved online or on +41 41 887 04 20. The Tierberglihütte SAC, 2'795 m, is closed until 19 March 2027; its team keeps a 6-place shelter room open while the hut is unstaffed, without duvets, cooking equipment or drinking water, so write to info@tierbergli.ch first. On the path to the Chelenalphütte the bridges are dismantled.
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. Campingverordnung der Einwohnergemeinde Göschenen, adopted by the Gemeindeversammlung on 29 April 2022, published by the commune as a signed scan in its Rechtsgrundlagen; text as published in August 2026. Art. 1: orderly camping on the communal territory. Art. 2: "Das Aufstellen von Zelten, Wohnwagen, Wohnmobilen und Campingbussen zum Campieren ausserhalb behördlich bewilligter Camping- oder Stellplätzen ist nicht gestattet." Art. 3 para. 1 lets the Gemeinderat permit exceptions for youth tent camps, for large events and "in anderen begründeten Ausnahmefällen"; para. 2: no public or private interests may be impaired. Art. 12: breaches are punished with a fine; the ordinance names no amount. Göschenen's building and zoning regulation (BZO, consolidated version of 2024), Art. 14 para. 2: "Unter Campieren wird das vorübergehende Verweilen und Übernachten in Zelten, Wohnwagen und Wohnmobilen verstanden." Gemeinde Göschenen, Göscheneralpstrasse 8a, 6487 Göschenen, 041 885 13 89, gemeinde@goeschenen.ch. goeschenen.ch, BZO Göschenen. ↩
  2. Korporation Uri, page "Wildcampieren/Biwakieren", read on 22 October 2026: "Auf Gebiet der Korporation Uri ist das Campieren somit grundsätzlich erlaubt und muss nicht angemeldet werden." Under the heading "Wildcampieren in Göschenen": "In der Gemeinde Göschenen ist das wilde Campieren verboten. Dort muss für das Übernachten der offizielle Zeltplatz benutzt werden." Korporation Uri, Gotthardstrasse 3, 6460 Altdorf, 041 874 70 90, mail@korporation.ch. Uri land register, Göschenen parcel 367, 32'359'048 m², field names including Sustenhorn, Wallenburfirn and Flachensteinfirn: owner Korporation Uri. korporation.ch, geo.ur.ch. ↩
  3. Canton Uri. Answer of the Regierungsrat of 4 November 2025, no. 2025-653, to the motion for a cantonal wild-camping ban: rejected as disproportionate; it names Göschenen and Gurtnellen as communes with their own camping ordinances and says that the commune enforces them through controls, removal and, where needed, a fine by administrative decision: "Das Ordnungsbussenverfahren steht jedoch nicht zur Verfügung." The Landrat declared the motion partly material on 18 March 2026 (business LA.2023-0879, status unchanged on 22 October 2026, no draft). Reglement über die Erhebung von Ordnungsbussen, RB 3.9223, no. 2.1: CHF 150 for "Lagern, Zelten oder Campieren in Schutzzonen", tied to the zone's own regulation. Göschenen zoning plan in the cantonal geodata: the summit flank, the Wallenburfirn, the Flachensteinfirn and the Sustenlimi lie in the "Reservezone, unproduktiv", with no nature or landscape protection zone. ur.ch (answer), ur.ch (Landrat), rechtsbuch.ur.ch. ↩
  4. Canton Bern and the commune of Innertkirchen. Innertkirchen's collection of regulations, 35 entries on 22 October 2026, contains no police, fixed-penalty or camping regulation. Baureglement Innertkirchen, approved on 4 June 2026, Art. 45: the campsite zone serves for setting up caravans, tents and the like; Art. 59 para. 4: "Als Hochgebirgsschutz bezeichnet sind die Gebiete a. Wendenstöcke, b. das Massiv südlich und östlich bzw. oberhalb des Urbachtales." Cadastre of public-law restrictions, Innertkirchen parcel 1658 (EGRID CH569764364372), 12'601'451 m², at the summit: Land- und Alpwirtschaftszone, no cantonal nature reserve, no landscape or high-mountain protection zone. Bern's cantonal wildlife protection areas and nature reserves, official datasets: none at the summit, the nearest wildlife protection area 13.9 km away. innertkirchen.ch, Baureglement, cadastre extract 1658. ↩
