Sycamore Trail 3 – The Sycamore Avenue in the Rufenen

Behind the Broch hut, proceed on the unsecured path down the slope until you reach the hiking trail and follow it to the left, in northeast direction. In the moment you leave the forest, you see in front the area Rufenen. These terrains are used as pastures for young cattle and belong to the Alp Grindel. In many places the origin of the Sycamore trees on the pastures is unclear. Often the trees were not planted or purposely protected from the cattle. According to oral transmissions the oldest trees in the Reichenbach valley date back to the time before the reformation in Berne (1528). Its origine goes back to the period when the monastery in Interlaken had some influence there, since it possessed alp rights in the Reichenbach valley. From that time comes supposedly the Sycamore avenue in Rufenen, which has been partly preserved until today. The tree-lined road went at that time slightly above the current hiking trail. The lower of the two rows of trees starts above the current path in walking direction. The Sycamore avenue can be seen even more clearly and distinctly by the bird’s eye view.