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Access: from Le Thillot, follow the D486 towards Château Lambert. At Col des Croix, turn right onto the D57 as far as Étang Noir.
From Rupt-sur-Moselle, take the D35 to the Col du Mont de Fourche, then left onto the D57 to the Étang Noir. There is a small car park next to the Étang Noir and a picnic area.
Blue Ring signposting
(S/E) Join the Étang Noir and continue to the left of it towards the lookout point.
(1) From the lookout, the path runs alongside the Étang Noir, then veers left to reach the road. Turn left for around 30 metres, then take the path to the right through the forest, always following the signs. Further on, cross a small bridge and continue on this path for about 300 m. Cross the road again to take the path opposite (signposted Anneau Bleu) as far as the crossroads after a hundred metres.
(2) Turn right, still following the same signs. You will pass a place called les Noirs Étangs, the name of which is indicated on a sign at the side of the footpath. At the crossroads, turn right again towards "Sentier des Étangs". Walk along the dry pond and then reach the junction with a wide track.
(3) Cross this gravelled path (do not turn right to join the tarmac road). Continue straight ahead on a small, inconspicuous path that winds through the broom, then runs alongside a private pond and house on the left, whose grounds are fenced off. After this private pond, you come to the Étang de la Chaussée Pingant. Turn right onto the path and then left over the bridge to a pretty cottage. See "During the walk or nearby".
(4) Turn right behind the chalet, follow the sign "Sentier des Étangs" and walk along the peat bog. Continue along the path, following the "Recommended direction" sign. Find another pond to the right of the chalet. Walk alongside it, still following the same signs. Reach another pond (large house) called "Étang de la Peau", turn right and walk alongside this pond. When you reach the large house on your right overlooking the pond, continue for about fifty metres until you come to a crossroads.
(5) Turn sharp left to quickly reach the last pond, l'Étang de Plancherotte, and start downhill. You will soon come to a fork in the road.
(6) Continue left downhill along the Pré Martin and, further on, turn left to join the GR®5F. The path passes the Ruisseau de l'État and then heads north and north-east before joining a wide track.
(7) Follow it straight ahead to join the Chemin du Hêtray: on the right is the Auberge du Grammont for a possible break .
(8) Turn left onto this wide Chemin du Hétray, which runs alongside Rue du Grammont, the access road to the inn. Ignore the left-hand path and continue for 800 m, bearing right to find the start of a path that bends to the left.
(9) Take this charming little path on the mountainside on the left. It crosses a wooden footbridge at the picturesque site of the Cascade du Noir Étang, before reaching the Étang Noir and the car park a little further up (S/E).
Walker
Difficult 
