Wildhaus Pass

Wildhaus (High Alemannic: Wildhuus) is a village and former municipality in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, since 2010 by merger with Alt St. Johann part of the municipality of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann. The reformer Huldrych Zwingli was born in Wildhaus in 1484. His birth house can still be visited.

Schwendisee is a small lake above Wildhaus on the slopes of the Churfirsten, in Toggenburg, Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Besides the main lake (Vorderer Schwendisee), there is a smaller lake nearby (Hinterer Schwendisee). Sediment cores from the lakes have been studied and provide a record of the climate of the last 600 years.Schwendisee is a combination of two words - ‘Schwendi’ and ‘see’ where Schwandi refers to the glacier that melted about 1,400 years ago to form the lakes and ‘see’ translates to lake in English. The elevation of the lake is about 1,150 metres above sea level. Schwendisee is nestled in moorland where the waterbody is divided into the front Schwendisee and the rear Schwendisee separated by strip of forest. The larger Vorderer Schwendisee is open to visitors for fishing, swimming and hiking. It is about 250m long and 150m wide. A broadwalk extends to the middle of the lake to allow visitors to enter the water. Both lakes are surrounded by dense reeds and marshes and also have small creeks feeding the flora. Visitors can find barbeque facilities at either side of the lake and the Hotel Seegüetli on the northern end of the lake.

The Thur waterfalls are two cascades located on the river Thur approximately ten minutes walking from the village square of Unterwasser in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, The water cascades down from steep rock faces, and on highest point drops from 23 metres (75 ft). The road along the waterfalls was developed in 1927 and includes three observation decks.

Unterwasser (English: Underwater) is a village in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, situated at the confluence of the two streams forming the upper Thur (known as Säntisthur and Wildhausthur). Formerly part of Wildhaus municipality, it has since 2010 been part of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann by merger of Wildhaus and Alt St. Johann. It is a relatively small ski resort, and many of its trails are shared with nearby Wildhaus. Iltiosbahn, a funicular leads to Iltios and the aerial cableway to Chäserrugg. The toponym was first recorded in the 15th century as under dem Wasser , or "below the water". Its population was 685 as of 2010 (down from 751 in 1990; historical population: 81 in 1827). The village was owned by the counts of Montfort in the earlier Middle Ages, later by St. Johann Abbey, and after 1555 by St. Gall Abbey. Ski jumper Simon Ammann — winner of four gold medals in the 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics, and World Champion 2007 — comes from Unterwasser.

At 2,501.9 metres (8,208 ft) above sea level, Säntis is the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland. It is also the culminating point of the whole Appenzell Alps, between Lake Walen and Lake Constance. Shared by three cantons, the mountain is a highly visible landmark thanks to its exposed northerly position within the Alpstein massif. As a consequence, houses called Säntisblick (English: Säntis view) can be found in regions as far away as the Black Forest in Germany. Säntis is among the most prominent summits in the Alps and the most prominent summit in Europe with an observation deck on the top. The panorama from the summit is spectacular. Six countries can be seen if the weather allows: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, and Italy.

The Säntis transmitter is a 123.5 m (405.3 ft) high transmitting station on the summit of the 2,502 m (8,209 ft) high Säntis mountain in Switzerland. It is operated by Swisscom.The original microwave station (a barrack with wooden antenna trestles) was built in 1955, but because Säntis is directly exposed to north-western weather the unprotected microwave radio antennae regularly iced up in winter. It was therefore decided to rebuild the station and to shield the antennae with polyurethane panels. This gives the station its unique "look", the bubbles one can see on the left part of the photograph. With over 100 strikes per year, the tower is considered to be amongst the constructs most frequently hit by lightnings.

The Alpstein are a subgroup of the Appenzell Alps in Switzerland. The Alpstein massif is in Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. Despite it being rather low when compared to other Alpine peaks – the highest mountain is the Säntis at 2502 metres – the Alpstein, due to their northern "outpost" position only a short distance from Lake Constance (nearly 30 km) are relatively tall when compared to the surrounding area. The range also includes the Altenalp Türm as the northernmost summit above 2,000 metres in Switzerland.

The Grenzchopf (2,193 m) is a mountain of the Appenzell Alps, overlooking the Schwägalp Pass on the border between the Swiss cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. Located 2 kilometres west of the Säntis, the Grenzchopf is one of the highest summits of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. It is also its southernmost point.

Voralpsee is a lake above Grabs in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Chäserrugg (or Käserrugg) is a mountain in Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann municipality, Toggenburg, canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, rising to 2,262 m. It is the easternmost of the "seven peaks" of the Churfirsten, the other six being, running east to west, Hinterrugg (2,306 m), Schibenstoll (2,234 m), Zuestoll (2,235 m), Brisi (2,279 m), Frümsel (2,263 m), Selun (2,205 m). In spite of its being counted among the "seven peaks", it has a modest prominence of just 14 m, forming part of the ridge ascending to Hinterrugg. Part of Toggenburg's ski resort, it is reached from Unterwasser (911 m) by Iltiosbahn, a funicular opened 1934 to Iltios (1,339 m), and from there by aerial lift (opened 1972). The mountain's name translates to "cheesemaker's ridge" and is properly the name of the ridge ascending towards it from the north, beginning at Ruggschöpf at about 1,800 m and was only transferred to the "peak" when the "seven Churfirsten" were systematized in the late 19th or early 20th century; in the 19th century, there was also a fashion of etymologizing the name of the Churfirsten range as Kurfürsten "prince-electors", which occasionally inspired a name variant Kaiserruck "emperor's back" for Chäserrugg.

The Hinterrugg (or Hinderrugg) is the highest peak of the Churfirsten group, located in the Appenzell Alps. It overlooks the town of Walenstadt and the lake in the canton of St. Gallen. The summit is easily accessible via the Chäserrugg cable car station (2,262 metres), above Unterwasser in Toggenburg. The Hinterrugg is a well-known location for BASE jumping.