Oeschinensee Hike is a great one that you can’t miss

Summary hike details

  • Start/ end location: Kandersteg (by foot or gondola)
  • Ascent/descent: 978 m/ 3208 ft. 
  • Distance: 18.3 km/ 11.37 miles
  • Duration: 5-7 hours (snack and photo breaks included)
  • Technical and physical requirements: Medium
  • Season: June – October

Introduction

Oeschinen Lake (Oeschinensee) is an alpine lake in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, located at 4 km (2.5 miles) distance from Kandersteg. It’s a paradise for hikers and you can get there directly from Kandersteg, by walking or you can also choose to take the gondola. The beauty of the lake is given by several peaks covered in snow that are melting during the summer, forming dozens of waterfalls falling in the lake.

Hike details

Below are more details that will help you in case you plan to do the hike and also a route preview.

  • You can get to Kandersteg easily by car or by train (45 mins from Interlaken, 1 hour from Bern, 2 hours from Zurich)
  • From Kandersteg you can take the gondola up or walk the 4 km (2.5 miles) hike. We choose to walk since the hike up to the lake is not very hard, also doable by kids
  • We took the right hike route towards the lake, that goes up next to the small Kandersteg river
  • Once we got there we had a hot-dog and chilled, there were not many people since it was 10.30am and the day was just starting. After a while, more and more people were coming but mostly relaxing in the area with the restaurants
  • By then, we already rented a boat for an hour (28 CHF) and enjoyed the waterfalls falling in the lake from directly underneath them
  • From the base of the lake there are several hikes that you can do, either going towards the end of the lake on the shore or hike on the left side of the lake towards the surrounding mountains
  • We hiked up on the left and ended up on the other side of it, where there weren’t many people and you could relax
  • From there you can come back on initial route, but we recommend continuing the hike by taking the route up to the mountains
  • Our total route was 18.3 km (11.3 miles), total ascend distance 978m (3.208 feet), splitted like this: the start point at Kandersteg is situated at 1.174m (3.851 feet) and the Oeschinensee altitude is 1.578m (5.177 feet). From there we went towards the end of the lake on the mountains, continuing the hike, leaving the lake down and enjoying surreal landscapes from 1.970m (6.463 feet). Also this part of the hike is steep but suitable for all ages
  • For the full route, you can check the Strava preview below, at the end of the post
  • You can also find at the end of the post a short video with our experience
  • The total hike takes 5 hours (plus the time you spend relaxing and taking pictures, boat trip etc.)

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