Bambois Route

Come and enjoy this invigorating hike and discover the Fort de Bambois at the same time.

Details

119738
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.25 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 147 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 147 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 512 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 399 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Yellow disc markings along the entire route

(S/E) From the car park, walk down 30 metres and turn left, opposite the FFI monument, onto a small road that passes between two houses.

(1) Turn right, following the markings. You will come to a gravel forest path, which you follow for 500 metres.

(2) Continue straight ahead towards a forest path.

(3) Just before you reach the Navés meadows, above a pond, continue by turning right at the crossroads of the various paths.

(4) You will then pass close to the hamlet of La Pierre Torelle, at an altitude of 415 metres. Stay on the path and continue uphill, passing an old military structure on your left at an altitude of 433 metres.

(5) On your right, you will first see the Moselle valley upstream from Épinal through the trees, then the Bésonfosse valley in the commune of Dinozé. You will also notice this old forest of Scots pines, which are at least 150 years old.

(6). After a gentle climb, you will arrive at the intersection of the Pierre Torelle and Sauteur forest paths. Turn left (south-west) and enter the Épinal forest. The route then overlooks the Etranglieux and Taviane valleys, through which you arrived from Épinal.

(7) At the crossroads, continue south and go around Fort du Bambois

(8) Turn left onto the small road that leads straight back to the starting point. On your right as you arrive, you will see a Lorraine cross surrounded by a small botanical park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 444 m - Car park
  2. 1 : km 0.1 - alt. 443 m - Fork in the road
  3. 2 : km 0.62 - alt. 436 m - Fork in the road towards the footpath
  4. 3 : km 2.33 - alt. 409 m - Crossroads of trails
  5. 4 : km 3.42 - alt. 410 m - La Pierre Torelle
  6. 5 : km 4.93 - alt. 429 m - Viewpoint
  7. 6 : km 5.71 - alt. 465 m - Turn left at the fork.
  8. 7 : km 7.31 - alt. 477 m - Fork in the road
  9. 8 : km 8.78 - alt. 454 m - Crossroads
  10. S/E : km 9.25 - alt. 444 m - Car park

Notes

Access: From Epinal, take the D434 towards Xertigny. After passing Les Quatre Vents, you will drive through a forest. At the exit, after seeing a Lorraine cross on your left, keep left at the entrance to a slight bend, take a small road and you can park in a car park near the cross.

Worth a visit

Fort du Bambois:
This small fort with a central massif and low battery defended the road from Xertigny to the south of Epinal, as well as the Aillevillers railway line.
Built at an altitude of 525 metres, it is the highest fort in the Epinal stronghold. An optical post under a casemate linked it to the forts of Arches and Parmont (defensive curtain of Haute-Moselle). Fort du Bambois has never been modernised.
Owned by the municipality of Dounoux, the fort is closed and access is restricted.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 10 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.7 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.8 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
User 25105775

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 28, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Varied terrain.
Well-distributed terrain and challenges
Very beautiful and varied environment.

Machine-translated

User 8163211

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant forest route alternating between shaded forest roads and small forest paths. The yellow circle markings are particularly easy to see. Few views except at the start, overlooking the village of Dounoux. A lovely visit to the Vosges forest.

Machine-translated

Fabrice TENDRON
Fabrice TENDRON

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 30, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike as it was entirely in the forest on this very hot day. The only drawback: the lack of views...

Machine-translated

Orando974
Orando974 ★

Hello,

This hike was recently completed by the Tourist Office. Please take note of the information provided in the guide so that you can follow the hike.

Orando974

Machine-translated

Jade_mhn
Jade_mhn

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 26, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hike done this winter, so the landscape was a bit dreary.
No clear views, but a lovely walk in the forest.

Machine-translated

jyssoune
jyssoune

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 23, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

The route is perfectly accurate, and the trail is very well marked.
It's a very pleasant hike (with lots of possibilities, as you can stray from the main trail to see a military battery here and there, the fort, etc., and then easily return to the main route).
Having tried both (I now use this route for running training), once you reach the fort, it's nicer to follow the Club Vosgien markings, as the path goes through the woods and is very charming... rather than the main trail.
Just follow the path to the right of the fort (when facing the fort) and walk along a small, idyllic wall, then return to the starting point by staying on the path ;-)

Machine-translated

Anais91390
Anais91390

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 25, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hike on a beautiful sunny February day with two 6-year-old children. No particular difficulties and pretty paths. When we arrived at the fort, we followed the Vosges walkers' trail markers, which meant we avoided the last section with tired children. We don't regret it, as it allowed us to take a shortcut and get away from the main path, which was becoming a bit tedious. To go even faster, once you've passed the fort, don't follow the markings on the right but continue straight ahead (after passing between the low walls), and you'll be back at the starting point in 5 minutes!

Machine-translated

gui54000
gui54000

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 05, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant hike. The route is very easy to find (in fact, once you're on it, you don't leave it), which is nice and means you don't have to spend your time checking your route. The path itself is easy to follow. Then, the scent of the coniferous forest in this hot weather almost makes the Vosges feel like the Landes. A really beautiful walk. The only slight downside is the complete lack of views (I couldn't see any of the valleys mentioned) because of the forest. But apart from that, it's still very nice. Done in 1 hour 55 minutes at a brisk pace.

Machine-translated

Fabrice02300
Fabrice02300

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 27, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This was our first hike, so it's difficult to give an objective opinion. We got lost after passing the statue of the Virgin Mary, so was it bad signage or a mistake on our part? We ended up extending our trip to 17.82 km.

Machine-translated

F1011
F1011

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 18, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Date of hike: 17 June 2018. A pleasant route without too much elevation gain, but lacking in points of interest.
But worth discovering.

Machine-translated

gazok54
gazok54 ★

Thank you, lepapou
For your next comment, feel free to use the full form, which allows you to rate the description, route and interest of the hike.

Machine-translated

lepapou
lepapou

Hello,

Route completed on 28 January 2017; there was still quite a bit of snow in places.

Otherwise, it was a good training route in the forest. The signage is perfect.

It's a shame there aren't many viewpoints: access to Fort Bambois is closed.

In summary, a short, easy route, certainly more pleasant in the shade of summer.unglasses

Machine-translated

fiordiligi
fiordiligi

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 09, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant little 9 km route for this season, in the snow, very well marked. Unfortunately, access to the fort is closed, but we were able to see a battery along the way, i.e. a structure that had housed artillery pieces.

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.