As of: 16 October 2026

Wild camping at the Triebteseewli

The Triebteseewli, 2'365 m, is a KWO reservoir above the Grimsel Hospiz, inside the cantonal Grimsel nature reserve, which bans camping and pitching tents. The reserve ends on the ridge, at the Triebtenseelücke. Beyond it, in Valais, a night by the Lengsee is allowed.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked 16 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 at the Triebteseewli: the Grimsel nature reserve bans it

The Triebteseewli lies inside the Grimsel nature reserve, no. 5 of canton Bern. The lake sits at 2'365 m in the commune of Guttannen, between the Grimsel Hospiz and the Sidelhorn ridge. The reserve was declared in 1958 by government decision no. 4590 and covers about 100 km² of the Grimsel; decisions of 1974 and 1989 added rules on mineral collecting and left the rest as it was. The lake, its shore and all ground within 613 m of the water lie inside it. 24

No. 5 of the decree lists what is forbidden in the reserve, and letter f decides the night: 2

"f) das Anzünden von Feuern, Kampieren und das Aufschlagen von Zelten;"Regierungsratsbeschluss Nr. 4590 of 1 August 1958 on the Grimsel nature reserve, Ziff. 5 lit. f. In English: f) lighting fires, camping and pitching tents.

The rule catches a bivvy bag as well as a tent. It names camping and pitching tents as two separate acts, so "Kampieren" reaches further than a tent, and no season is attached to it. The decree confirms that reading itself: it reserves exceptions to letter f for high tours inside the reserve, which would be pointless if a night without a tent were allowed anyway. 2

Nobody can say yes to a night by the lake. The ban binds whoever owns the ground, and the decree names this ground as the Grimsel and Oberaar property of Kraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO). Its two exceptions do not fit a hiker. The high-tour clause (Ziff. 7 lit. e) is for alpinists on a high tour inside the reserve, while the lake lies on hiking paths, T2 and T3, below an asphalt road. The canton's power to grant exceptions (Ziff. 8) is for urgent cases, "in dringenden Fällen". 2

A breach means ordinary proceedings, not a ticket. The decree itself makes a breach of its no. 5 punishable by a fine (Ziff. 12). Today the cadastre names the cantonal nature protection act (NSchG) as the reserve's legal basis, and its Art. 57 sets a fine of CHF 100 to 50'000, up to CHF 100'000 in serious cases; there is no fixed fine. The canton noted in 2022 that its nature service and game wardens cannot step up supervision in the reserve. The rule and the fine apply all the same. 2347

Two more layers lie on the lake, and neither adds a camping rule. It is also in the cantonal wildlife reserve Grimsel (no. 13), where hunting is banned, dogs go on a lead and drones are banned. That reserve has no camping measure, so the canton's fixed fine for wildlife reserves does not reach a tent here. And it is in the federal landscape inventory, BLN object 1507, which binds the authorities, not hikers. How these layers fit together across the country: wild camping in Switzerland. 51

The lake: a KWO reservoir with three names

The Triebteseewli is the Trübtensee reservoir of Kraftwerke Oberhasli. Swisstopo names the water Triebteseewli, other maps write Triebtenseewli, and the federal register of dams lists dam and reservoir as Trübtensee. It is a natural basin raised by a 9.5 m gravity dam at its north tip, in operation since 1950: about 10 ha of water at 2'365 m. 1

It is a working reservoir. At the north tip stand the dam, an outlet weir and a small KWO building, and KWO's asphalt Oberaar road hairpins 130 to 170 m above the north-west shore. A marked mountain path follows the north-west and north shore and crosses the dam. There is flat grass at the west end, where a stream comes in; it lies as deep inside the reserve as the rest. 1

KWO says no on its own poster too. Its "No camping" notice of May 2022, issued with the communes of Guttannen and Innertkirchen for the whole Grimsel area, reads: "Das Übernachten in Wohnmobilen und das Campieren sind hier nicht erlaubt." In English: overnighting in motorhomes and camping are not allowed here. It is the owner's notice and names no fine; at this lake the decree carries the ban on its own. 6

The road above the lake stays closed. Grimselwelt closed the Bäregg hut near the lake in summer 2026 because the Oberaar road was shut, and announces the road closed to the public for the whole 2027 season as well, for construction work. The lake is reached on foot, on marked mountain paths. 101

