KuzarelSwiss National Park guide
Protection regulations

The rule underneath all the other rules is: stay on the path.

Most Alpine parks manage land actively — thinning forest, culling deer, clearing deadwood. The Swiss National Park has done the opposite since 1914: it left its 170 km² almost entirely alone, on purpose, to run one of the longest-running wilderness experiments in Europe. Every visitor rule exists to protect that experiment, and the strictness surprises people used to more relaxed reserves.

Why the rules are stricter than you'd expect

A normal nature reserve manages a trade-off between recreation and conservation. The Swiss National Park doesn't really make that trade-off — recreation is allowed, but only along a fixed network of marked paths that cover a small fraction of the park's area. Off those paths, the land is treated as a control group: no human movement, no removal of material, no altered wildlife behaviour from dogs or drones. That's the logic behind rules that can otherwise feel arbitrary, like the total dog ban.

Ten questions, checked one at a time

Use the tool below — pick the activity you're planning and get a direct yes or no with the reasoning, not a paraphrase of a brochure.

Is that allowed?

Pick an activity.

Ten of the questions visitors actually ask before a trip, answered straight.

    The full list

    What the park administration actually publishes

    • No Leaving the marked trail, anywhere in the park, for any reason.
    • No Dogs, including on a lead.
    • No Camping, bivouacking, or sleeping outdoors outside Chamanna Cluozza.
    • No Picking plants, collecting rocks, or removing any natural material.
    • No Swimming or wading in streams, rivers, or tarns.
    • No Cycling of any kind on any trail.
    • No Drones or any other flying device.
    • No Campfires or camp stoves.
    • No Hunting, fishing, or feeding wildlife.
    • Yes Photography, packed food eaten on the trail, and hiking with trekking poles.

    Rules are set and enforced by the Swiss National Park administration and can change — this page reflects the published regulations at the time of writing. Confirm anything time-sensitive (seasonal openings, hut booking rules) directly with the park before you travel.