Camping and Bivouacking: Good to Know

Camping and bivouacking in the wilderness promises adventure and, especially in the mountains, offers an alternative to staying in mountain huts due to the coronavirus. However, it also carries risks, and campers need to keep a number of things in mind to avoid disturbing both people and wildlife.

Since 11 May 2020, mountain huts have been allowed to open and resume operations. However, they must have a protection concept in place outlining how they intend to comply with the Federal Council's current requirements. The SAC provides a list of SAC huts that have already opened or plan to do so in the coming weeks. The list is continuously updated and expanded.

Important for visiting a hut:

1. Reserve your sleeping spot – no reservation, no overnight stay.
2. Only visit a hut if you are in good health.
3. Bring your own: face masks, hand sanitiser, towel.
4. No sleeping spot without your own hut sleeping bag.
5. Take your rubbish back down to the valley.
6. Leave nothing but your footprints.

Camping

This summer, more people will be spending their holidays in their own country, which may also affect the availability of pitches at campsites. An alternative is free camping, which holds a particular appeal for many, especially in the mountains. In addition to the legal situation, which varies from canton to canton or even at municipal level, there are also some behavioural guidelines that campers should follow.

When spending the night in the mountains, it is important to behave considerately and protect the habitats of wildlife. It should not be forgotten that there are also legal regulations governing bivouacking (without a tent) and camping (with a tent).

Good planning for a peaceful night's sleep

Think carefully in advance about where you want to spend the night and be considerate of nature. Use the national map to look for habitats that are as unproblematic as possible. Avoid riparian and wetland areas, as they often harbour rare plants. From an ecological perspective, sites above the treeline are generally unproblematic.

For your own safety, find out about the weather conditions and also take potential natural hazards into account when planning your location, such as rockfall, avalanches, flooding, and thunderstorms. Camping on summits or ridges during thunderstorms is particularly dangerous. Free camping near watercourses also carries greater risk, as streams or rivers can rise suddenly due to heavy rainfall or the operation of hydroelectric plants. If in doubt, keep a safe distance from any watercourse. The following diagram will help you choose the ideal location.

The legal situation for camping and bivouacking

There is no uniform regulation for free camping in Switzerland. In general, according to the Swiss Alpine Club, an emergency bivouac is permitted anywhere, as is overnight stays on private property. It is important to ask the landowner or farmer for permission beforehand. To find out who owns a piece of land, you can enquire at the local municipality. Single overnight stays in the mountains above the treeline are usually tolerated, as long as you behave considerately.

However, the cantons and municipalities each have their own legal regulations. It is therefore worth checking with the relevant municipality before each outing whether free camping is permitted there. Martin Künzle of the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) also emphasises that it is important to respect nature reserves at the cantonal and municipal level. These are not visible, as for example hunting ban areas on map.geo.admin.ch but are usually well signposted on site. More detailed information about the protection regulations of individual nature reserves can be found on the cantonal geoportals.

As an example of the varying regulations, Künzle mentions individual municipalities (Leuk, Zermatt, Verzasca Valley) that have issued a ban on free camping, as well as the canton of Obwalden, where overnight stays at the same location on multiple occasions (outside of campsites) are prohibited by law. The TCS has compiled an overview of the cantonal regulations .

More information can be found on the SAC website and in their information sheet on camping and bivouacking.