The Obersee in Arosa: boats, lakeside paths and winter ice
Obersee Arosa is the lake you reach first, a 7.1 hectare sheet of water at 1,734 m that sits directly beside the railway station and about thirteen minutes on foot below Hotel Altein. It is not a wilderness lake and it does not pretend to be one. There is a promenade around part of it, a boathouse on the shore, benches facing the water and a fountain that throws a column of spray up from the middle on summer days. That combination makes it the easiest piece of water in the valley to use, whether you have an afternoon or twenty minutes.
Boats on the water
The boathouse on the shore hires out rowing boats, pedalos and stand up paddle boards through the summer, and the fleet includes Pedro, a boat built so that guests with reduced mobility can get out onto the lake too. Boat hire is covered by the Arosa Card, which hotel guests receive at check in and which runs from 30-05-2026 to 25-10-2026 this year; the card is what the boathouse asks to see. The water is calm enough that children take the pedalos out without much fuss, and from the middle of the lake you get the view back towards the chalets stacked up the forested slope.
The circuit and what sits around it
A level path runs along the lakeside and Arosa Tourismus publishes the loop as a barrier free route, so prams and wheelchairs manage it comfortably, with modern benches set along the promenade. The playground and pump track at Ochsenbühl are a couple of minutes away, as is the ice sports hall, so an hour by the lake tends to turn into two. The Obersee also works as a trailhead: paths from here climb towards the higher lakes and link into the village walk, described in the Arosa village tour, and the flatter routes on the valley floor are covered under nordic walking. Swimming happens at the Untersee rather than here, and that is set out on the swimming page.
Ice in winter
When the cold settles and the snow stays off the surface, the Obersee freezes hard enough to skate on. It does not happen every winter and no operator publishes a season for it, so treat it as a bonus rather than a plan; what natural ice on the lake is like when it arrives is covered on the ice skating recommendation page. Prepared rinks nearby run regardless of the weather, and those are described under open air ice skating.
The Obersee is the part of Arosa you can use without a plan. Walk down after breakfast, take a boat out or simply sit with the fountain in front of you, and come back up to Hotel Altein, a Faern Collection Resort, in time for the spa to open. Reception will tell you whether the boathouse is open and, in winter, whether anyone is skating.