Circular route starting from Orschwihr to the Petit Ballon

Start from the car park, Place Saint-Nicolas, on the edge of the Grand Rue, in Orschwihr.

(S/E) Leave the square and head right onto the Grand Rue until you reach Rue du Château d'Eau.

(1) Leave the tarmac and take the track on the right. At the three-way junction, keep left and continue straight on until the junction with Chemin du Nesselwald.

(2) Turn left onto this path and continue to the next junction.

(3) Turn right and carry on straight ahead until you reach the Col de Bannstein.

(4) Cross the road and continue straight ahead (Chemin du Dornsil). Ignore the tracks on the right and head for a four-way junction.

(5) Turn left (Chemin du Dorsnil); at the three-way junction, keep right and, at the junction in the hairpin bend, continue straight ahead to reach a fork.

(6) Turn right (Chemin du Dorsnil) and follow this track to the multi-way junction at Plaine de Rouffach.

(7) Continue left and follow the track to the Col de Boenlesgrab and its lovely farmhouse inn.

(8) Turn right, walk past the inn on your right, then quickly turn onto the track on the left and climb up to the Col du Petit Ballon.

(9) Turn left, pass the Rothenbrunnen Refuge and reach the summit of the Petit Ballon.

(10) Continue downhill to the right and head towards the edge of the forest. Turn left onto the path, leave the forest and cross the meadows (marked with Yellow Rectangles). Ignore the youth hostel on your right and continue along the path, which winds in wide loops and leads to the Col de Boenlesgrab.

(8) Take the track opposite, which you have already used, and head towards the multi-way junction at the Plaine de Rouffach.

(7) Continue along the path opposite and reach a multi-way junction.

(11) Cross the track and continue along the path opposite until you reach a track.

(12) Turn right, then, at the three-way junction, head down to the left. In the valley, ignore the track on the left (Chemin du Gros Rocher) and continue straight ahead (Chemin du Sentier) until you rejoin the route you have already taken.

(5) Head straight ahead (Chemin du Dorsnil) and follow the route back in the opposite direction.

(4) At the Col de Bannstein, continue along the track taken on the way out and head straight across the flat terrain to the end of the plateau, arriving at a fork after a descent.

(3) Leave the route you have already taken and continue to the right. At the Col du Dreibannstein, continue straight ahead, ignoring a track to the right, and you will soon reach a fork.

(13) Turn onto the path on the right (Chemin des Châteaux Forts d'Alsace) and head towards the Roche du Coucou.

(14) Continue downhill to the right until you reach the corner of the vineyards.

(15) Keep to the right and continue straight on, going round the hilltop in a wide curve to the left, then to the right, and reach the first fork at the top of the vineyard.

(16) First turn left then right and, after the hairpin bend, head straight on through the vineyards into Orschwihr. Pass the Town Hall and arrive at the church. Cross the square and turn right downhill, then left at the bottom of Rue du Bois. Continue along the D506 and, at the four-way junction, turn left to quickly reach Place Saint-Nicolas on the right (S/E).

Boenlesgrab farmhouse inn, Strohberg farmhouse inn, Rothenbrunnen mountain refuge.

Route completed by e-MTB.