Einsiedler Kretenweg
Description
Pfäffikon on Lake Zurich is the ideal starting point for the tour. From here, take the train via Biberbrugg to Sattel and change to the Hochstuckli train to Mostelberg. The actual ride begins here under your own steam with a moderate asphalt ascent as a warm-up phase. At a hill, a beautiful single trail leads off to the left to Haggenegg, where the scenic attractions of the tour become visible for the first time: A magnificent view of Lake Lucerne and the surrounding Central Swiss Alps. The route continues on a gravel road to Grossbrechenstock, where the main part of the ascent is completed.
The mountain ridge that leads to Einsiedeln forms the basis for the next segment of the tour: a varied singletrail that runs along the entire mountain ridge, with the occasional short, poisonous climb. The trail is generally in the S1/S2 segment, but also includes some S3 sections. The views are breathtaking, with the Glarus Alps to the right and the region around Ägeri to the left. At one point, you can even see Lake Zurich and the city of Zurich. A counter-climb finally leads to the Chlösterli Trail, which descends to the valley floor near Einsiedeln.
The third stage of the tour is the descent to Lake Zurich. You pass Einsiedeln, ride up to the Etzel Pass and then take the legendary single trail down to the shores of Lake Zurich. The descent is in the S2 range with individual S3 sections, but ends with a flowing S1 final section.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
37 km
825 m
1585 m
1 day
Sattel
Pfäffikon SZ
3232
well suited
More information
Various options in Einsiedeln
Pictures from the tour
More tours nearby
User comments (17)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
Up until Saturday morning, I found it to be a bit of a joyless slog (it felt like about 100 pasture fences and lots of “tricky” ramps). The second part of the ride, though, is really fun—it has some serious downhill sections and lots of flow! I’d only ride this route in dry conditions.
Rode this on May 23, 2026. A beautiful ride with amazing views and a fantastic descent toward Einsiedeln. The trails were in good condition.
Sehr schöne Tour. Oben noch ein paar Schneefelder aber dann gehts richtig los. Schöne Trails bis Einsiedeln und runter an den Zürichsee sowiso immer top.
Very nice tour. The panorama is incredibly beautiful! There were a few bikers on the way - bike transport in the gondola lift was no problem. Thank you Ride!
From Sattel valley station to the top relatively easy. A few sliding passages. Down the Clösterlitrail is also not rideable in wet conditions, so much dirt that no tire is visible, slipping, slipping, slipping. Only suitable for e-bikes if the bike can be lifted over the barbed wires. Very time-consuming.
We rode the tour this afternoon. We also chose Rotethurm as the starting point and then pedaled up ourselves.
In total, including short breaks, we needed about 4.5 hours.
Super tour with great trails and views, highly recommended!
Very nice tour! Don't underestimate the time - allow about 6 hours for the whole tour and the bi-bike really gets into your legs. The ridge isn't technically super difficult, but it is rooty, so it's better to put on your protectors (which I didn't do and regretted...). 🩹🤕. The Klösterlitrail is great fun.
Rode today on 31.05. Cool tour. Chlöschzerlitrail still damp in places. Kretenweg dry except for a few small clay puddles. Everything rideable.
Unfortunately only 3 stars from me. The ascent from the saddle is very panoramic, the Kretenweg then unfortunately presents itself as a constant alternation of dense root carpets and deep mud holes. I would agree with the level of difficulty described (S1-S2, with some S3 sections), but the roots and mud holes slow you down so much that you simply don't enjoy it. The descent from the Etzelpass was much more fun.
Perhaps the tour would be worth a try again on a foehny fall day, but not recommended as a spring tour. For me, I'll stick to this one ascent.
We rode the tour this weekend. Really recommended. Super cool trails! From me 5 stars! Thx Ride
Here is the video of the tour
https://youtu.be/QrGGNLjuYKU?si=funCs5SFjpFY-Oed
17.05.2025 Ridden. Great tour! I'll have to revise my opinion of mountain bike tours in Einsiedeln slightly :-)
I rode the tour on 26.04.2025.
