Dent Blanche, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa: this glaciated mountain landscape of breathtaking beauty extends into the Valais Alps. A renowned tourism region, it is a particularly popular location for hiking, winter sport and Alpine touring (Haute Route).

It would be difficult to find someone in Switzerland who does not know the Matterhorn – at least by name. In reality, however, many Swiss people have never seen it and these people are usually rather embarrassed when visitors rave about what is probably Switzerland’s most famous mountain.

The Matterhorn was conquered for the first time in 1865. An estimated 3,000 mountaineers try to climb the “Hore” every year.

With the Dent Blanche, the Matterhorn and the Monte Rosa massif (to which Switzerland’s highest mountain belongs, the 4634-metre-high Dufourspitze), there are several ‘four-thousanders’ in this part of the Valais Alps.

The Gornergrat, which is accessed by a mountain railway, provides a particularly beautiful view of the breathtaking mountain vista. An international high altitude research station is located on the Gornergrat.

Thanks to the “Haute Route”, the classic Alpine touring route, the entire area is also an Eldorado for skitourers.

Nature reserves and landscape protection areas
A large part of this area is listed, inter alia, in the following federal inventories:

• Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN object no 1707 “Dent Blanche - Matterhorn - Monte Rosa”)
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• Interactive map browser displaying the object included in the BLN (available in German and French)
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Other links

• All of the federal Swiss inventories can be displayed on an interactive map using this map browser (available in German and French)
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• Detailed information on the effects of outdoor sport and leisure activities on nature (available in German and French)
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• Further information on the Matterhorn on the Zermatt Tourism website
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• Information on the high altitude research station Gornergrat
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