Around the lakes from Rimbach near Masevaux

Go to Rimbach-près-Masevaux. Opposite the church, park in the well-equipped car park reserved mainly for hikers.

(S/E) When leaving the car park, turn left and then immediately right at the corner of the cemetery (yellow signpost). Climb the steep path to the T-junction.

(1) Turn right. Follow the path above the houses, which leads to the centre of the village near the Auberge du Touriste.

(2) Turn left onto the tarmac road (Rue du Belacker). Stay on this road until you reach a fork. Continue left onto Rue du Sternsee, towards Lac des Perches. You will come to another fork.

(3) Turn left (marked with a blue triangle and yellow ring). Pass by the municipal water reservoir, ignore the turnings on the left and you will come to another fork in the road.

(4) Take the right-hand path towards Lac des Perches via Reisenwald, still following the yellow ring and blue triangle markings. Cross the stream via the footbridge. The path leads to the access road to the Reisenwald farmhouse inn. Turn left for a short distance.

(5) At the entrance to the forest in the left-hand bend, take the path on the right which climbs steeply, marked with a blue triangle, with scree on either side, the remains of the glacial moraine of the Doller valley. Continue to the first crossroads.

(6) Climb the path on the left, marked with a blue triangle. The slope is steep (average 17%). You will reach a crossroads in the form of a small, slightly sloping square.

(7) Turn left (no signpost) and cross the stream. The slope becomes gentler and there are some beautiful views of Rimbach. When you reach the top of a rock, which has no name, there is an amazing view of the valley. Find a blue triangle signpost on a flat area and continue on to Lac des Perches.

(8)Nestled in its glacial setting with scree all around, the site is worth a stop.
Continue to the right along the shore, cross the weir to reach the dyke. Retrace your steps a little. After the wooden footbridge, turn left and follow the path that climbs steeply to the bottom of the cirque (marked with blue rectangles on the GR® 531). The climb is relatively short (10 to 15 minutes) but steep, along a path marked with cables, and leads to the large crossroads at Col des Perches.

(9) Take the path marked with a red rectangle for the GR® 5, towards Ballon d'Alsace, which you will follow to Haute-Bers. This section of the trail is superb but technical, crossing scree and rubble. Footbridges and cables secure the tricky passages over the precipices.
The views of Lake Perches and the valley are breathtaking, especially in spring with its mix of different shades of green.
After this section, the trail continues through the forest, where keen-eyed walkers may spot a chamois, and leads to the stubble fields of Haute Bers, a large meadow bordered by blueberry bushes and heather.

(10) At the crossroads with the trail that goes from Rouge Gazon to Neuweiher, marked with a blue and white rectangle and equipped with a cast iron sign surprisingly similar to those that marked local roads in centuries past. Continue straight ahead. A little further down on the left is the Haute Bers Refuge with its green roof:ideal for a snack break, either at the outdoor table offering a view of the Alsace plain or inside in case of bad weather.

(11) After your break, walk down the meadow, with your back to the chalet, to reach the forest.

(12) Take the small path marked with a blue and white rectangle on the right towards Neuweiller via Seppiweg and Chemin de Joseph (whose statue you will see a little further down), which leads through the fir trees to a good track. The descent is gentle, with wide curves, to a crossroads with a footbridge.

(13) Continue straight ahead for a good hundred metres until you reach the statue of Saint Joseph (patron saint of woodcutters).
Retrace your steps.

(13) Turn right and cross a stream on the metal footbridge marked with a red ring around the lake. After a short climb, you will reach the viewpoint overlooking the lakes.

(14) Follow the path, which is a little difficult in places due to the rocks. Reach the junction with the GR®531 Rectangle Bleu

(15) Continue downhill to the right. At the bottom, turn right between two large rocks to reach the Grand Neuweiher lake dyke.

(16) At the end of the dam, near the information board, continue straight ahead and cross the bridge over the spillway to reach a crossroads.

(17) Climb up to the left, still following the blue rectangle markings. Cross the access path to the refuge and you will soon come to a large crossroads.

(18) At the top of the last small climb of the day, leave the GR® trail climbing to the right and follow the forest road marked with blue crosses. After a few hundred metres, leave the road and follow a path on the left, still marked with blue crosses, which leads to the pastures of the Gresson Bas farm.

(19) Cross the stream on the footbridge next to the ford and follow the path on the left across the meadow. The markings are now doubled with a Blue Triangle, pointing towards Oberbruck and Ermensbach. The path enters the forest and then leads to the access road to the farm. Leave the Blue Cross markings, turn right and take the path on the left that descends (Blue Triangle markings). It is quite difficult going over the stones and leads to a beautiful road at the hamlet of Ermensbach.

(20) Turn right and follow the road to the Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Secours chapel.

(21) Immediately after the chapel, take the lane on the left marked with a yellow easel and then turn right. The street continues along a path that crosses the meadows and overlooks the village. You will reach a crossroads with a bench.

(22) Continue straight ahead through the pasture and return to the crossroads above the church.

(1) Take the path on the right that you climbed on the way up to reach the car park opposite the church (S/E).

Club Vosgien signposts

Parking is prohibited in the village. You must use the car park opposite the church.
The section of the GR® 5 above Lac des Perches may be difficult for people who are sensitive to heights and vertigo.
The Hautes Bers shelter is equipped with tables and benches inside and outside. Stove. Water point nearby.
The Grand Neuweiher inn/refuge is open from mid-March to November, depending on the weather. Tel. 0389820209 for meal and accommodation reservations.

(8) Lac des Perches (Sternsee):a glacial lake raised in the 16th century to supply water to the forges and then to a textile factory until 1960. With a surface area of 4.50 hectares and a depth of 17 metres, this lake has a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres, of which 200,000 cubic metres are usable.

(16) Neuweiher Lakes:these two lakes are also glacial in origin and were raised by the construction of dykes in the 16th century to provide hydraulic power to the forges and factories in the valley. In 1810, Joseph Zeller, a manufacturer in Oberbruck, became the owner and raised the dyke.
The water rushed into a penstock supplying the Zeller factories in Oberbruck. The large lake has a surface area of 5 hectares and a depth of 12.40 metres, containing 400,000 cubic metres of water. The small lake measures only 1.1 hectares with a depth of 4.50 metres. Over the course of their history, the original dams were abandoned and the lakes were drained. The site was then used for agriculture, with the construction of a farm whose ruins are still visible when the lake level is very low. The dams were rebuilt in 1858. For safety reasons, the dykes were rebuilt in 2007.

(21) Ermensbach Chapel:chapel built in 1840 by the inhabitants of Ermensbach (date on the door); it was restored in 1860 and 1928. It became a pilgrimage chapel in 1882 when an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and a letter of indulgence from Pope Leo XIII were brought back from Rome.