Galtz loop via Trois-Épis, Wineck Castle from Ammerschwihr

Departure from Ammerschwihr, a famous village in the Alsatian vineyards, crossing the Ammerschwihr golf course and climbing to the Roche du Corbeau before crossing the Trois-Épis health resort and climbing to the Galtz monument, the Alsatian Corcovado. The return to Ammerschwihr is via the Château du Wineck (near Katzenthal) and the famous Kaefferkopf grand cru vineyard.
This hike offers the chance to discover varied landscapes, from high-altitude forests to grand cru vineyards, passing by magnificent viewpoints such as the Rocher du Corbeau and the Galtz, and the ruins of the old hamlet of Meywihr near Ammerschwihr, which also has a rich historical heritage.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 16.17 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 541 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 548 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 728 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 239 m

Description of the walk

Car park at the Porte Haute in Ammerschwihr.

(S/E) From the car park, cross the Walbach stream.

(1) At the bridge, turn left immediately afterwards and follow the red and yellow signposts. Follow the Wallbach stream to the Labaroche road.

(2) At the crossroads, turn left, cross the stream, then turn right. Continue straight ahead, climbing the road until you reach the junction with Allée du Golf.

(3) Turn right towards the entrance to Ammerschwihr golf course. Cross the golf course entrance, continue straight ahead, pass in front of the clubhouse, then after the car park, turn right (red signpost) and follow the dirt track which crosses the greens several times and intersects with several concrete paths. Please note that there are no signposts within the golf course). You will reach a road.

(4) Follow it to the left for about 200 m until you reach a bend in the road on the left, where you will find the start of a path on the right.

(5) Turn onto this marked path which climbs into the forest (Red Cross markings).

(6) At the junction of marked paths, take the left-hand path (marked with a blue cross). Cross a forest track and continue to the next junction of marked paths.

(7) Turn right onto the Blue Ring marked trail. A few dozen metres before the trail reaches a ridge, turn left (same markings). Arrive at the Roche du Corbeau open shelter with a view of the Galtz monument.

(8) Continue straight ahead to reach a forest path. At the next main crossroads, go straight ahead following the Anneau Rouge marked trail and ignore the marked trail on the left.

(9) At the edge of the forest, head towards the Church of the Annunciation and the private spiritual garden on the left.

(10) Cross this pleasant garden and join the path bordering the car park near the Trois-Épis Post Office on the right. Continue to the next crossroads.

(11) Turn left, follow the street towards the cemetery and arrive at the town exit sign.

(12) Take the marked path on the right that passes under the Convalescence establishment. The path crosses a track (marked with a blue disc). You will reach a crossroads of marked paths near a shelter.

(13) Pass in front of the shelter and follow the easier Yellow Ring marked trail, which winds its way up to the Galtz monument.

(14) You can climb up to thefirst-floor terrace to enjoy the view. Descend a few metres along the path you came up and turn left (marked with a blue disc). Ignore the two marked paths leading off to the left, then the one coming from the right and another coming from the left to reach a fork.

(15) Continue along the marked path to the right, then in the vineyard, turn right towards Château du Wineck and go around the castle on the left to reach the castle entrance.

(16) Continue passing below the fortified wall and go to the first crossroads.

(17) Turn left downhill and continue through the vineyard. Ignore the cross paths through the vineyard and continue to a right-hand bend, at the junction with a wide lane.

(18) Follow this lane to the left, then keep left and enter the woods. At the edge of the woods, continue to the junction with a path on the left between the rows of vines.

(19) Follow the path on the left until you reach the next crossroads of vineyard paths. Turn left, then immediately right. At the next crossroads, continue straight ahead northwards to reach the Saint Léger Chapel.

(20) Pass the chapel and turn right, then immediately left. Continue north and enter the village. Pass the town hall and the Church of Saint-Martin. Continue to the Wallbach stream.

(21) Turn left before the stream and follow it. You will arrive at No. 15 Rue du Four.