  5. Ownership. Swiss Civil Code, Art. 664 para. 2: "An den öffentlichen Gewässern sowie an dem der Kultur nicht fähigen Lande, wie Felsen und Schutthalden, Firnen und Gletschern, und den daraus entspringenden Quellen besteht unter Vorbehalt anderweitigen Nachweises kein Privateigentum." Bern's introductory act to the Civil Code (BSG 211.1), Art. 78 para. 1: the use of ownerless land stands under state supervision. The owner of Innertkirchen parcel 1658 is not published. The canton's open dataset of land ownership categories (status 25 June 2026) records the neighbouring parcel 525, to the north and west, as owned by a cantonal company (KWO), and the Gadenlouwisee parcel 30 as Bäuert property; no Bäuert parcel borders parcel 1658. fedlex.admin.ch, belex.sites.be.ch, geofiles.be.ch. ↩
  6. Official federal geodata, queried on 22 October 2026. Sustenhorn, alpine summit, LV95 2'677'741 / 1'172'470, WGS84 46.69892 / 8.45511, map height 3'503 m. Communes, current-year boundaries: summit in Innertkirchen BE, Göschenen UR 2 to 5 m to the north and east. No federal game reserve, wildlife rest zone, BLN object, park, mire, floodplain, dry meadow, forest reserve or military installation perimeter at the summit. Elevation model swissALTI3D: median slope 41.8 degrees within 30 m; nearest 10 by 10 m window under 15 degrees 112 m south-west at 3'465 m, under 10 degrees 648 m north at 3'011 m. Glacier inventory: the Steingletscher, the Wallenburfirn and the Flachensteinfirn at those windows and at every level cluster within 1.1 km. Aerial image swissimage. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  7. Swiss Armed Forces, firing notices. Firing area 1305.090 "Sustenpass": the summit lies 3.1 m inside, the Tierberglihütte inside, the Göschenen flank outside. Notice for October 2026, remaining dates: 22 October 08:00 to 17:00, 23 October 08:00 to 12:00, 26 October 13:00 to 17:00, 27 to 29 October 08:00 to 17:00, 30 October 08:00 to 12:00. Notice text: "Das Betreten des gefährdeten Gebietes ist lebensgefährlich und daher verboten. Den Weisungen der Absperrposten ist Folge zu leisten." The September 2026 notice listed firing until 23:00 on 22 and 23 September. Publication +41 58 483 48 06, firing range 076 491 61 31. Air force firing area 3104.010 "Dammastock": covers the summit and the Uri side, no dates published on 22 October 2026. armee.ch (Sustenpass), notice October 2026, armee.ch (Dammastock). ↩
  8. Tierberglihütte SAC, 2'795 m, SAC Sektion Baselland, operator pages read on 22 October 2026: season 2026 ended, the hut closed until 19 March 2027, the hut phone 033 971 27 82 for emergencies; "Bei unbewirteter Hütte ist der Schutzraum geöffnet (Schlafplätze vorhanden, jedoch ohne Duvets. Ohne Kocheinrichtung!)." No drinking water. SAC hut portal: shelter room 6 places, marked closed from November to February. SAC route portal, Sustenhorn from the Tierberglihütte: F, 3 to 4 h, 730 m. info@tierbergli.ch. tierbergli.ch, sac-cas.ch (hut), sac-cas.ch (route). ↩
  9. Voralphütte SAC, 2'126 m, SAC Sektion Uto, operator pages read on 22 October 2026: unstaffed since 27 September 2026, staffed again from 5 March 2027; self-catering winter room with 18 places in two rooms, wool blankets, wood stove, cold running water in front of the hut, reservation obligatory online or on +41 41 887 04 20, payment into the hut cash box; Sustenhorn east ridge AD+ (ZS+ on the SAC scale), 6 to 7 h. Chelenalphütte SAC, 2'350 m, SAC Sektion Aarau: closed, the suspension bridge above the hut and all bridges on the hut path dismantled, winter room for 7 people only with reservation, wood tax CHF 25 per group and night, warden +41 79 683 97 73. voralphuette.ch, winter room, chelenalp.ch. ↩
  10. Naturschutzgebiet In Miseren-Seeboden, decree of the Volkswirtschaftsdirektion of the canton of Bern of 24 October 2014, about 150 ha south of the Steinwasser and west of the Steinsee, 1'800 to 2'400 m, 3.4 km north-west of the summit. Section IV para. 4 forbids in the whole reserve, among other things, lit. g "das Aufstellen von Zelten und anderen Unterständen sowie das Biwakieren"; para. 5 adds an off-path entry ban in zone A; para. 11: breaches are punished with a fine. oerebfiles.apps.be.ch. ↩