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Hoellgrotten

See also Lorzentobel

Map: Wanderkarte Zugerland 1:25000
to GPS-Datafiles Download Baar-Hoellgrotten
Baar-Tobelbruecke-Hoellbachtobel-Hoell
Baar-Wildenburg-Egg-Inkenberg-Talacher-Inwil-Baar

 

Hoellgrotten (caves open Easter to fall) km  hrs
Zug - Tobelbruecke (Bus)    
Bus stop-Tobelbruecke-cave entrance 1.5 0.5
Cave exit-Restaurant Hoellgrotten-Baar Brauerei 3.5 1
Baar Brauerei - Zug ( Bus)    

Hoellgrotten: This caves are situated in a romantic little valley. 

How to get there:

Bus 2 (Zug - Menzingen), get off at "Tobelbruecke".

Bus 1 (Zug - Aegeri) or 34 (Local bus Baar-Allenwinden) get off at Moosrank (Restaurant with American/Australian specials, moosrank@swissonline.ch). Follow the main road up to the pedestrian crossing at Bus stop "Tobelbruecke".

private car: you may leave the car on the old road to the old Bridge (closed to cars). Turn left before the pedestrian crossing

As an option you may want to make a short detour (allow 2 hours) to the ruins of little citadel Wildenburg. For that you have to turn right and ascend the nearby hill. It's quite a romantic walk where you will find a small waterfall as well.

Tobelbruecken Two of the three bridge over the gorge of the river Lorze.
In the background is Gubel with nunnery. 

For the caves cross the main road, take the old road on the left (here you find also place for parking the car). 

One Hiking route begins near the parking and runs on the Bitumen road down to the power plant. Nearby a narrow foot path is leading down there too.

Don't miss the walk over the old Tobel bridge, where you get a breathtaking view into the Lorzentobel. There are three generations of bridges. Far below is the hydro power plant and almost under the bridge you are standing on,  you can make out the roof of the old wooden bridge. In the old days, traffic between Zug and Aegeri had to use that wooden bridge. The nearby partly restored little citadel was to safeguard the bridge and to collect taxes. 

At the end of the bridge an unmarked path (danger of rock falls) leads down and on to the caves. The official track is marked at the parking and is using the steep Bitumen road down to the power plant.

The region is very popular on hot summer days. Here it's cool and the nearby river Lorze is a great playground.

Restaurant.jpg (32084 Byte) 200 m after the cave entrance there is a pretty restaurant with garden terrace (closed Mondays). You shouldn't miss a visit. Nearby is a private camping place. - A great spot to be during hot summer days. 

The area is also quite interesting from the point of industrialization. There is a special walking track from Aegeri to Cham with good information's: www.industriepfad-lorze.ch/

For Baar you may follow the river Lorze on a nice forest track. 

After leaving the forest track you cross the river Lorze on a wooden bridge. After crossing the bitumen road the sign leads to a gravel road running along the forest on the backside of the former spinning mill area. 

The homes ( Hoellhaeuser) were built about 140 years ago by the Spinnerei (spinning mill)  for their employees. Only recently the homes were sold to private owners and carefully renovated. Along the walking track, near the main buildings of the old "Spinni" there are boards of the "Industriepfad Lorze" telling about the enterprise.

Walking on we reach the Protestant church. The building of the church was substantially supported by the Spinnerei. The employees from abroad were not catholic, so the first Protestant church was built in Baar in exact graphical line to the building of the Spinnerei.

Another important enterprise was influenced by the Spinni: the brewery. The men got thirsty and it was obvious, that the foreseeable demand would justify the risk. For about 100 years the "Baarer Bier" is being produced under the same family, by obeying German quality standards. Even if you don't care for beer, adjacent to the brewery there is a rare garden restaurant with shady trees.

 

Hoellbachtobel

After crossing the old bow bridge we're choosing the steep road to the left, leading to Edlibach.
Shortly we're in a hilly area. Crossing meadows we reach farm Wulfligen, near the main road Nidfurren-Edlibach.
Following on the trail in respectable distance to the busy road we arrive at Huennlital. By the Guests on a cure in the bath Schoenbrunn, one of the Drumlins was named "Chli Rigi" (Huendliguetsch, 685.550/226.600, Pt 735.0). 
Chli Rigi On a footpath across pastures and passing behind our little Rigi we soon hit Hoellbach. Over the grass-covered bridge a track would go on to Edlibach. We follow the lovely brook on its left side.
"Lovely brook"? With every step we're getting deeper and deeper into the ravine. In Oct 2005 the track was closed. The washed out surface was not the main reason: about halfway the stairs down to the river was gone and the steep descent without is slippery and with almost nothing to hold on.
The walk through the gorge ends near the Restaurant Hoellgrotten.

The caves were detected about hundred years ago, while cutting Tuff stone here for use on the railway line being built. The caves are unique, in that they were not built by dripping water into a cave. They were growing outside and with the time the different stones joined and were covered later on with stones and sand and earth, later with plants.
Actually there are two caves open for inspection. For the second cave, there is a short walk uphill. After leaving the caves you may walk on a parallel road to the one where the cave entrance was. There is an old pumping station along the way. Although very old, it's still pumping drinking water to Zuerich. It's done whiteout external energy, almost as a "perpetuum mobile". See the explanation board.

(Brochure: "Vierteljahresschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zuerich (2000) 145/1: 13-30 Titel: Die Hoellgrotten bei Baar (Kanton Zug) Entstehungsgeschichte und Altersbestimmungen an Quelltuffen, G.Wyssling, Pfaffhausen u. J.Eikenberg, Villigen")

 

Wildenburg

burghuegel.JPG (19555 Byte) Ruin and Waterfall as seen from the bridge "Lorzentobel".
Wildenburg, Inside Inside the 700 year old ruin

The hiking paths are well marked. The track to the ruin and to Allenwinden begins at the Bus stop "Tobelbruecke, Hoellgrotten".
During the ascent, looking back there is a pretty view over Baar and towards the distant hill of "Lindenberg", in some distance "Napf". 

Reaching the top, the path enters the forest. 
After crossing the first wooden bridge we descend down into the gully of Schwarzenbach creek. 
Near the new bridge, the creek is tumbling over a rock wall, forming a pretty waterfall. Watch for the peculiar cut rock under the fall.

wfall.JPG (30780 Byte) Waterfall and new bridge

After climbing the staircase we reach the crossing where to the left we get to the ruin (5 Min), to the right a lovely track runs along the gully to Allenwinden (20 Min).     

Allow about 1 hour for direct access to the ruin and back. 
As an alternative: after visiting the ruin follow the above mentioned track to Allenwinden. From there Buses run to Zug (direct) and Baar (change in Talacher). Walking time about the same.

The origin of the citadel goes back into the 12th century. It was later remodeled and renovated. The use finally was to control the traffic to and from the Aegeri valley and to collect toll.

Lately the ruin and the hill were near destruction. By private initiative the site has been secured and partly renovated.


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