(22) Turn left, then right to the Jardin des Vignes, which you must cross before reaching the starting car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 253 m - Ammerschwihr Porte Haute car park - Walbach (ruisseau) - Affluent de la Weiss
  2. 1 : km 0.08 - alt. 245 m - Bridge over the Walbach
  3. 2 : km 0.91 - alt. 267 m - Crossroads between path and road
  4. 3 : km 1.13 - alt. 285 m - Crossroads with access road to the golf course
  5. 4 : km 2.92 - alt. 342 m - Crossroads between marked trail and road
  6. 5 : km 3.14 - alt. 351 m - Crossroads with marked trail
  7. 6 : km 3.7 - alt. 433 m - Marked trail junction
  8. 7 : km 4.94 - alt. 599 m - Marked trail junction
  9. 8 : km 5.56 - alt. 671 m - Roche du Corbeau (open shelter) point 673
  10. 9 : km 7.38 - alt. 673 m - Church of the Annunciation, garden of spirituality
  11. 10 : km 7.78 - alt. 652 m - End of the spirituality garden
  12. 11 : km 7.88 - alt. 657 m - Crossroads in Trois Epis
  13. 12 : km 8.08 - alt. 644 m - Crossroads with marked trail
  14. 13 : km 9.16 - alt. 651 m - Crossroads of marked trails near shelter
  15. 14 : km 10.09 - alt. 728 m - Monument - Le Galtz
  16. 15 : km 12.41 - alt. 424 m - Trail junction marked unmarked
  17. 16 : km 12.97 - alt. 336 m - Entrance to Wineck Castle
  18. 17 : km 13.07 - alt. 330 m - Crossroads
  19. 18 : km 13.49 - alt. 297 m - Crossroads of vineyard paths
  20. 19 : km 14.13 - alt. 277 m - Crossroads between vineyard path and trail on the left
  21. 20 : km 15.01 - alt. 242 m - Saint-Léger Chapel
  22. 21 : km 15.75 - alt. 240 m - Crossroads near the Walbach stream
  23. 22 : km 16.03 - alt. 245 m - Crossroads
  24. S/E : km 16.17 - alt. 254 m - Ammerschwihr Porte Haute car park - Walbach (ruisseau) - Affluent de la Weiss

Notes

Worth a visit

The Galtz monument, known as "Christ the Redeemer" and nicknamed Corcovado, is built on a hill above the Trois-Épis health resort and is dedicated to all the victims of the Great War (1914-1918).
Thefirst stone was laid in the winter of 1928/1929 and it was inaugurated on 14 September 1930 (source: Wikipedia).

Near the point (20) are the ruins of the old church of the vanished hamlet of Meywihr and the tomb of its former priest.

The Kaefferkopf vineyard was recognised as a grand cru in 2007.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 4 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
3.8 / 5
Route interest
4.3 / 5
TEE SONNTAG
TEE SONNTAG

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

The crossing of the golf course is nice, but don't miss the exit gate. From the Corbeau rock, through Les 3 Epis and on to Le Galz, it's very pretty. I'm not so keen on the descent to Katzenthal, especially if the castle is closed. I'd prefer to take a shortcut to Ammerschwihr and visit the village

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ecm2
ecm2

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I did it again today. I did it alone two weeks ago, and today with my family. I don't understand the previous comment. The climb up through the golf course is nice. As for picking up a ball, I don't see how you could. You don't cross the greens, and the golfers don't even look at you. The organic garden of Les 3 Épis at the sanctuary is also very nice to walk through, and before reaching Christ, we made a detour to the Pfaffenrod rock for a lunch break, with a beautiful view of the Plaine d'Alsace. I had expected there to be a lot of people at Christ, and I was right. It was a shame that Wineck Castle was closed, but it was still beautiful to see. As for the elevation gain, it was really ridiculous, 530 m... No, don't remove it, it's a very nice hike

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MICHEL1961
MICHEL1961

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 11, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Starting a hike by crossing a golf course where golfers look at you askance, and if you get hit in the head by a golf ball, you'll die. It's not ideal. In our opinion, this hike should be removed from the list of trails. It's too steep at the start and on the way back, and the elevation gain ruins the hike! The only wonderful moments are the statue of Christ at Galtz and the return trip through the vineyards between Katzenthal and Ammerschwir. The rest is forgettable!

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ecm2
ecm2

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 28, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hello, after a week of non-stop rain, hiking in the sunshine is comforting.
A beautiful route that begins by crossing the golf course, it's easy to see why golf carts are widely used on the grounds.
At point 5, don't hesitate to continue straight ahead at the red cross; the gate is not closed (another hiker was about to go further down). Then the climb gets a little steep. The biggest part of the climb is at the rock of the raven, with a gazebo and a beautiful view of Christ, the next stop. I had already hiked through Les 3 Epis, but I didn't know about the garden (from point 9 to 10), which is very pretty. During my last hike, the Christ statue was being repaired, but it is now accessible again. Beautiful views over the Alsace plain. The castle is worth a visit (open until the end of October), but the last part of the climb is a kind of ladder, so with my dog, I settled for the first floor.
I spent a little longer than planned in Ammerschwir, a very beautiful village with lots of lovely things to admire.
In short, a very beautiful hike, which I may do again later in the season, when the vines have taken on their autumn colours.
Thank you

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