Aabachtobel Hike on a former coal mine site

Posted on May 7, 2020 by wandererya

12km, 2h40m / Horgen – Hegimoos – Steinacher – Au – Horgen

This afternoon we made a pleasant walk into a gorge in Horgen (Aabachtobel). The moist banks of the little stream Aabach were full of bear garlic flowers and distinctive garlic smell was in the air. We made a plan to return next March to collect these fragrant leaves for pesto.

Full of Bärlauch flowers

This gorge used to be a coal mining site. According to the explanation boards along the hike, there are many kilometers of mining tunnels on both sides of the gorge. The only visible evidence is a closed entrance to one of the two main tunnel systems.