Country:
District:
Depart from the car park at Metzeral station or directly from the station if you are arriving by train or bus ( Colmar-Metzeral line).
(S/E) Leave the car park and head towards the foot of the north-western slope of Petit Ballon. Go to 19 Rue de la Gare, and turn right at the next crossroads.
Blue Diamond Markings
(1) Leave the return path on your left and take the Blue Diamond marked trail straight ahead.
(2) Continue climbing steadily. After Meyersbuhl, the trail joins another trail marked with a red ring.
(3) Continue straight ahead, further on, leave the Anneau Rouge trail on your right and turn completely left, then, 200 metres further on, completely right. The trail heads south to a small pass, where it crosses a trail marked with a red triangle.
(4) Turn right, continuing to follow the Blue Diamond markings. After a few hundred metres, at the crossroads, leave the Red Triangle trail on your left.
(5) Continue straight ahead and gradually climb up the western flank of the Petit Ballon. The trail widens and then leaves the forest. Pass the farm buildings on your right and be careful, because just after that, the trail changes direction, crossing the trail marked with a yellow cross.
(6) Leave the wide path and continue climbing to the left, cutting across the Steinberg meadows. You will arrive at the Rothenbrunnen farmhouse inn.
(7) Continue along the path that climbs to the left of the farmhouse inn to reach the Route du Col du Petit Ballon. Cross the road, keeping to the same direction (and markings) until you reach the Amis de la Nature refuge.
(8) Pass the refuge and, a few metres further on, join theGR®532(marked with a yellow rectangle). Turn left onto the blue diamond trail to begin the climb to the summit of Petit Ballon.
(9) Enjoy the 360° view at the foot of the statue of the Virgin Mary. Continue north-west along the red triangle trail, which follows the crest of the ridge, to reach the Col du Petit Ballon car park.
Red Triangle trail markers
(10) Pass to the left of the car park, cross the road and continue straight ahead. At the Kegelritz crossroads (1163 m), turn left to reach the Steinberg ridge and then the summit of Grothkopf.
(11) Begin the descent through the grassy meadows. Please note that in wet weather, the ground can be slippery. You will come to a junction with a wider path marked with yellow crosses.
(12) Turn left for about 100 metres, then right, following the red triangle markings. About 150 metres further on, turn 90° left to reach the junction with the blue diamond trail you took on the way up.
(5) Turn right in the opposite direction to the outward journey and find the small pass at the junction with the red triangle trail.
(4) Leave the blue diamond markers and follow the red triangle markers to the right. Begin the descent under the cover of the trees and, at the next junction, turn completely right. You will reach a forest road.
(13) Be sure to take the forest road on the left that descends into the valley, guided by the Red Triangle in a north-westerly direction. Ignore the paths on the right or left until you reach the junction, in a right-hand bend, of the forest road.
(14) Turn left here to join the higher path. Continuing north, it leads to a junction with a path marked with a red triangle.
Red Chevalet markings
(15) Turn left onto the path that zigzags through the forest, crosses several paths and trails, and then joins a forest road marked with a red ring. Follow it in a wide right-hand curve for about 200 metres.
(16) Leave the forest track and turn left to continue on the marked trail (double Anneau and Chevalet Rouge markings). Shortly afterwards, cross a forest track, then turn right. Leave the forest and cross the Kuhfeil clearing.
(17) Enjoy one last view of the village of Metzeral, then enter the forest. After a few dozen metres, the trail turns left and heads southwest. As you approach Metzeral, you will come to the crossroads and the blue diamond markings you saw on the way there.
(1) Turn right and, following the same route as on the way there, return to the station and its car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
Very difficult 
