Sargans - Oberschan - Buchs

Sargans, first mentioned in 765, served as the seat of the Counts of Werdenberg-Sargans in the 13th century and was granted town charter in 1337. From the small town, we climb up the stone steps to the castle and follow the meadow path to Retellerstrasse, which we follow uphill to the next hairpin bend. We descend to the hamlet of Vild, where the mine railroad of the Gonzen iron mine, which closed in 1966, left the tunnel. The Marienkapelle chapel, built in 1602, stands directly on the path. We follow the path to the Maiensäss Atscha and the Schollberg quarry. At Chlefibünt, we cross the Trübbach and Luterbach streams and climb up the stony mountain path past the scout home to Böschen and through the Böschenwald forest. Below us are the ruins of Wartau Castle, first mentioned in 1261, which gave the municipality and the landscape its name. The dirt track takes us to Malans and Oberschan. The old building with the bell tower once served as a schoolhouse. We walk past the former small lake in Schaner Riet via Martinis - Plana to Valschnära. Via Hof - Untergass we reach St. Ulrich, a former Walser settlement with well-preserved and partly protected houses. We walk through the beautiful mixed forest to Valcupp and via Rans to the village of Räfis. At the station, we cross the railroad line and walk via Burgerau to the Werdenberg inland canal, which we follow on the left to Buchs railroad station.