As already described, a very nice tour that also works well without an e-MTB and without a train.
Unfortunately, it is currently very wet on the Kretenweg to Einsiedeln section. This makes the roots and stones and the trails rather slippery. Still fun though. I'll do the tour again when it's dry.
Wednesday, 16.04.2025 Cloudy and windy
What an awesome tour! The entire tour is rideable for experienced eMTB cowboys and girls - even if a few tricky uphill and downhill sections require concentration and riding technique. Perfect at this time of year: the pastures are not yet fenced in, so there are no turnstiles or other obstacles.
We had to cross a few snow fields (approx. 10-20 meters) - so good, waterproof footwear is recommended. We didn't meet a soul during the week - wonderfully quiet! Please note: the gondola will be riding again from 18.04., when it is expected to be busier.
The Chlöschterli trail is well maintained and really fun - lots of flow, cleanly built.
Tip: In Einsiedeln, be sure to stop off at the Schefer bakery-pastry shop (right next to the station) - it's worth it!
The section from Entzel down to Pfäffikon SZ is a trail Eldorado - a real joy to ride. By the way, the tip that the trail starts somewhere behind the pyre is worth its weight in gold 😉
Our variant: We parked the car at the train station in Pfäffikon SZ and rode the train to Rothenthurm. From there, it's only 1 km straight ahead - then it's time to walk to Sattel!
Facts about the tour:
️ 1,180 vertical meters uphill
↘️ 1,690 vertical meters downhill
📏 43.8 km total distance
Conclusion: This tour will definitely be ridden again in sunny fall weather!
Rode on 01.11.24 - the decision whether to take the cable car or pedal is taken out of your hands - the cable car is already in mid-season sleep 😂
A decently long tour with uphill pedaling and with the meadow passages and the ups and downs it also gets into your legs. Good opportunity for a stopover in Einsiedeln, push up the Etzel again and enjoy a very, very cool descent to Pfäffikon!
Can only agree with the comment from July 11th. We were on the road with good trail bikes and are not inexperienced with them, but some of the descents were not rideable for us despite the dry conditions. Perhaps the weather had washed out too much since the tour was uploaded here? After all the rain, "S2 with S3 sections" became "S3 with carrying sections" ( S3: https://www.singletrail-skala.de/s3 ). But MTB tours are unpredictable if you don't know the route. Sometimes you're just as slow going down as you are going up. It becomes dangerous when the trail is still described as suitable for CC hardtails 2 months beforehand (comment 20 May). That is almost irresponsible.
About the tour:
The ~30 Stutz for the train from Sattel up can easily be skipped if you ride up on the tarred road to Mostelberg. The ascent is easy and the 400m don't eat up much energy.
The uphill section of the tour often takes you over well-trodden meadows. That costs energy.
The entire route is garnished with countless gates, both uphill and downhill, some of which are too narrow for the bike to get through. Many narrow swing gates. "Only suitable for e-bikes if you can lift the bike over many fences.
Grossbrechestock: be sure to take the small detour around the summit on the right. If you ride straight ahead, you will find yourself in the S4 root-staircase zigzag. Takes a lot of time for the <50m you have to shoulder your bike downhill.
Up to Höch-Tändli the descents are great but definitely often S2+. The last section down to Teuffeli is hard S3. At Teuffeli we missed the path to the right and went straight over the Nüsellstock. Push up and partly push down again until it was rideable again (not recommended). Down to the forest road again rideable but at the end partly blocked and deeply washed out.
Behind the Rucheck, point 1206, we broke off the tour for time reasons and went down via the yellow-white to 'Im Moos'.
The view was great though.
Was on the trail today, the first descent, which is described in the text as S1 or S2, is in my opinion min S4, often had to push the bike. Flowy is different...
Very nice tour, very varied and the two DH trails (Meinrad and Etzel) are great to ride in rather dry conditions, even for us as CC with hardtails. After the Halli-Galli on Hochstuckli, it was surprisingly lonely for a sunny Whit Monday, who would have thought...