Via Capricorn

«Igl datgea digl Capricorn» – this is the home of the ibex, and the Via Capricorn takes you right there. To be more precise, the trail leads from Wergenstein to the Carnusa and Glas Pass and into the Safien Valley, before returning via Alperschälli. Here, in the heart of Beverin Nature Park, around Piz Beverin, lies the federal no-hunting protected area, which hosts the Safien-Rheinwald ibex colony, numbering around 350 animals.

For centuries, the Glas Pass was the most important connecting route for the inhabitants of the Safien Valley. Only when the road from Thalkirch to Versam was constructed in 1885 could the valley be accessed from the north. The old connections with Thusis and the international transit routes waned in importance. The Safien Valley is one of the most pristine regions of Switzerland. The typical scattered settlements of the Walsers have been pre-served to this day, and their solitary, sun-browned wooden houses can be seen on the slopes, spaced far apart from one another.

From the Safien Valley the Via Capricorn leads via Alperschälli and the Farcletta digl Lai Grand up towards the Alp Anarosa, a peak steeped in legend. It continues past the stunning tarns of Lai Grand and Lai Pintg. You return to Wergenstein via one of the highest Alpine meadow and moorland landscapes in the Swiss Alps, taking in the Curtginatsch and Nurdagn alps.