Guttannen → Filisur via Susten, Oberalp, Ruinaulta
From: Guttannen (46°33′ N, 8°17′ E). To: Filisur (46°40′ N, 9°40′ E). Distance: 145 km. Drive time: four to five hours, plus at least one hour at the Ruinaulta.
This route runs from the Bernese Oberland into Graubünden — east over the Susten and the Oberalp, through the Surselva, past the Vorderrhein gorge, down into the Albula valley. It isn't the fastest connection between the two regions — the motorway over the Walensee is half an hour shorter — but it's the only one that goes through the gorge.
We drove it in July 2020, the day after the three passes. A second long day — this time not from necessity, but because the Ruinaulta wanted to be seen.
Guttannen → Andermatt via Susten · 50 km
The Susten Pass from the west is the other half of the three-passes tour: yesterday's return is today's setting out. You know the road now — the hairpins, the galleries, the watershed at the top. In Andermatt, turn east onto the Oberalp road.
Andermatt → Oberalp Pass → Disentis · 36 km
The Oberalp Pass (2,044 m) is lower than yesterday's passes but has a different character: wider, more open, with a rail line parallel to the road. The Glacier Express crosses here — a railway at 2,044 metres.
East down to Disentis. The Surselva begins here — the upper Rhine valley, linguistically Romansh territory, geographically an open valley width. The road is broad and unpretentious.
Disentis → Ilanz · 38 km
The Surselva drives easily — wide road, moderate traffic, open valley. The place names change in a rhythm of about ten kilometres: Trun, Tavanasa, Cumbel, Castrisch. At Ilanz, the first town on the Vorderrhein, the route enters a different topography: the valley narrows, the rock walls grow higher, the river runs deeper.
Ilanz → Reichenau via the Ruinaulta · 18 km
The Ruinaulta — Switzerland's Grand Canyon — formed nine thousand years ago when half a mountain at Flims slid into the Rhine valley. Several billion cubic metres of rock. The river has been cutting through since, carving a gorge whose walls run 350 metres vertical.
The main road runs above the gorge, not in it. To see the gorge you have to stop — the two classic points are the Il Spir viewpoint near Conn and the Versam-Trin station, where the Rhaetian Railway halts on the gorge side.
We stop at the Conn car park, walk the ten minutes to the Il Spir platform, stand three minutes at the railing.
Reichenau → Filisur via the Albula valley · 25 km
At Reichenau the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein meet; from here on the river is simply called the Rhine. The road east enters the Albula valley, which climbs south parallel to the Bernina Railway. At Tiefencastel the route turns toward Filisur — the last twelve kilometres in a tighter valley, then the village.
Filisur has a station, a few houses, a pitch that costs nothing. Exactly what we were looking for.
Closing
Tank in Andermatt or Disentis — nothing in between. Plan a short stop at the Ruinaulta, not a long one — the gorge carries best in ten minutes. In summer Conn can get busy; early or late in the day is quieter.