Switzerland's federal court has ruled that local authorities can impose fines on people hiking nude in the Alps, the BBC reports.
The court threw out an appeal by a man who was fined after hiking past a family picnic area with no clothes on.
Judges said the eastern canton (region) of Appenzell had been entitled to uphold a law on public decency.
They said the ban on naked hiking was only a marginal infringement on personal freedom.
"It is not overly high-handed to qualify naked hiking as a breach of decency customs," the court said in a statement.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says naked hiking is an increasingly popular pastime in Switzerland.
However, Appenzell is a deeply devout and conservative canton – it only granted women the right to vote in 1990 – and the influx of naked hikers has offended many local people, she adds.
The new ruling applies to the entire country.
