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It says that camping is forbidden, but it doesn't say anything about bivouacing. Juristically bivouacing and camping are different terms in Switzerland.
The laws about camping and bivouacing are ambiguous and it is impossible to find an exact answer to the question of wild camping in Switzerland. And there is not a lot of practical information about this question on the Internet. The most comprehensible source of information about wild camping in the Alps I managed to find is
this article (in Russian).
Here is a short summary of the article:
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| First of all about the terms. Juristically there are three of them, however the definitions of the terms are ambiguous and vary from country to country.
1. Kampieren - spending a night in a mobile shelter (tent, tarp, car, and etc.). This is a definition from the Tiroler Campinggesetz 2001.
2. Biwakieren - having a rest stop or spending a night without a mobile shelter (sleeping out under the stars, snow shelter, and etc.) However in Switzerland and Austria biwakieren also includes sleeping in a tent (or a tarp) for a short period of time above a treeline.
3. Zelten - this is the most ambiguous term and roughly it means living in a mobile shelter (as I understand 'living' means camping for several days in a same spot).
In Switzerland bivouacs are officially forbidden only in Obwalden. In other places there are no official regulations that prohibit bivouacing, except for protected sites. There are the following kinds of protected sites.
1. Nationalpark
2. Naturpark
3. Naturschutzgebiet
4. Biosphärenpark
5. Sonderschutzgebiet
Nationalparks have the highest degree of protection with high fines. Bivouacs a stricly forbidden, except in emergency cases. In Switzerland there is only one national park - Schweizerischer Nationalpark in Engandin. Naturparks have the same degree of protection as nationalparks (meaning that bivouacs are forbidden), but with lower fines. Other kinds of protected sites have varying degree of protection and may allow or prohibit bivouacs (depending on the site).
To avoid problems when bivouacing the article recommends the following principles.
- A bivouac should be above a treeline away from a forested area.
- A bivouac should be set up late enough (usually just before or after a sunset) and broken early (before or just after a sunrise).
- It is better to find a site protected from people eyes, like terrain depressions, behind big boulders. You may find such places before a trip using 1:25,000 maps.
- A group should be of a small size, the lesser the number of tents the better.
- Don't make any loud noises when bivouacing.
- No fires.
- Be careful with sources of light. A light signal repeated 6 times a minute in every two minutes means SOS. This may lead to the appearance of a rescue team on the site, in which case you will also have to pay a substantial sum for calling the team (even though you didn't need it).
- A bivouac should be away from huts with guardians. Note that sometimes guardians allow you to bivouac near their hut, if you ask them politely, especially, if you pay for some services of the hut (like buying a dinner).
- Always ask for a permission of a landowner if bivouacing on a private land.
- Follow 'leave no trace' principles.
- Avoid shelters with bright colors.
The principles above apply only for a high season which lasts approximately from the middle of June to the middle of October when trails and huts are packed with people. During late autumn, winter, and spring the chances of being caught by a forest ranger approach zero. Moreover, even during high season if you happen to be found camping, most likely you will be just asked to leave the site. | |
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For additional information check the following links:
Biwakieren und Campieren Übernachtung im Zelt - ein Erfahrungsaustausch Wilderness camping (even though it's about camping in Germany some information applies to Switzerland)
Now, some information based on my personal experience. I always follow principles described above and have never had an encounter with a forest ranger. I find that it's possible to safely camp in a forest below a treeline (but high enough from bottoms of valleys) or in a protected site as long as I setup bivouac after dusk with a minimum use of a headlamp (sometimes I don't use it at all) in a well hidden site away from trails and leave the site as it was before the bivouac (leave no trace). During late autumn and winter most huts are closed or not guarded and I have never seen anyone in the mountains after 5pm, so an encounter with a ranger is a very unlikely event and I relax my approach to bivouacing by putting up a tent before a sunset and may be close to huts. Moreover, during winter you have an opportunity to build snow shelters (like snowcaves, dugloos, quinzhees) which are hard to detect and are more cozy and comfortable then tents.
Even though wild camping is not a Swiss thing as most people prefer hikes or ski tours for a day or with staying in huts, there are some Swiss who prefer to spend a night outside a hut (check for example the following
webpage showing some photos of bivouacs by a Swiss photographer).
For me bivouacing is a major part of my trips which completes my 'wilderness' experience in the mountains. To finish the post here are some photos of my bivouacs in the Alps:
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