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Through the Gorge of the Engelberger Aa

The Engelberger Aa Gorge is located below the village of Engelberg in a steep and narrow section of the valley. The erosion that exists there is quite significant. But I have the impression that since the beginning of the 2000s, this has accelerated because of the floods which are more and more frequent. Indeed, if one looks up the historical maps, one sees that since the 1920s when this path had been laid out for tourists, it had not changed much until the end of the 1990s. The only noticeable change was to avoid the direct crossing of the Trüebenbach by changing the bank just before the mouth of the latter in the Aa of Engelberg and this, at the beginning of the 1960s. However, the path continued to mostly follow the left bank of the Aa. The floods of 2005, with the disastrous consequences they presented, forced a complete renewal of the route. Since that year, the path must be regularly redrawn following major landslides. The latest led to the path starting under the cantonal road, passing between the supporting pillars.

Either way, the Aa Gorge route is a top destination in the Engelberg Mountains.

Here, I had decided to descend them to reach Wolfenschiessen and be able to take the train back to Engelberg. Despite the presence of snow, the course had been without problems, the quantities having fallen having been very modest. As mentioned, one starts by passing under the cantonal road where some aids allow one to pass over the feet of the pillars. It does not take long then to have to descend quite steeply towards the torrent before crossing it on a small footbridge. From this point, the path resumes the original route before crossing the torrent again in two steps, using a rocky island, and reaching the right bank which one follows for a short time. After a new crossing on a suspended footbridge, one finds oneself again on the original route, on the section crossing a rocky outcrop through a tunnel. Lower down, a footbridge allows to cross the torrent again to reach the right bank, which one will only leave after the mouth of the Trüebenbach. If one looks closely at the other bank, one can still see remnants of the old path here and there. After once again changing banks, one reaches a wider path and cross the Aa twice more on wider footbridges, as this section is authorized for bicycles. It is only downstream from the mouth of the Schiessibach that one finds the route as it was at the time.

After crossing a stone bridge, one reaches Obermatt where, until 2010, the service stop of the cogwheel train for Engelberg was located, before it began the climb at 246 per mill. One then had the option of getting on or off the train at this location. When the tunnel was inaugurated, the tracks and the rest area were completely dismantled.

The rest of the hike takes place along good paths, sometimes asphalted before arriving at Wolfenschiessen. Until the end of the 1990s, there was a very beautiful forest under the Reinerz farm. It suffered the destruction of the storm Lothar in 1998, as well as the floods of 2005.

Itinerary: Engelberg – Eugenisee – Saum – Obermatt – Grafenort – Wolfenschiessen
Distance: 14.5km
Altitude gain: 70m
Duration: 4 hours

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