Europe

Hiking to A sea of wild crocuses in Rämisgummen, Switzerland

A sea of wild crocuses. Doesn’t it sound like a place where you want to be on a beautiful spring day?

This particular place of sea of wild crocuses can be found on the hills of Rämisgummen in the commune of Eggiwil in the canton of Bern. We found out about this unique place last year when we hiked around this area and we found a brochure about the wild crocuses. And as I am totally in love with spring wildflowers, I have been waiting to be here for almost a year!

When to go?

The blooming depends very much of the weather and on what altitude they are growing but in generally the wild crocuses at Rämisgummen start to bloom at the beginning to mid of April and once they are in fully bloom they can last more or less a week.

Even if the crocuses are already blooming, you want to see them when they are in full bloom. So it’s important to have patience. The best way to know when these wildflowers are at their prettiest is to call directly to Bergrestaurant Erika, a restaurant which is right next to the trail head. And you can also follow the blooming of the crocuses at the Eggiwil commune where they update photos of the blooming. 

How to get there?

To put on GPS is Giesshaldenalp, Trub. At the end of this road is the Bergrestaurant Erika as I have already mention above (the restaurant  was closed when we were there on a Wednesday) but just before you reach the restaurant, at an intersection you can find parking slots and there is also where the hiking trail starts. I have circled the parking area on the map below.

WARNING! The road up from Eggiwil to the parking lot is narrow and often when there are cars from other direction one of you need to pull up your car, so drive carefully.

The hike

From the trail head to Rämisgummen is about 20-30 min walk with very little of elevation gain. The dirt path is stroller friendly! We didn’t use one but I saw a couple of people using a stroller. Although the trail is rocky at some part, I belive that you could easily use a stroller. Sara, a 6 yo daughter of a friend of mine walked and climb those hills covered with wild crocuses without any problems.

In spite of being a Wednesday afternoon there were a lot of cars driving down when we were driving up and we were wondering if there was something special going on up there more than the wild crocuses. When we arrived there were a lot of cars parking by the side of the road. We were still wondering if all these people really came to see the crocuses? And yes they were! It was much people but it seems as people came and left and never really stayed long so at the end it never felt crowded. However, I wouldn’t want to come here on the weekend!

The hills covered in wild crocus in Rämisgummen.

I have to be honest, I was quite disappointed when we arrived at the feet of the hill. I found the crocuses to be very small and I didn’t get this love-at-the-first-sight feeling as I was expecting. 

So please, before coming to Rämisgummen for the wild crocuses, don’t come with too hight expectation. The crocuses are smaller in real life, about 5 cm tall! Perhaps we came a few days to early or the wild crocuses are smaller than the one on the gardens? That being said, the more time I got to spend on these hill covered by the wild spring flowers, the more I appreciated the place and of being there. 

There were crocuses-free-spots so you can easily walk around. Although it was annoying to always keep an eye on Mirabelle so she doesn’t steep on the flowers, she did a great job jumping to one bare spot to another.

Two friends are investigating wild crocuses at Rämisgummen at the Emmental valley.

Should you come?

Do I recommend this place for everyone? Yes and no. I felt it was a bit far driving from Bern, an hour drive. But as I really love spring wild flowers and I love taking photos I was really happy being in the middle of a sea of crocuses. If you like to photograph the nature, live near by or passing by on the good moment…so yes definitely come! Or, if you come from far away, you could combine this trip with other activities around the area. Lake Thun is not very far away for an example.

What do you think? Is it a place to spend your spring day?

Family Earth Trek

36 Comments

  1. Blair Villanueva Reply

    Wild flowers always have its unique beauty, especially when they grow in fields. It is a gorgeous scene, like in a movie. I bet many travelers are visiting this place and pay a visit for these little wild beauties.

Write A Comment

Pin It

Do you want to join us three around the world?

Join our mailing list to receive updates about our latest adventures!

Thanks for subscribing!