Sunnbüel, Kandersteg: Hike to Daubensee & Bike Trail

04/11/2026

Sunnbüel is a sunny mountain area above Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. A cable car takes you from the valley at about 1,190 metres up to the Sunnbüel mountain station at 1,936 metres. From here starts the famous Gemmi Trail, an old route over the Alps that people have used for hundreds of years to travel between the Bernese Oberland and the Valais. The landscape is wide and open, with alpine meadows, small lakes, big rocks and high peaks all around. It is a great place for families, hikers and mountain bikers.

What to See

At the top station, the Berghaus Sunnbüel restaurant has a sunny terrace with a view of the mountains. Near the station are the three small Arvenseeli lakes. An easy path leads across the Spittelmatte, a wide plain full of huge boulders from an old rockfall, to the Berghotel Schwarenbach. This historic mountain inn is more than 250 years old and is a good place for lunch or an overnight stay. From Schwarenbach the trail climbs gently to the Daubensee, a large mountain lake at about 2,200 metres. You can walk around the lake or continue to the Gemmi Pass, where the Berghotel Wildstrubel stands at the edge of a high cliff. From the pass a cable car goes down to the spa town of Leukerbad. Mountain bikers can ride the cable car up and take the Sunnbüel Freeride Trail back to the valley. It is about 4.7 km long and drops about 730 metres.

How to Get There and Practical Information

The Sunnbüel cable car valley station is at Eggeschwand, at the southern end of Kandersteg, about 2 km from the train station. There is parking at the valley station. The walk from Sunnbüel to Schwarenbach takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes, and to the Daubensee about 2 hours. Instead of taking the cable car back, you can also walk down to the valley on a steep mountain path in about 1.5 hours. The paths are well marked, but you need good shoes. The cable car runs in summer and autumn and also in winter for winter hiking and cross-country skiing. Check the timetable and the weather before you go.