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Landschaftspark Binntal -
The hike or bike tour starts from the village of Binn, famous for its minerals, in the heart of the Binntal landscape park. The path leads from the church down to Ze Binne and the Twingischlucht, once the centrepiece of the trade route from Grengiols to Binn and over the Albrun pass to Italy. Binn has only been reachable the whole year round since 1964, when the 2-km tunnel was built.
The tunnel portal is reached with the historic road high over the wild romantic gorge. The trail now descends to the Schärtbrigga (Roman Bridge). On the other side you go up through the tranquil forest to the «auf dem Blatt» chapel. The path continues to the picturesque hamlets of Hockmatta and Weiler where there is a monument commemorating a huge avalanche, which in 1904 destroyed the hamlet of Mühlebach and swept 13 people to their deaths.
You shortly arrive at the village of Grengiols, which is famous for its unique wild tulip that blooms every May in the fields.
Under the church of Binn the trail leads in the direction of Ze Binne and Twingischlucht gorge. At the tunnel portal Steinmatten at the end of the gorge there is a bike track going down to the Roman bridge (Schärtbrigga), then the track goes up to the hamlet Hockmatta and Bächerhischere , and finally Grengiols.
This deep gorge used to be a difficult passage in the trade route over the Albrun pass to Italy. Today the old track with small natural rock tunnels and rare flowers offers a spectacular landscape experience.
The attractively situated hamlet of Hockmatta was first mentioned in 1393 and stands on a once-busy track from Grengiols to Albrun. The few residential and utility buildings encompass an square-like interior, and there is a chapel on its west edge.
The hotel was built 125 years ago for English visitors - Winston Churchill also stayed in the Binn Valley in 1897.
The botanist Eduard Thommen described them as an independent species. "Tulipa grengiolensis" has been considered since then as a unique species of tulip that only grows in Switzerland. It flowers only in the village of Grengiols and its surroundings.
