Steinhausen in the canton of Zug offers several different ways to enjoy a stay: a large recreational forest with a special nature trail, local festival traditions and traces of a long history. Depending on your interests, you can focus on nature, outdoor activities or culture during your time in the municipality.

Forest, trails and a special nature trail

Steinhauser Wald covers 70 hectares, almost one seventh of Steinhausen’s area. According to the cantonal forest development plan, it is classified as a recreational forest. Facilities in the forest include picnic and fire sites and a Vita Parcours fitness trail; there is a playground by the forest lake. The walk through Steinhauser Wald is suitable for the whole family and can also be done with a pushchair. This makes the walk a good option in its own right, alongside other ways to enjoy the forest, such as the playground or fitness trail.

The Bodenpfad Steinhauserwald trail offers a special focus: it is Switzerland’s largest outdoor environmental education programme on the subject of soil. Anyone interested in soil and environmental education will find a clear focus here that goes beyond an ordinary walk in the woods. Together with its designated recreational facilities, this thematic offering makes Steinhauser Wald an important local recreation area.

Festivals and Carnival

The waldstock - open air spektakel is also part of Steinhausen’s regular cultural life. Every year, the festival takes place over three days in a meadow on the edge of Steinhauser Wald. Music, film, acrobatics and parties shape the programme. If you would like to combine your stay with the festival, check the dates for the relevant year before planning your trip around it.

Another local tradition is Steinhausen Carnival. The Steigrind originated in the 1970s, when the school and its teachers revived the street Carnival in Steinhausen, which had previously died out. A Carnival leader is elected: the Steivater or Steimutter. This person leads Carnival for a year; Jakob Fähndrich was the first to hold the office, in 1985. The origins of the Steigrind and the annually changing leader show two different sides of the same tradition: its revival and its continuing organisation.

Local history and geographical orientation

A church in Steinhausen is first documented in a deed from 1173 as the property of St. Blasien Abbey in the Black Forest. The Chilematt centre also has its own architectural history: Ernst Gisel built it between 1978 and 1981 as a pioneering project. The Chilemattgarten provides a place for people of different generations to meet; use of the garden is free. History, architecture and community use thus offer further points of interest during a stay, alongside the forest and festival culture.

Steinhausen is a small, modern municipality in the canton of Zug. Its population in 2018 is given as approximately 10,000. Steinhausen borders Zug to the south, Baar to the east and Cham to the west. To the north lies the canton of Zurich, with the municipalities of Knonau and Kappel am Albis. Its elevation can also be precisely described: the lowest point is 417 m above sea level at the southern tip, about 500 m from Lake Zug. The highest point is 529 m above sea level at Dreimarchen in the northernmost part. This gives an overview of the municipality’s elevation range without implying that Steinhausen is directly on the lake.

Discover more destinations: Baar, Menzingen, Cham, Neuheim, Zug, Oberägeri, Walchwil, Risch.

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