The circular walk starts at the Riederalp valley station in Mörel at around 770 metres above sea level. From there, walk to the edge of the village and turn off the road onto a small path that climbs steadily and directly. You quickly gain altitude above the quiet valley floor with its dark wooden chalets and the young Rhône. Every now and then, little vistas open up – glimpses down to the village or across to Brig and Grengiols on the opposite side of the valley. The path winds between larch and pine up to about 1,200 metres, then the forest thins and gives way to open pasture slopes. Higher up appears the first hamlet, Betten – a peaceful cluster of old barns and narrow lanes that seems to cling to the hillside.
Beyond Betten, the trail continues uphill through increasingly sparse woodland until the landscape opens out and you reach the edge of Goppisberg: a small village built in terraces, with sweeping views across the Rhône valley and over towards the Aletsch side. We recommend a short detour to Heidi & Rosy’s Beiz: this self-service café on Dorfstrasse is a lovely spot for a break and a bite to eat, with plenty of seating inside and out. Top tip: behind the building, there’s a small outdoor bowling alley that’s perfect for a quick game.
From Goppisberg, the path continues gently upwards on the traverse until the houses of Greich appear – a classic scattered Valais settlement of dark larch wood, sunny courtyards and that special sense of space that only villages at mid-slope possess. The view now stretches far across the Rhône valley and up the terraces towards Riederalp.
The highest point of the walk lies just above at around 1,480 metres – an open shoulder of meadows and scrub below the tree line. After that, the path gradually descends again, leading you back into the forest until the scattered houses of Ried-Mörel come into sight. Here, on a sunny hillside terrace with fine views, tradition and everyday life meet: there are barns, chalets, small gardens, quiet lanes.
Head downhill from here. The descent passes back through the same vegetation zones: first open meadows, then the long shady belt of larch, pine and birch. The closer you get to the valley floor, the more the sounds of the village return, until you once again reach the meadows on the outskirts of Mörel – the point where the loop closes and the mountain behind you falls silent once more.
If you’d like to shorten the walk, you can catch the cable car down from Greich or the gondola from Ried-Mörel – both will bring you comfortably back to Mörel, the village you left hours earlier.
