From Buchwald to the Auberge du Ried

Car park near the Buchwald farmhouse inn on the Col du Petit Ballon road.

The only downside in the description: at the very beginning, you should not turn right onto the new path just behind the farmhouse inn, but follow the path that climbs straight ahead. We found ourselves on a steep and difficult climb in the middle of a pasture before realising that we had to rejoin the path.

(S/E) From the car park, head towards the Ferme-Auberge du Buchwald. Walk past it and follow the red disc sign towards Strohberg/Boenlensgrab. Then, go straight ahead to the south-east (red disc) and climb up to a fence, leaving a path on your left. A few metres further up, leave a path branching off to the right and continue straight ahead, up a small, dry slope. Pass the remains of a German cable car dating from 1945. 100 m further on, you will come to a junction with a path marked with a red sign.

(1) Leave the path leading to Wasserbourg on your left. Go through the gate and leave the Red Disc Yellow Ring marked path towards Strohberg on your left.
Continue straight ahead uphill, following the Chevalet Rouge trail. You will come to a wide track. Take it on the right. At a hairpin bend, leave the Chevalet Rouge trail marked for Strohberg on your left. Continue along the wide track uphill and you will arrive at the Col du Strohberg (altitude 1155 m).

(2) Leave the path (yellow triangle) to Petit Ballon on your left.
Continue along the wide track, then ignore the path on the right (yellow triangle) leading to Kahlenwasen. Reach the Col du Petit Ballon via the Chevalet Rouge markings.

(3) Cross the road carefully. Follow it for about 30 metres (towards Rothenbrunnen) and you will find a gate on the right on a path marked with a red triangle. Take this path, which passes to the left of a blockhouse. 400 m further up at an intersection, turn right (red triangle towards Schoenenklang/Kahlenwasen). Ignore the path on the left and its gate. You will arrive at a small car park at a place called Kegelritz.

(4) Turn left, following the red triangle signs towards Schoenenklang. Cross the stubble fields of Steinberg and enjoy the view of the beginning of the Munster Valley. Pass through Schoenenklang and arrive at an intersection with a path descending to the left at a gate. Leave this path on the left leading up to the summit of Steinberg and take the path descending towards Breitenbach marked with a red triangle. Superb view of the Munster Valley. About 200 m further down, you will come to an intersection with a path marked with a yellow cross.

(5) Turn right towards Lameysberg/Christlesgut, marked with a yellow cross. Stay on this wide path, ignoring the paths leading to buildings, and a few metres further on, in a wide bend, ignore the path going uphill to the right. Continue downhill until you reach an intersection.

(6) Ignore the path branching off to the far left and the wide path opposite. Turn right (yellow cross) towards Braeschenberg/Lameysberg. Pass above the Lameysberg farm. After a gate, join a wide carriageway and follow it to an intersection with numerous directional signs (Petit Ballon, Buchwald, Auberge du Ried).

(7) Head uphill opposite, guided by the blue cross towards Carrefour Schweng. At an intersection, a few metres after a water tank, continue uphill to the right and ignore the wide path on the left. At an intersection, at an ONF sign: Forêt Communale de Breitenbach, turn left and leave the path on the right. 150 m further on, you will arrive at a place called Schweng.

(8) Continue straight ahead on the wide path marked with a red disc towards Ried/Munster/Buchwald. 20 m further on, ignore the sign for Stemlisberg (blue disc) on the left and stay on the wide path. After 100 m, at a reservoir, you will come to an intersection.

(9) Don't miss it. Leave the main path and turn left. Go through a gate and down into the pasture. At the bottom, cross a small bridge and turn left, leaving a path uphill towards Buchwald. Continue slightly downhill. You will come to another path marked with a red disc on the right; ignore it again. Continue, leaving a small path to Lameysberg on your left. Continue along the wide path alongside a pasture and you will arrive at the Auberge du Ried.

(10) Cross the car park. Pass in front of the inn and join the Petit Ballon road. Carefully join the road towards Wasserbourg (ignore the direction of Luttenbach). Follow the Blue Triangle marked path (towards Presswald) and the Yellow Triangle (Herzog Trail). After five minutes on the road, in a bend, turn right, following the Yellow Triangle towards Buchwald/Strohberg. On the climb, ignore the paths leading off to the left.
In an open section of the Herzog trail near a bench, enjoy a superb view of Wasserbourg with the Col du Petit Ballon on the far right, the Kahlenwasen farmhouse inn and the Buchwald farmhouse inn opposite.
Continue for another 300 metres or so until you reach the Buchwald car park (S/E).

Buchwald farmhouse inn.
Auberge du Ried.

Panoramic view of Col du Petit Ballon and Wasserbourg from the viewpoint on the Herzog Trail.
Landscapes of the Munster Valley from the slopes of Steinberg.