Pragel and Ibergeregg Loop (76 km)

Schwyz to Glarus

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Why this ride

Out of Schwyz, one way: 76 km, roughly 1 h 19 in the saddle. The stops in between: Ibergeregg, Muotathal and Pragel Pass. The highest point is about 1,750 m. Ibergeregg Pass and Pragel Pass are subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.

Roadbook

1. Schwyz start

   Schwyz is the village that gave Switzerland its name. The country's flag grew from the banner of this canton, and the oldest surviving federal charter, dated to 1291, is kept in a museum in town, written on parchment with seals that have survived seven centuries. If history is the thing for you, this is as close to the source as you can get, and a short walk in the old centre shows how modest the beginnings were.

   The town itself is lively without being busy: a broad square with a baroque church, a town hall with painted facades showing a battle scene, and stately patrician houses built by men who had made fortunes as mercenary officers in foreign armies. Behind it all rise the Mythen, two sharp limestone peaks that look from the village like a pair of horns and dominate every photograph. The cloud sits on them often, and on a clear morning they are a fine sight with coffee in hand.

   With fourteen thousand people, Schwyz has fuel, bakeries and sit-down restaurants, so as a start or a food stop it is easy. The start of the loop is the main reason to be here: from Schwyz the road climbs south and east into the hills, toward the Ibergeregg and the Pragel, a pair of passes that make a rewarding day. The first miles run through meadows dotted with fruit trees and farmhouses with deep-eaved wooden roofs, and the gradient builds gradually, so there is time to warm up the tyres and your rhythm.

   Weather can be unpredictable here, because the Alps' northern edge catches the moist air coming from the lowlands, and a bright start can become grey by lunchtime. Plan accordingly, with a waterproof near the top of the luggage. The Föhn wind also blows through this region, warm and dry from the south, and on those days the air is incredibly clear but the gusts can be strong on the open stretches. In winter, the high passes close, but the town stays lively, and a bowl of something hot in a Gasthaus makes a fair reward for the effort.

2. Ibergeregg scenic · 1406 m

   Ibergeregg is a green saddle at 1,406 metres in the central Swiss Prealps, and it is one of those passes that locals ride on a whim rather than a mission. It connects Schwyz, the old town that gave the country its name, with the valley of the Minster river and the village of Oberiberg, and it forms the western half of the loop with the Pragel Pass. The road is not high enough to be a major crossing, but it is wild enough to feel like it, with alpine pasture, fir forest and the rocky ridges of the Mythen above.

   The two Mythen peaks, the Grosser and Kleiner Mythen, are the landmark of the area. They rise as sharp, pale limestone teeth over Schwyz, easily recognisable from many parts of central Switzerland, and a path climbs the larger one to a summit with a view across several lakes. From the pass, the shape of the mountains can be seen to best effect on a clear morning, when the air is cool and the light is sharp. The slopes are grazed by cattle in summer, and in autumn the animals descend to the valley in a parade with bells and flowers.

   The road has all the character of a good Swiss pass. From Schwyz it climbs in a long series of bends through meadow and beech forest, passes the village of Rickenbach, and enters the open pastureland near the summit. The surface is generally excellent, the gradients are moderate, and the corners are easy to read. On the far side, the road drops toward Oberiberg and the Alpthal. It is a popular road with riders, particularly on sunny weekends, when traffic may be heavy and the cafes at the top fill with leather and helmets.

   There is a mountain restaurant at the pass, which does solid Swiss food, including rösti, sausage and cake. The cheese of the region, produced in summer in the alpine huts, is worth a look at farm shops along the road. The pass is generally open throughout the year, but the road is snowy in winter, and ice can persist on shady stretches into April. Check conditions and carry a layer, because the weather can turn quickly.

   Muotathal, about five kilometres from the summit on one side, and Schwyz, about six kilometres away on the other, both have services. Fill the tank before the climb, and plan your loop so that you are not caught short in the quiet valleys.

3. Muotathal scenic

   Muotathal is a long valley village in canton Schwyz, strung along the Muota river in a deep cleft between steep, wooded mountains. It has a population of about three and a half thousand, most of them spread out over small farms and hamlets, and the place has a reputation for being slightly mysterious. The valley is known across Switzerland for its weather prophets, the Wetterschmöcker, a group of local men who claim to predict the weather by watching nature, and whose forecasts for the coming winter are reported in the national newspapers each year.

   Beneath the valley is the Hölloch, one of the longest cave systems in the world, with well over a hundred and fifty kilometres of explored passages, all of it carved by water in the limestone. Guided tours take visitors into a section of the cave, in helmets and boots, and tell of the explorers who have spent days underground mapping it. Above it, the Bödmerenwald is the largest natural spruce forest in the Alps, a primeval-looking stand of ancient trees, left largely untouched, where the trunks are covered in lichen and the forest floor is thick with moss.