Over the Triebtenseelücke: where the reserve ends

The reserve's edge runs along the cantonal border on the Sidelhorn ridge. The decree draws its perimeter along the border with Valais, over the Grimselpass and the Kleines and Grosses Sidelhorn. South-east of the lake the ridge drops to the Triebtenseelücke, 2'639 m, about 270 m above the water; that saddle is where the boundary comes closest, 613 m from the shore. Two marked routes cross it, towards the Grimselpass and towards the Trützisee. 241

South of the saddle lies Obergoms, in Valais, and there nothing forbids a night. Level by level, for the ground around the tarns:

  • Protected areas: none. The Lengsee, the Rundsee and the Jostsee lie outside the Grimsel reserve, and no federal inventory, no Valais nature reserve, no hunting reserve and no binding wildlife rest zone covers them. 18
  • Canton: no camping rule. The Valais act on the protection of nature and the Valais hunting act contain none. 9
  • Commune: no camping rule. The Obergoms police regulation has no provision on camping; the Furkapass article covers it. 9
  • Zoning: building rules only. Here Obergoms still applies the zoning regulation of the former commune of Obergesteln, of 1993, and it names no tent, camping or bivouac. The Lengsee and the Rundsee lie in a landscape protection zone of cantonal importance, and its article is about buildings: "Innerhalb der Landschaftsschutzzonen sind Bauten und Anlagen nur zulässig, wenn sie standortgebunden sind" (Art. 89). A tent struck at dawn is neither a building nor an installation. 8

So on the Valais side nobody has to be asked. No rule there ties a single night to the consent of a landowner or of the commune. 89

Where you sleep: above the Lengsee

The pitch is the dry ground above the Lengsee. The Lengsee, 2'498 m, lies about 1.5 km south of the Triebteseewli, below the saddle on the Valais side. At the point below, the ground is open grass and stone at about 3 degrees, 80 m south-east of the water, 93 m from the path and about 700 m outside the reserve. 14

Pitch: LV95 2'665'858 / 1'154'460, 2'502 m. Second choice: LV95 2'665'693 / 1'154'314, 2'477 m. The first lies above the Lengsee, the second 75 m north of the Rundsee; both in Obergoms VS, outside the Grimsel nature reserve. 1

Choose dry ground, not the flattest-looking patch. Between the tarns, several of the levellest spots are damp hollows or small ponds the map does not show. The Jostsee, 2'420 m, about 1.6 km east of the Lengsee, is the third tarn outside the reserve; the flat west of it is a silt pan that stays wet in early summer. 1

Stay off the fen south-east of the Rundsee. About 400 m south-east of the Rundsee begins the fen "Zwisched Bäch", a Valais reserve whose decision forbids every activity that runs against its protection goals. Pitch by the lakes, not on the wet ground below them. 8

From the Grimselpass you can walk straight to the tarns. The 9 Seen-Weg of the commune of Obergoms, from the pass down to Ulrichen, passes these lakes, so the night needs neither the Triebteseewli nor the saddle. 1

A roof at the Grimsel, as of October 2026

  • The pass hotels on the Valais side: outside the reserve. Hotel Grimselpasshöhe, Hotel Alpenrösli and Hôtel Grimselblick stand on the saddle of the Grimselpass, in Obergoms. The pass road closes for the winter: check that the road and your hotel are open. 4
  • The Grimsel Hospiz: inside the reserve, and a night in a bed is no camping. KWO's hotel stands at 1'962 m on the Bern side of the pass. Its hosts also run the Bäregg hut; Grimselwelt's hotels answer on +41 33 982 46 11 or hotels@grimselwelt.ch. 10
  • The Bäregg hut and the Berghaus Oberaar: closed. The self-catering hut near the lake was closed in summer 2026, and for summer 2027 Grimselwelt announces the Berghaus Oberaar closed for renovation. 10
  • The Alpenlodge Grimselpass: call first. On the Valais side of the pass, directories list a motorhome pitch there from 2 July to 16 October, CHF 20 per vehicle and night; the lodge's own site mentions no tents. Ask on +41 27 527 11 12 or grimsellodge@gmail.com. 10
  • Campsites: down in the valley. KWO's poster sends campers to the campsites of Innertkirchen and Gadmen, none of them above Guttannen. Its "Camping Grimselblick" is in Innertkirchen, not the Hôtel Grimselblick on the pass. 6

Down the valley: Gelmersee and Wannisbortsee

Down the valley, outside the reserve, Guttannen gives other answers. At the Gelmersee the ground and KWO still say no. At the Wannisbortsee, on the west flank above Guttannen, a night is allowed.

General rules for wild camping

In Valais the night needs no one's yes. Leave the tarns as you found them, and on the Bern side of the ridge keep your dog on a lead, as the wildlife reserve requires.

