Menzingen: Hiking, Views and Village History

Menzingen combines trails through rolling hills with viewpoints and cultural sites in the village and municipality. If you are looking for a hotel in Menzingen, these different attractions can help shape your choice of where to stay: Would you like to explore the area, learn more about local history, or combine the two? Winter activities are a distinct seasonal focus.

Hiking Trails and Walks

The hike from Raten to Menzingen passes through picturesque landscapes. Along the way, views stretch across the Alps and large and small lakes to the cities of Zurich and Zug. Another route, the Moränenstürmer hike, starts at the Menzingen, Institut/Bernardaplatz bus stop. For a shorter circuit, there is the climate trail on Gottschalkenberg: The loop is two kilometres long, has ten stops and takes about 40 minutes.

The trails also cover different themes. The Gschichtli-Weg Menzingen is an audio-story walk for children aged four to ten. On the Menzingen Water Trail, you can learn about the stages water passes through, from its source to the tap. The educational trail, opened in 2020, focuses on the village centre and provides basic information about the educational buildings that still remain. A village tour uses old photographs to illustrate the development of the village, particularly its businesses.

Other stories explore selected aspects of village life, including old customs and quirks, vanished inns, the French period, as well as legends and folklore. If you are interested in the history of building and living, the educational trail offers a different perspective from the tour featuring historical photographs. A small path also leads from Finstersee to the Mülibach waterfall, which is about ten metres high.

Countryside, Lakes and Views

The small Wilersee lies in Menzingen’s moraine landscape and covers three hectares. It formed after the last ice age as a dead-ice lake in a land depression with no outflow. The nearby catchment area was designated a nature reserve in 1993. Today, Wilersee is once again a mesotrophic lake and meets water protection objectives. Menzingen’s varied hilly landscape is also of national importance and has been protected by the federal government.

There are also two distinct viewpoints. From Gubel, the panoramic view extends across the Zug region, from the moraine landscape over Lake Zug to Rigi. The Bellevue viewpoint on Gottschalkenberg offers views of the Lake Zurich area on one side and the Glarus Alps on the other. On Gubel, the erratic boulder garden features selected rocks carried here by glaciers during the ice age. They were deposited about 20,000 years ago, when the Muota/Reuss and Linth glaciers converged between Menzingen and Neuheim.

Village History and Cultural Sites

The present-day Church of St John the Baptist was built between 1620 and 1637. Its high altar painting is considered one of the most significant works by a painter from Zug. It was probably created in Croatia by the Menzingen painter Seraphin Schön. Another part of the cultural scene is the Lassalle-Haus, a centre for spirituality and interreligious dialogue that also draws visitors from far away. The Capuchin convent of Maria Hilf, founded in 1851, is also located on Gubel.

An unusual historic site is the Gubel Bloodhound installation. It is the only surviving one of six British-made Bloodhound Mark II missile sites in the Swiss Plateau; these sites remained on standby without interruption until 1999. The installation includes, among other things, target illumination radar, missile launchers with loaded missiles, a command bunker with an operations room, diesel generators, missile magazines, a cutaway missile and an operations simulator. This site is quite different from the municipality’s religious and village landmarks.

Winter Activities and Places to Eat

In winter, Menzingen has groomed cross-country ski trails and ski touring routes. The Schurtannen trail is groomed for both classic cross-country skiing and skating. At the Lindenberg ski lift, areas are designated for downhill skiing, fun activities and sledging. As conditions for these winter activities can vary by season, it is worth checking the latest information before travelling.

There are various restaurants both in Menzingen village and at worthwhile excursion destinations within the municipality. When planning your overnight stay, you can take into account what you would like to focus on during your days: hiking routes, viewpoints, village history or winter activities.

Discover more destinations: Finstersee, Walchwil, Zug, Cham, Neuheim, Baar, Oberägeri, Unterägeri

Back to the regional travel overview: Zug.