Castles and Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Dusenabch, Ribeauvillé

While the heritage of Ribeauvillé's old town is remarkable, this circular walk has a few bumps and slopes in the hills above the village. It is well worth the detour, with its three castles and the monastery of Notre-Dame de Dusenbach.

Technical sheet

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.36 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 15 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 415 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 415 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 640 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 262 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Start: Park in one of the town's car park and head for the trailhead at the corner of the hotel/restaurant Aux Trois Châteaux and Chemin du Passage Jeannette. Parking is available here.

(S/E) From the front of the hotel, climb the Chemin Passage Jeannette, GR®5 (North-East), waymarked with a red rectangle waymarker, between vineyards and the old town wall and its tower. Walk past the high school on the right, and look for a path on the left.

(1) Bear on this stony path left, GR®5 and handrail the vineyards until you reach the gazebo "Glorielle": beautiful viewpoint.

(2) Carry on following the GR®5, which climbs, sometimes a little steeply, between rocks and various viewpoints over Ribeauvillé and the impressive ruins of Château Sain-Ulrich. Keep walking uphill until you reach the castle. Take your time exploring it; "very fine views, especially from the top of the donjon".

(3) On leaving the castle, take the path marked "Château du Giersberg or Girsberg" (also known as Petit Ribeaupierre), following yellow cross waymarkers. Located nearby, it is built on a rocky spur. Beautiful view of neighboring Saint-Ulrich.

(4) As you finished enjoying this second castle, retrace your steps to the first one and take the Dusenbach Taennchel forest path, waymarked with a yellow cross and a red and white rectangle. Follow it for about 100 m.

(5) Then, at the junction, take the steeply ascending path right, signposted "Taennchel - Château Haut Ribeaupierre", following the red and white rectangles. Nice view on the left. At the higher point, reach a wider path, turn right to join the Château du Haut Ribeaupierre (castle), signposted with a red rectangle. Visit the ruins of the seigniorial dwelling, but access to the keep and other dwellings is forbidden.

(6) After enjoying, walk back to the path then follow it in the opposite direction until you reach the previous junction.

(5) Continue right along the flat, stony wide path towards Dusenbach, marked by a Yellow Cross. After about 1 Km, reach a junction (530 m) in the middle of a bend.

(7) Turn left onto a path leading to Rocher Kahlfels with its lookout point and picnic area. Walk back then turn left again on a narrow path waymarked with a red triangle and reach the asphalt road leading to the Dusenbach monastery: ''visit the chapel and its surroundings and start the Way of the Cross."

(8) From the bottom of the monastery, climb the narrow, winding path to the upper road left. Then, keep to the right until you reach the junction with the Sentier Maria Raydt on the left.

(9) Follow this narrow path, signposted with a blue triangle, handrailing rocks and low walls, but ''leaving in some places a view of the back and the South side of Château Saint-Ulrich (castle). Descend the path through vineyards and forests to reach the D416 road (Route de Sainte-Marie aux Mines).

(10) Turn left and follow this road back to Ribeauvillé. At the roundabout, keep left to reach the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 262 m - GR5. Hôtel Aux 3 château/Chemin dit Pass Jeannelle
  2. 1 : km 0.2 - alt. 296 m - Left fork
  3. 2 : km 0.37 - alt. 325 m - Gloriette
  4. 3 : km 1.6 - alt. 523 m - Château Grand Ribeaupierre or - Château de Saint-Ulrich
  5. 4 : km 1.9 - alt. 530 m - Château Giersberg or Petit Ribeaupierre
  6. 5 : km 2.2 - alt. 533 m - Taennchel junction. Red and white rectangle
  7. 6 : km 2.93 - alt. 638 m - Château du haut Ribeaupierre
  8. 7 : km 4.41 - alt. 534 m - Kahlfels rock. Picnic viewpoint
  9. 8 : km 5.25 - alt. 399 m - Monastery of Dusenbach
  10. 9 : km 5.65 - alt. 399 m - Junction Maria Raydt pathway
  11. 10 : km 6.9 - alt. 279 m - Intersection with D416 Ste Marie aux Mines
  12. S/E : km 7.36 - alt. 262 m - GR5. Hôtel Aux 3 château/Chemin dit Pass Jeanne

Practical information

Start & Parking: Park in one of the town's car park and head for the trailhead at the corner of the hotel/restaurant Aux Trois Châteaux and Chemin du Passage Jeannette. Parking available here.

Facilities: Shelter available at the gazebo (2) at Château Saint-Ulrich (3) and at the Dusenbach monastery (8).

In the nearby area

Visits to châteaux Grand (3), Petit (4) and Haut Ribeaupierre (6).

Visit to the Dusenbach monastery and its Way of the Cross (8).

 Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 3 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Clarity of route map
4 / 5
Route interest
5 / 5
gabyetchristian
gabyetchristian

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

We did it the other way around, wanting to attend the service at the Dusenbach sanctuary. But with your itinerary and the IGN map, we managed fine. Thank you.

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Lepaul88
Lepaul88
• Last modified:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Dec 07, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Thank you for this pleasant walk with beautiful views.
Follow the signs carefully and don't forget to go back up the path after visiting the shrine.
However, it allowed us to see the Way of the Cross.

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virgule
virgule

Super.

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lemarcheur65
lemarcheur65 ★

Title changed => Dusenbach

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virgule
virgule

The title is always wrong.

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virgule
virgule
• Last modified:

Thank you for your time.

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sirius57
sirius57

Hello,

I've read your comment carefully, and I'm sorry if you were confused by the indication I mentioned in my description.
However, at point 5 I do mention that you should follow the sign for "Taennchel château Ht Ribeaupierre", signposted in a red rectangle with a white stripe. The other route to Ht Ribeaupierre is upstream and climbs more like a winding path; it is signposted in a red rectangle on the GR5.

Best regards

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sirius57
sirius57

Hello,
Thanks for the information, I'll correct it.
Sincerely

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virgule
virgule
• Last modified:

Hello,

it's Dusenbach, not Dusenabch.

It's "Passage Jeannelle", not Jeannette or Jeanne. Jeannelle was a forest ranger in the 1860s in the woods around Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé. A forester's house (now destroyed) was named after him in the Lutzelbach valley.

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Bibi25
Bibi25

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : May 11, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

For point 5, the term "steeply uphill" is important because there are 2 paths on the right. The one that climbs steeply wasn't very visible, so it's easy to get confused. As far as I'm concerned, I got fooled, but it's no big deal because you have to retrace your steps afterwards, so you soon realise you've made a mistake.

Otherwise, everything was very well explained.

A very pleasant walk with beautiful ruins and a sanctuary in a lovely setting.

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