When you live in the city of Zug, or are there for a visit, running along the shores of Lake Zug towards Cham, a municipality to the northwest in the canton of Zug, is arguably one of the two nicest routes to follow.

You’ll be rewarded for your efforts every step of the way with views of the lake itself, the city nestled against the slopes of Zugerberg (an elevation of 1039m that is generously called a mountain) and several other towns and villages dotted along the shore to the backdrop of three close-by well-known mountains. Two rise in the southwest – Pilatus and Buergenstock – and Rigi in the south, and between them the snow-covered peaks of the Bernese Alps will be visible on a fine day.

Personally I believe the bird eye’s view from the top of Zugerberg still beats the panorama from the lakeshore by a narrow margin. But as I don’t manage a run with a 500m-elevation gain several times a week, I run along the lake and feel I pretty much know every nook and corner of the shared bicycle and pedestrian trail between Zug and Cham by now.

Yet I still haven’t tired of the views as the scenery and panorama change dramatically with the seasons. In summer the Badis (swimming areas at the lake) are packed, paddleboats bob up and down on the lake and the slopes running down to the water are covered with greenery almost all the way to the mountaintops.

That is without doubt the time when I enjoy this route the most, closely followed by autumn when the hillsides blaze in the bold hues of Indian summer.

It’s a pity that Zug is often besieged by fog in the winter months but I’ve found that the heavy mist lingers at the foot of Zugerberg and will often clear halfway to Cham. From the old town of Zug follow the route along Neustrasse and Vorstadt until you see a playground on your right.

Continue on Chamerstrasse heading northwest for 900m where a small road, Chamer Fussweg, forks off to the left and a sign points towards Strandbad Zug. The popular lido is free of charge and borders on a campsite that fills up with campers overnight on opening day in March who stay for half a year and disappear just as suddenly at the end of season. I always read their departure as a very sad sign that summer has come to an abrupt end and indeed the days are noticeably shorter by that time.

The train track to Lucerne runs alongside the trail to its right but you’ll mostly see local trains passing at comfortable speeds. If you happen to pick Wednesday for a run don’t worry about the sound of frequent gunshots. There’s an outdoor shooting range (on which cows graze but I’ve never seen one drop dead) just after Chollermüli train station and practice is on Wednesdays.

The path is flat throughout except for a tiny elevation in Cham that always seems unreasonably steep to me, before a beautiful wooden Swiss chalet comes up on the right, built in the traditional architecture style with rosebushes in front. Down the other side of that small hill lie the Badi of Cham and Vignette Park that are gorgeous places to swim, picnic, and relax.

If you don’t give into the temptation to plunge into the lake, you’ll pass by Cham train station shortly afterwards and follow an ivy-clad wall to your right. Just when a garden plot comes into view, you’ll come upon the largest collection of garden gnomes and similar figurines. I’m not a great fan of figurines of any kind myself, but it appears that some families with small children specifically visit this colony of garden gnomes on their Sunday outings.

It’s possible to continue much further on this path towards Arth but on most runs I turn back just up the road from the tennis courts in Hünenberg. If you enjoy the lake views on this run, I can thoroughly recommend a bike ride circuiting the lake.