Unlike the U.S., Switzerland only has one National Park, however it’s easier to understand because it has about a sixth of Colorado’s land mass. (Population is ~8 million to Colorado’s ~5 million). Just think of Estes’ Rocky Mountain National Park as a sole comparison to Switzerland. Rocky Mountain National Park is six times the Swiss park.

  
Established in 1909 and added on to several times it serves as a preserve for a number of animals that had earlier been hunted to extinction. Somewhat like our Wilderness areas they prohibit any human changes to the region and more prohibitively restrict all access to very few specific trails (leaving the trail is verboten). They even have designated rest stops, where yellow topped posts cordon off a half-football field for lunch stops, prolonged resting and viewing wildlife.

  
It’s not quite like Estes Park where herds of elk hang out in meadows, but it is possible to view Ibex and Chamois in their natural settings. We got the feeling it was more like their home and we were on parade up and down those specific trails.

  
Five days was our schedule in the park with one loop, one two-day trek with a stop at the only hut in the entire National Park, another single day loop and then an exit over and out of the park thru a Middle Ages mining district. 

  Their park is quite popular and this is where we’ve seen the most people hiking the same trails as us. One remarkable thing we learned was that their are very few English speaking hikers and even fewer Americans visiting the park. 

  All signage is in three languages and none of them are English; if there is a fourth it’s Romansch.  Fortunately my German has served us well.