  • 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 as of 16 October 2026, based on the official sources linked below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

Bern's cadastre does not publish owners; the 1958 decree names the lake's parcel as the property of Kraftwerke Oberhasli. No court has interpreted the decree's exception for high tours, and the fine frame comes from today's cantonal nature protection act, which the cadastre names as the reserve's legal basis. Road, hotel and hut seasons change with the snow: check them before you go and follow signs and instructions on site. 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

Can you wild camp at the Triebteseewli?
No. The Triebteseewli lies inside the cantonal Grimsel nature reserve (NSG no. 5), and no. 5 letter f of its decree, government decision no. 4590 of 1 August 1958, forbids "das Anzünden von Feuern, Kampieren und das Aufschlagen von Zelten": lighting fires, camping and pitching tents. The ban has no season and binds the landowner, Kraftwerke Oberhasli, which posts its own "No camping" notice. A breach goes to ordinary proceedings under Art. 57 of the cantonal nature protection act, with a fine of CHF 100 to 50'000. 23
Is a bivvy bag without a tent allowed?
No. The decree names camping ("Kampieren") separately from pitching tents, so the ban reaches further than a tent, and its exception for alpinists on a high tour would make no sense if a night without a tent were allowed anyway. A night at the lake, on hiking paths below a road, is no high tour. 2
Can KWO or the canton give permission?
Not for a leisure night. The reserve's rules bind whoever owns the ground, so KWO cannot allow what the decree forbids, and its poster says no in any case. The decree lets the canton grant exceptions only in urgent cases (no. 8), and the cantonal nature protection act only for important reasons (Art. 7). A night out is neither. 236
Where can I sleep legally near the Triebteseewli?
Over the Triebtenseelücke, 2'639 m, in Obergoms, Valais: above the Lengsee at LV95 2'665'858 / 1'154'460, 2'502 m, about 700 m outside the reserve, or 75 m north of the Rundsee at LV95 2'665'693 / 1'154'314. No reserve covers that ground and no Valais or communal rule forbids a night, so nobody has to be asked. With a roof: the pass hotels on the Valais side of the Grimselpass, or the Grimsel Hospiz. 8910
Are the Triebteseewli, the Triebtenseewli and the Trübtensee the same lake?
Yes. Swisstopo writes Triebteseewli, other maps Triebtenseewli, and the federal register of dams calls the 9.5 m dam at its north tip and the reservoir behind it Trübtensee. It is one water, about 10 ha at 2'365 m, run by Kraftwerke Oberhasli. 1
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. Federal geodata, read on 16 October 2026: swissNAMES3D lake "Triebteseewli", LV95 2'665'886 / 1'156'083, water at 2'364.8 m, and dam "Trübtensee"; current commune boundaries (swissBOUNDARIES3D): Guttannen BE at the lake, Obergoms VS south of the ridge and on the saddle of the Grimselpass. Federal register of dams under federal supervision: dam and reservoir "Trübtensee", gravity dam, height 9.5 m, crest at 2'365.74 m, 46 m long, in operation since 1950, under federal supervision since 1954, retention level 2'365.24 m, 1.13 million m³, hydropower. Federal inventories: BLN object 1507 "Berner Hochalpen und Aletsch-Bietschhorn-Gebiet" at the lake; no game reserve, wildlife rest zone, park, floodplain, fen, raised bog, mire landscape, amphibian site, dry meadow, Ramsar or Emerald site, forest reserve or military area at the lake or at the Lengsee, Rundsee and Jostsee. Terrain, swissALTI3D (2 m): Lengsee 2'497.8 m, Rundsee 2'475 m, Jostsee 2'419.6 m; pitch above the Lengsee, 2'665'858 / 1'154'460, 2'502 m, 3.4 degrees, 80 m from the water and 93 m from the path; pitch by the Rundsee, 2'665'693 / 1'154'314, 2'477 m, 3.3 degrees, 75 m from the water. Aerial images © swisstopo: open grass and stone at both pitches, damp hollows and small unmapped ponds between the tarns, a silt pan west of the Jostsee. OpenStreetMap (colour): "Triebtenseewli", operator Kraftwerke Oberhasli, about 10 ha; dam, outlet weir and a small building at the north tip; Oberaar road 130 to 170 m above the north-west shore; saddle "Triebtenseelücke", 2'639 m; hiking routes "Triebtenseelücke - Grimselpass", "Triebtenseelücke - Trützisee" and "9 Seen-Weg" (operator Gemeinde Obergoms, Grimselpass (Passhöhe) to Ulrichen Bahnhof). map.geo.admin.ch, Stauanlagen unter Bundesaufsicht. ↩
