Circular Mont Jean in Giromagny and Lepuix

Start at the car park next to 15 Rue des Casernes in Giromagny.

The route is signposted with a Blue Ring.

(S/E) Follow Rue des Casernes, skirt the cyclo-cross training ground on the left, turn right, then left onto Rue Saint-Pierre as you come within sight of the cemetery.

(1) Just after the wash house, take the path on the left. It joins Rue Sainte-Barbe. Turn left and cross the Savoureuse on a bridge dating from 1944.

(2) Cross the D465 (Rue de la Première Division Française Libre) with care and take Rue des Mines directly opposite.
Turn right into Petite Rue du Tilleul. As you pass, admire a fountain adorned with flowers. The route joins the^GR®5, marked in white and red.

(3) Leave Rue du Querty on your left and continue along Petite Rue du Tilleul. The hamlet you are passing through is called Le Phanitor.
At No. 17, you can see an old mine entrance at the back of the courtyard.
Keep an eye out for the markings to take a path on the right that crosses the meadow.

(4) At the crossroads in the middle of the meadow, the path splits. Continue to the right towards Lepuix church. Beautiful views over the valley and the quarry. Look out for the old factory chimney on the right (now a garage). Then, as you arrive in Lepuix, you will also see an old square-shaped chimney.

(5) On arriving in Lepuix, turn right onto Rue de la Beucinière and then left onto Rue de l’Église. Look out for the beautiful fountain with a small statue of Mary. After 100m, take the footbridge over the Savoureuse on the right. At this point, you leave the^GR®5.

(6) Cross the D465 carefully at the pedestrian crossing and take Rue Quartier du Mont Jean opposite.
A sign points the way to the Col du Mont Jean.
The road begins to climb. Shortly afterwards, at the crossroads, take the middle path and enter the forest.
When you reach the edge of a meadow, you can take a short detour to enjoy a beautiful view of the valley.

(7) At the Col du Mont Jean, turn right and continue climbing, skirting the summit. The summit is wooded and cannot be seen. When you reach a hairpin bend, continue a few metres to the left.

(8) A short detour along a path on the right offers a lovely view over the quarry and the village of Lepuix. Then continue along the main path, which descends via four large hairpin bends.
Pass a mobile phone mast and reach the first houses.

(9) Turn right at the junction of Chemin des Châtaigniers and Rue des Sources. Pass one street on the right and one on the left and continue straight on along Rue Saint-Pierre.
When you reach the cemetery, take care, turn left and return to the starting point (S/E).

The route starts at the car park next to 15 Rue des Casernes in Giromagny.
At the start, you can spend the night at the Relais du Randonneur, which is housed in the former barracks. Please contact Giromagny Town Hall.
The route is signposted by the local council. It does not appear anywhere on the internet.
Visorando was provided with information by Mr Chevalley, a volunteer at Balisage90, based on the route kindly shared by one of his colleagues.

The mining industry
Giromagny experienced a boom from the^14th century onwards thanks to the mining industry. The exploitation of the subsoil’s riches (silver, copper) fostered its development. With the former Rosemont mines, Giromagny became a unique industrial hub in the region in the^16th century and had a population of 1,500, whilst Belfort had only a third of that number. This population was partly made up of Germanic miners, who were sometimes poorly accepted by the locals.
The Giromagny presbytery even nearly became the French Mining School during the Revolution. Mining activity gradually and definitively came to an end in^{the 19th} century. Traces of mining activity are still present: from miners’ houses to the Maison Mazarin (the former mining court building), and from mine galleries to the wash houses used by miners’ wives for domestic purposes.

The textile industry
The Boigeol family built the valley’s first mechanical spinning mill in 1813, supplemented as early as 1820 by a weaving mill that freed them from relying on home-based weavers: the Tissage du Brûlé site (opposite the town hall). Power was derived from the waters of the Savoureuse and a huge waterwheel, before the
arrived in 1828. In 1878, the Giromagny factory was destroyed in a massive fire. The second half of^{the 20th} century saw the definitive end of textile production in Giromagny.

Nearby attractions:
A walk: link on Visorando: the Giromagny mining trail.
The Mazarin House, Place des Mineurs in Giromagny.
Fort Dorsner – open to visitors in summer.
To find out more about Giromagny’s heritage: here.