Hörnli Bike

The scenery is almost kitschy: before you stretches a lush green mountain ridge, its lower slopes covered with thick pine forests. Far behind it on the horizon towers the rocky and rugged Säntis. The Hörnli-Bike route from Winterthur to Wildhaus shows one of the most beautiful and varied sides of Eastern Switzerland.

While the first section through the initially pleasant Zürcher Oberland can be used as an ideal warm-up session, in the distance the mighty Säntis towers into the sky, with Wildhaus, your ultimate goal at its foot. The closer you get to Eastern Switzerland’s impressive landmark, the longer the ascents and the more Alpine the scenery. It’s almost impossible to believe that Zürich with all its big city bustle is only about 30 minutes away. The ring of cowbells Instead of traffic noise, pollen in the air instead of dust pollution, and instead of car fumes, once at least your nose catches the «fragrance» of liquid manure.

The open Toggenburg countryside constantly affords superb views of the entire region with its pre-Alpine chains of hills. The picture is shaped by large areas of pastureland, dense forests and splendid farmsteads. Views extend from the Appenzell region as far as the Alps of Central Switzerland in the distance. As the goal of the Hörnli-Bike route, Wildhaus offers the best link to the Wildmannli route of Mountainbiking in Switzerland, with the chance to extend the tour to Sargans or St. Gallen.