  2. Canton of Bern, Naturschutzgebiet Grimsel, NSG-Nr. 5: Regierungsratsbeschluss (RRB) Nr. 4590 of 1 August 1958, supplemented by RRB Nr. 4153 of 30 October 1974 and RRB Nr. 2531 of 31 May 1989, which concern mineral collecting only. Ziff. 1: "Das Grimselgebiet wird als Naturschutzgebiet erklärt, dauernd unter den Schutz des Staates gestellt". Ziff. 2 lit. a: the reserve comprises "die Grimsel- und Oberaarbesitzung der Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG. (KWO), Guttannen Grundstücke Nrn. 73 und 949". Ziff. 3, perimeter: "der Kantonsgrenze nach über Nägelisgrätli - Grimselpass - Kleines Sidelhorn (2764) - Grosses Sidelhorn (2872) - Löffelhorn (3095)". Ziff. 5: "Im Schutzgebiet sind verboten:", among them lit. b, disturbing wildlife and letting dogs run loose, lit. f, fires, camping and tents, and lit. h, parking motor vehicles and caravans off the car parks and the two roads. Ziff. 7: "Vorbehalten bleiben: ... e) Ausnahmen von Ziff. 5 lit. f anlässlich von Hochtouren im Schutzgebiet." Ziff. 8: "Die Forstdirektion ist befugt, in dringenden Fällen Ausnahmebewilligungen zu erteilen." Ziff. 12: "Widerhandlungen gegen Ziff. 5 hievor werden mit Busse oder mit Haft bestraft."; detention is no longer a penalty for contraventions. The canton's own rescan reads the same. Schutzbeschluss Grimsel (PDF, ÖREB), Schutzbeschluss Grimsel (PDF, WEU). ↩
  3. Canton of Bern, Naturschutzgesetz (NSchG), BSG 426.11, version in force since 1 January 2023: Art. 6 para. 2, areas placed under protection "durch die Gesetzgebung oder durch Beschluss" are nature reserves; Art. 7 para. 1, exceptions "aus wichtigen Gründen"; Art. 57 para. 1 lit. b, "Mit Busse von 100 Franken bis 50 000 Franken wird bestraft, wer" breaches a ban or measure; para. 2, up to CHF 100'000 in serious cases; para. 3, punishment may be waived in particularly light cases. A breach is judged in ordinary proceedings; there is no fixed fine for it. NSchG (belex). ↩
  4. Bern cadastre of public-law restrictions on landownership (ÖREB), extract of 16 October 2026 for Guttannen parcel 949 (EGRID CH251546123592), 21.94 km², which publishes no owners: "Kantonale Naturschutzgebiete: Grimsel (NSG-Nr. 5)" on 100 percent of the parcel, in force, with the legal bases NSchG BSG 426.11, NSchV BSG 426.111 and the protection decree; at the lake also a landscape protection area under building regulation art. 463, a construction clause, water protection sector Ao and a second-homes planning zone. Geodata of the Bern nature reserves: NSG 5 is one polygon of 100.01 km²; its boundary lies 826 m from the lake's map point and 613 m from the shore, at the Triebtenseelücke on the cantonal border. On the saddle of the Grimselpass, Hotel Grimselpasshöhe lies 35 m, Hotel Alpenrösli 18 m and Hôtel Grimselblick 252 m outside the reserve; the pitch above the Lengsee lies 707 m and the pitch by the Rundsee 801 m outside it. ÖREB Guttannen 949. ↩
  5. Canton of Bern, wildlife reserve Grimsel (Wildschutzgebiet Nr. 13), object sheet dated 12 January 2026: commune Guttannen, decided in 1934, 10'001 ha, "Naturschutzgebiet: Grimsel". "Im gesamten Perimeter gelten die folgenden Schutzmassnahmen: Kategorie A: Die Jagd ist verboten. Kategorie E: Hunde sind an der Leine zu führen. Kategorie F: Der Betrieb von zivilen, unbemannten Luftfahrzeugen (Modellflugzeuge, Drohnen) ist verboten." No zones and no camping or bivouac measure. Objektblatt Wildschutzgebiet Grimsel (PDF). ↩