   History arrived here in an unexpected form in 1799, when the Russian general Alexander Suvorov, leading an army out of Italy to join allied forces in Switzerland, found that the allies had already been defeated. He marched his exhausted troops over the Pragel Pass into the Muotathal, fought a series of battles against the French in the valley, and then retreated eastward over the mountains in a campaign of extraordinary hardship. A memorial in the valley remembers the Russian soldiers.

   For a rider, Muotathal is the heart of the Pragel and Ibergeregg loop, a good place to stop for a coffee and to check the tank. The road along the valley is narrow in places, with tight bends, tunnels and sheer rock walls, and the surface is patchy. The climb to the Pragel Pass begins here, with a narrow road that can be slow in summer when the cars are many. In the early morning the valley is cool and quiet, and the river is a deep green.

   The village has fuel, a few shops, bakeries and restaurants serving Swiss mountain food, including cheese dishes and Älplermagronen, the macaroni and potato dish served with apple sauce. Schwyz, about ten kilometres away, is the nearest large town, with more services. The valley can be dark and cold in winter, when the sun barely reaches the valley floor.

4. Pragel Pass scenic · 1548 m

   Pragel is the pass that Swiss riders mention in a slightly lowered voice, because it is narrow. The road between the Muotathal and the Klöntal lake in canton Glarus tops out at 1,548 metres, and long stretches of it are barely one car wide, with passing places cut into the verge and a rule, understood by everyone, that the vehicle with the easier retreat backs up. It is a bike road more than a car road, and on a quiet weekday morning it is also one of the most rewarding in central Switzerland.

   The climb from the Muotathal side goes up through damp forest and then steep meadow, with bends that tighten as the valley narrows and the Muota drops far below. At the top, the landscape changes into a bare, rocky plateau, with limestone cut into strange furrows by rainwater. This is karst country, a rock that water has hollowed out from beneath, and the grass between the boulders is full of small flowers in June. From the summit, the descent toward the Klöntal is steeper and more wooded, and the lake appears at the bottom like a green mirror.

   The Klöntal side has a different mood. The lake lies in a glacial trough walled by steep slopes, and a lane runs along its shore past a small mountain inn at Richisau, which is the sort of place where hikers, cyclists and riders end up at the same table. Cheese is made in the huts on the high pastures all summer, and the herdsmen bring their cattle down in a procession each autumn.

   Practical matters need respect. The road is closed in winter, usually from about November to May, and the opening dates depend on the snow. Large vehicles and trailers are not suitable, and on busy summer days the narrow sections can make progress slow, with queues of cars waiting at the passing places. Rain makes the surface slick and the verges soft, and cattle may be on the road, with their bells clanking in the mist. The best time is early morning in June, September or October.

   Unteriberg and Muotathal are the nearest villages with services, and Glarus is the larger town on the eastern side. A cheese from one of the alpine dairies is a worthwhile thing to carry, if you have space in the luggage.

5. Glarus finish

   Glarus is a small town with an outsized sense of its own history, tucked into a narrow valley beneath the pale bulk of the Glarner Alps. It is the capital of a canton of the same name, a tiny mountainous republic where, until recent decades, the citizens met each year in the open air to vote by raised hands on the laws of the land. The town was burned to the ground in a great fire in 1861 and rebuilt on a neat grid, which is why it has a surprisingly orderly layout for a place wedged between cliffs. With about five and a half thousand people, it has fuel, supermarkets and several bakeries.

   The most famous local product is Schabziger, or Ziger, a hard, green, herb-flavoured cheese made from skimmed milk and blue fenugreek, which has been exported since the Middle Ages. You grate it onto bread, potatoes or pasta, and its smell is very much an acquired taste. The valley also has a long textile history; cotton printing made the area rich in the nineteenth century, and the big old factory buildings and merchant villas remain. Above everything stands the Tödi, the highest peak in the area at over 3,600 metres, with its glaciers visible on clear days.

   The Pragel and Ibergeregg loop is for riders who like their roads narrow and mountain-sized. The Pragel Pass, at about 1,550 metres, links the Klöntal valley to the Muotatal, and the road is single-lane in places, with passing bays and steep stretches, so you need patience and a light hand on the throttle. Ibergeregg, at around 1,400 metres, is wider and quicker, running down toward Schwyz through alpine pastures. Both are closed in winter and sometimes open late in spring, so check before you go.

   Along the way you ride beside the Klöntalersee, a green lake that has an almost Scandinavian look, with steep forested slopes plunging into the water. Cows wander the pastures with their bells, and the farms sell cheese and yoghurt from small shelves. Mist often drifts across the passes, and the temperature can drop quickly, so carry rain gear even on a sunny morning. Glarus is where this loop ends and you can finally sit down: pick a café, order something sweet and take your time.

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