Gemmi Pass / Gemmi Pass Route

The Gemmi Pass is a high saddle at about 2,300 metres that links the Valais village of Leukerbad with the Bernese Oberland, and it has been in use since the Middle Ages as a route between the Rhone valley and the Bernese valleys. The pass is not a gentle one. On the Leukerbad side it is guarded by a sheer rock wall hundreds of metres high, up which a path of zigzags was cut into the cliff, one of the most dramatic mule tracks in the Alps. The sense of height and exposure on that path is part of the pass's long reputation.

Visitors came here long before modern tourism. The American writer Mark Twain walked this way in the 1870s and described it in A Tramp Abroad with his usual humour, and generations of travellers visited Leukerbad for its thermal waters and crossed the Gemmi on their way to or from the Oberland. Today the walk is still open to anyone fit enough to take it, though most people take the cable car from Leukerbad to the top and begin their hike there.

The pass area itself is a stark, rocky plateau. From the summit station, paths lead to the Daubensee, a high lake lying in a bare basin, whose water is often green and still. There are no trees at this height, only rock, gravel and sparse alpine vegetation, with wide views toward the high peaks of the Valais and the Bernese Alps. A mountain hotel and a restaurant at the top provide refreshments and a place to sit with the view.

The full crossing to Kandersteg on the Bernese side is a long mountain walk, passing the lake and descending through the high valley toward the Schwarenbach inn and then down into the Kandersteg valley. Allow most of a day, check the weather forecast and carry warm clothing, because conditions change fast at this altitude and snow can linger on the paths into early summer.

For those who prefer a shorter outing, the pass can also be visited as a day trip from Leukerbad, combining the cable car, the Daubensee walk and a return trip. Afterwards, the thermal baths in the village offer a fitting reward.