  6. Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG (KWO), Einwohnergemeinde Guttannen and Gemeinde Innertkirchen, "No camping" poster, A2, May 2022, with a map of the whole Grimsel area including the Grimsel Hospiz, the Grimselpass and the Oberaar: "Das Übernachten in Wohnmobilen und das Campieren sind hier nicht erlaubt. Bitte benützen Sie die offiziellen Camping- und Stellplätze." It lists the campsites Grimselblick, Aareschlucht, Grund and Wyler in Innertkirchen, and Gadmen, and motorhome pitches including Guttannen Dorf and Handeggli. An owner's and communes' notice: no article, no fine. No camping (PDF). ↩
  7. Canton of Bern, Abteilung Naturförderung, supplementary sheet on voluntary self-monitoring for mineral collecting in the Grimsel nature reserve, 2022: "Aufgrund der eingeschränkten Ressourcen ist es der Abteilung Naturförderung und der Wildhut nicht möglich, die Aufsicht im Naturschutzgebiet Grimsel zu erhöhen." Zusatzblatt Mineraliensammeln (PDF). ↩
  8. Valais, the ground south of the Triebtenseelücke, read on 16 October 2026. Valais cadastre (ÖREB), Obergoms parcel 13610 (EGRID CH909666707704, 24.4 ha) at the Lengsee, the Rundsee and both pitches: zone 92 "übriges Gemeindegebiet" or zone 93, lakes with their shores, overlaid by a "Landschaftsschutzzone von kantonaler Bedeutung"; a fen overlay 391 to 575 m from the lakes and pitches. Parcel 13633 (EGRID CH337796667033, 4.0 ha) at the Jostsee: zone 93, no overlay. Every provision on both parcels is the planning of the former commune of Obergesteln. Bau- und Zonenreglement der Gemeinde Obergesteln, October 1993: no provision on camping, tents, bivouacs or caravans; Art. 29, landscape protection areas, "Innerhalb der Landschaftsschutzgebiete sind Bauten, Geländebewegungen und Ablagerungen jedwelcher Art untersagt."; Art. 89, "Innerhalb der Landschaftsschutzzonen sind Bauten und Anlagen nur zulässig, wenn sie standortgebunden sind ..."; Art. 90, nature protection zones, buildings and installations prohibited. Fen "Zwisched Bäch", decision of the Valais Council of State of 1 December 1999, RS/VS 451.339, fen of national importance no. 1786, Art. 4 para. 1: "Im Schutzgebiet sind alle Aktivitäten, welche den Schutzzielen widersprechen, untersagt"; its edge lies 391 m from the pitch above the Lengsee and 447 m from the Rundsee. Valais layers of protected areas under cantonal decisions, of hunting reserves and of binding wildlife rest zones: none at the tarns or the pitches; the nearest hunting reserve, Grimsel-Gletsch, lies 2.7 km from the pitch. ÖREB Obergoms 13610, ÖREB Obergoms 13633, BZR Obergesteln (PDF), RS/VS 451.339 (PDF), sit.vs.ch Natur, sit.vs.ch Jagd, sit.vs.ch Wildruhezonen. ↩
  9. Valais cantonal and Obergoms communal law, checked on 6 September 2026 for the Furkapass article: the Valais act on the protection of nature, landscape and sites, RS/VS 451.1, and the Valais hunting act, RS/VS 922.1, contain no rule on camping, tents, bivouacs or caravans; the Polizeireglement der Gemeinde Obergoms contains no provision on camping, and its rule on traffic off roads concerns motor vehicles and bicycles. lex.vs.ch, gemeinde.obergoms.ch, Furkapass. ↩
  10. Lodging and access, read on 16 October 2026. Grimselwelt (KWO), Alpinhütte Bäregg, 2'455 m, "in unmittelbarer Nähe zum Trübtensee": "Im Sommer 2026 aufgrund der gesperrten Panoramastrasse Oberaar geschlossen."; contact +41 33 982 46 11, hotels@grimselwelt.ch; the hut is run by the hosts of the Grimsel Hospiz, 1'962 m. Grimselwelt, Panoramastrasse Oberaar, summer 2027: "Das Berghaus Oberaar bleibt aufgrund von Sanierungsarbeiten während der gesamten Sommersaison 2027 geschlossen. Die Panoramastrasse Oberaar bleibt aufgrund von Bauarbeiten während der gesamten Saison für die Öffentlichkeit gesperrt." Alpenlodge Grimselpass, Grimselpassstrasse 12, 3999 Oberwald: the lodge's own site gives +41 27 527 11 12 and grimsellodge@gmail.com and mentions no camping or tents; directories (colour, not a basis for the verdict) list a motorhome pitch, "Saisonale Öffnungszeiten: 02.07. - 16.10.", CHF 20 per vehicle and night. Alpinhütte Bäregg, Panoramastrasse Oberaar, grimselpass.ch, stellplatz.info. ↩