Day Hike

Morteratsch Glacier Trail

🇨🇭 Morteratsch, Pontresina, Graubünden

2Routes

About this guide

The Morteratsch Glacier near Pontresina is the third-longest glacier in the Eastern Alps. The Gletscherweg follows its retreat: 16 stops explain how far the ice has drawn back and what lives in the ground it has left. The LiteraTOUR adds audio texts by QR code at each stop, and children aged five to twelve can follow the booklet "Sabis grosser Traum" and collect stamps along the way.

Difficulty: The glacier trail is a well-built path. The short climb from the wooden bridge crosses scree and a rock step and is sometimes slippery. The marked path ends before the glacier tongue; go onto the glacier only with a mountain guide: it has crevasses and hidden cavities, and ice can break off suddenly. To the Boval hut: below the hut the path crosses rock and needs sure-footedness. Piz Bernina is a guided ascent only: the Pontresina mountain guides lead the Biancograt from the Tschierva hut between June and October.
Season: Year-round. In winter the glacier trail is a groomed winter hiking trail; trail conditions: engadin.ch.
Getting there: Rhaetian Railway to Morteratsch station; paid parking at the Hotel Morteratsch.
Winter: Groomed winter hiking trail No. 314 from Morteratsch station to the foot of the glacier and back: 6 km, 1:55 h, 150 m.
Food & drink: Restaurant Morteratsch at the start.