Matterhorn Trail

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Features Lake · Views

From the town of Zermatt right to the toe of the Matterhorn, this trail takes you past the lovely Zmutt Village, past massive glacial moraines, through larch forest, and finally to an alpine lake with excellent views of the Weisshorn, the peak to the north that is actually higher than the Matterhorn.

This wonderful trail starts and ends at lifts that run in the summer, so you can easily go either direction and take the lifts for the other half.

Head out of the southwest corner of Zermatt, following signs for Zmutt Village. This wide path is extremely popular with people heading up for lunch or to buy cheese at this fairy-tale village. You'll pass many mazots - small barns with stone roofs and large round stone disks at the base to keep away the rodents. Some are many hundreds of years old.

Past the village, head downhill and cross the Zmuttbach River, then back up the other side. Gain a well-signed singletrack and start the long climb up. The larch forest in this area is beautiful, but there are many open areas with stunning views of the glaciers, the Weisshorn, and of course the Matterhorn looming above.

Once you break above treeline, you change direction and head towards Schwarzsee, which, due to the ski area management and increased crowds, actually becomes less ideal as you reach the destination. Nevertheless, this is one of the finer trails if you want to be close to the Matterhorn.