Klausen · Pragel · Walensee Precision Loop

Two passes and 240 km

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Why this ride

Forest shade, limestone walls and a hard look at weather. 240 km round from Glarus - plan on about 4 h 35 of riding. The stops in between: Altdorf and Walensee view stop. The climbs: Klausenpass and Pragelpass high road. It tops out at about 1,950 m. Klausen Pass is subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Glarus valley fuel start

   Glarus is a town that was burned down and rebuilt on a grid, and the grid is why the centre feels so unlike other Swiss towns. On 10 May 1861, a fire driven by the Föhn wind destroyed about a third of the town in a single night, and the rebuilding followed a plan of straight streets and regular blocks, an unusual layout for a mountain town. Today Glarus has just under six thousand people and serves as the capital of its small canton, in the narrow valley of the Linth, where steep limestone walls rise on both sides.

   The canton has some curious traditions. Every year, on the first Sunday in May, citizens meet in the open air in the Zaunplatz and vote on laws by a show of hands, in an assembly called the Landsgemeinde. The ritual goes back centuries and survives in only a couple of places today. The valley also makes Schabziger, a hard, green, sharply flavoured cheese, shaped like a cone and flavoured with blue fenugreek, produced here for centuries and exported around Europe, which you grate over potatoes or spread on bread.

   For a rider, Glarus is the way into some of the least visited roads in the central Alps. The Linth valley leads north towards the Walensee and the Zurich lakes, and south the road climbs towards Linthal and the Klausen Pass, a famous route over to Uri with hairpins and sheer drops. A third option is the Pragel Pass, at 1,550 metres, reached from Glarus over a narrow, steep road with wooden chalets and grazing cattle, which leads into the Muotathal. Traffic is light, and the sense of space and quiet is a contrast with the better-known passes.

   Fuel is straightforward in Glarus, with several stations, and the town has bakeries and cafes. Its position at the foot of the Glärnisch massif, a huge wall of rock and ice, makes for dramatic views from the road, and a long glacier tongue gleams above on clear days. Check the weather before the passes, since the Klausen closes in winter, normally from about November until late spring, and the Pragel is usually closed from late autumn. Foehn winds can be strong here, and the valley is quick to catch fog in the autumn.

2. Klausenpass pass

   The Klausenpass is a road that you only really understand once you are on it. It runs for nearly fifty kilometres between Altdorf in Uri and Linthal in Glarus, crossing a ridge at 1,948 metres, and unlike many Alpine passes it feels like a real journey from one world to another, from the green terraces of the Schächental to the broad, high pastures of the Urnerboden and then down into the Linth valley.

   In the 1920s and early 1930s the Klausen was the site of one of Europe's best-known hillclimb races, the Klausenrennen, in which the leading drivers of the day raced up the road in cars of terrifying power and little safety. The races ended before the war, but the hairpins and rock cuttings that crowded the spectators still feel dramatic. Today the speed limits are modest, and the road is mostly shared with cyclists and cattle, particularly on the high plateau, where cows wander across with no concern for traffic.

   The Urnerboden, near the top on the Glarus side, is said to be the largest alpine pasture in Switzerland, a broad flat valley bottom where hundreds of cows spend the summer and a few farmhouses cluster along the road. It belongs to the canton of Uri even though it lies over the ridge on the Glarus side, a quirk that tells you how old pasture rights count for more than the lines on a map. The bends on the Linthal side are numerous and tight, with good views of the waterfalls that pour off the steep cliffs.

   The pass is closed through winter and normally opens in late spring, so check the dates. Mornings are quieter than afternoons, and the light on the Schächental in the early sun is lovely. A coffee at one of the small restaurants near the summit is a good way to pause before dropping toward Glarus.

3. Altdorf lunch window food

   Altdorf is where the legend of William Tell lives, and the town has the statue to prove it. In the main square, a bronze figure of the archer stands with his crossbow and his son, put up in the nineteenth century, and the whole place has a theatrical sense of being on a stage for a story that every Swiss child knows. Whether Tell existed or not, the tale of an apple, an arrow and a tyrant has become part of the way the country imagines itself.

