The
Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the
Canton of Bern 
, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Valais, Fribourg and Vaud, the latter being usually named
Fribourg Alps and
Vaud Alps respectively. The highest mountain in the range, the
Finsteraarhorn 
, is also the highest point in the canton of Bern.
The Rhône valley separates them from the Chablais Alps in the west and from the Pennine Alps in the south; the upper Rhône valley separates them from the Lepontine Alps to the southeast; the
Grimsel Pass 
and the Aare valley separates them from the Uri Alps in the east, and from the
Emmental Alps 
in the north; their northwestern edge is not well defined, describing a line roughly from Lake Geneva to Lake Thun. The Bernese Alps are drained by the river Aare and its tributary the Saane in the north, the Rhône in the south, and the Reuss in the east.
The Bernese Alps are amongst the three highest major subranges of the Alps, together with the Pennine Alps and the Mont Blanc massif.