Interregio hiking trail stage 6: Liestal – Aesch

The starting point of the easy hike is the Liestal train station (327 m). Here we find the signpost for the Interregio hiking trail towards Aesch (5h). We follow it to the Weihermätteli animal park, which is freely accessible on the grounds of the Hasenbühl psychiatric clinic. From the "Bintal" location, a short detour to the Roman villa, 5 minutes away, is worth it.

The foundations of the Roman Villa Munzach were excavated in the 1940s. On site, a panel provides information about the former estate. In the nearby Röserental valley, bog iron was mined and smelted in the Middle Ages. Various smelting furnaces and locally forged tools and horseshoes were found.

After the detour, the path gently ascends through the forest to the Sichteren above Sichternhof and further to Pt. 477 at the border to the canton of Solothurn. A beautiful fire pit invites you to rest here and also offers a magnificent view of the Basel-Landschaft Jura heights above Liestal. After the Brunnenbachrain, we pass the village of Nuglar (SO) and climb up to Herrenberg (592 m). Cherry trees bloom here in spring at the edge of the forest. After a descent through the village of Büren (444 m), the path rises again to the wooded Hobelrank and to the residential area Nättenberg, up to the Gempen plateau (709 m), the highest point of the stage.

The village of Hochwald (620 m) is crossed. From the ridge "Uf der Hollen" (699 m) the descent into the Birs valley begins. The hamlet of Herrenmatt already borders the canton of Basel-Landschaft. 300 m south of Herrenmatt, on April 10, 1973, the most serious air accident in Switzerland occurred so far. When a four-engine propeller plane crashed, 108 people were killed and 37 survived in the tail section.

We cross the cantonal border to the Ober Aesch farm (460 m). West of the buildings lie the remains of Castle Bärenfels. It was largely destroyed by the great Basel earthquake of 1356. A narrow path leads up to it from the hiking trail.

High above the Birs towers the Angenstein castle from the 13th century. The gorge near Aesch was always of strategic importance for controlling the Jura region. In World War II, the castle hill was used for a three-story infantry fort, whose access was from the railway tunnel below. It was only in the 1960s during the Cold War that the "castle camouflage" was created, which makes the infantry fort appear as part of the castle above.

The stage destination, the Aesch train station, is reached within minutes.