   For riders the town is more simply a convenient place at the foot of the Gotthard route. It lies on the flat floor of the Reuss valley, with steep mountain walls rising on both sides, and the lake of Lucerne a few minutes to the north. With nearly nine thousand people, Altdorf has fuel stations, supermarkets and plenty of cafes, and it is the last big town before the climb to Göschenen and the Gotthard, or the turn up to the Klausen and the Susten, so topping up here is sensible.

   The valley is a funnel for traffic. The main road and the motorway run along it, and the railway is not far away, so the area hums with trucks and commuters. There is a calm side too: the old centre has a few lanes of painted houses, a Capuchin monastery from the sixteenth century, and quiet courtyards that tell of a more modest past. Not far away, in the village of Bürglen, there is a museum and chapel associated with Tell's legend, a gentle detour on a hot afternoon.

   Lunch here is easy and unpretentious: a plate of rösti, a sausage, a coffee with a slice of cake. The weather is changeable, with sudden showers coming in off the lake or down the valley, and the Föhn can make the air very warm in autumn. If you are hurrying toward the passes, aim to start early; if you are coming down, the long afternoon shadows in the valley make for a restful end to the day.

4. Pragelpass high road pass

   The Pragel is one of the narrowest and least known of the central Swiss passes, and for those who like their riding small-scale and quiet, it has a charm of its own. It climbs out of the Muotatal at Muotathal and crosses a ridge at 1,550 metres before dropping toward the Klöntal and the town of Glarus. The road is mostly a single lane wide with passing places, and that fact shapes the whole experience: you ride slowly, with attention, and you wave to oncoming drivers who pull in for you.

   The landscape is alpine in character but gentle in form. Meadows run up to the edge of dark spruce forest, small wooden chalets stand scattered across the slopes, and cattle graze with bells that clank through the whole valley. On the Muotatal side, the surroundings include the Hölloch, a vast cave system that ranks among the longest in the world, with hundreds of kilometres of passages explored beneath the meadows. You will not see it from the road, but it is a reminder that the limestone below your wheels is hollow.

   The Klöntal beyond is a quiet glacial valley with a lovely lake, the Klöntalersee, where the water takes on a deep green in the shade of steep cliffs. It is a fine place for a rest, with paths along the shore and a few modest inns. Fuel is not available on the pass or in the small villages; the sensible places are Glarus and Schwyz, and it is wise to fill up before you start.

   Because the road is narrow, there are limits on larger vehicles, and traffic is usually light, but on a sunny summer weekend you may meet cyclists, hikers and the odd tour group. The pass is closed in winter, normally opening in late spring, and rockfall or damp patches may linger after storms. Gravel can lie on the bends, so ride carefully, especially in the morning when the shade holds moisture. With a clear sky and no hurry, it is an unforgettable little crossing.

5. Walensee view stop stop

   The Walensee is a long, deep, intensely green lake wedged between steep mountains, and a stop above it is one of the best views on the road between Zürich and Chur. On the northern side, the seven peaks of the Churfirsten rise like a jagged wall nearly two thousand metres above the water, their limestone faces catching the light in the late afternoon. Behind you, the slopes of the Flumserberg drop to the shore, and the lake lies between the two walls like a fjord, with the wind whipping up whitecaps on a stormy day.

   The lanes here are quiet and winding, climbing from the shore through meadows and forest toward the Flumserberg. The surface is generally good but narrow, with tight bends and some steep sections, and in winter it can be icy. The best time to come is on a weekday in spring or autumn, when the air is clear and there are few other visitors.

   The lake is famous for its microclimate. Because the mountains shelter it, the north shore is mild enough to support figs, almonds and even a few palm trees at Quinten, a tiny village that can only be reached by boat or on foot, with no road. Visitors can take a ferry from Murg or Unterterzen and eat a long lunch in one of its two restaurants, with a view across the water, and the isolation means that the village has an air of being cut off from the modern world. The lake's colour can turn from emerald to slate in minutes as the weather shifts.

   For services, Walenstadt, at the eastern end of the lake, has about five thousand people, with fuel, supermarkets and cafés. The motorway on the southern shore carries most of the traffic, and the old road, beside the water, is quieter and offers better views. Cameras monitor the main routes, so watch your speed.

   Stop at the viewpoint for a few minutes and look across the lake. The peaks are best in the late afternoon, when the low sun turns the cliffs a warm gold.

6. Back to Glarus valley fuel finish

   The route ends here after 240 km.

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