125 Mountain
Passes.
One Long Ascent.

FEATURED PASS

Oberricken

CH 🏔️ St. Gallen / St. Gallen 906 m 3

The Oberricken, at 906 metres, is the gentle, secret twin of the busy Rickenpass. Where the main Ricken road has been built up into a through-route so heavy with cars, motorbikes and lorries that cycling it is downright dangerous, the Oberricken is a quiet by-road, climbing from St. Gallenkappel through the hamlets of Rüeterswil and Walde to the village of Ricken – a lovely detour, with fine views, especially on the western side, over Lake Zürich, the Linth plain and the Glarus Alps. And it is old and holy, for the little road follows the Way of St. James, the pilgrim route toward Santiago de Compostela. That pilgrim thread runs all through it. St. Gallenkappel at its foot recalls Gallus – the wandering Irish monk whose name the canton and its great abbey bear – in both its church and its coat of arms, and walkers pause at the Jakobskapelle in nearby Neuhaus before the climb. On the descent toward Wattwil the way passes the Iburg and the former Capuchin convent of St. Maria der Engel. Today the Oberricken is a peaceful favourite of cyclists, who wisely take this winding green back road rather than the roaring main pass – a quiet shelf of pastures, pilgrims and wide western views.

From Wattwil, SG