Between Niffer and Petit Landau, towards the Grand Canal d’Alsace

Parking near the Niffer Lock via Rue de Schlierbach.

(S/E) At the car park, facing the large lock building, head to the right along the fence (VNF, the company that manages the lock). Walk alongside the building with the green roof; after a few metres, join the tarmac path in front of the company’s gate and continue to the next junction.

(1) Turn left onto the stony path, towards the canal and the large mooring posts for the barges. Continue along this path, passing behind the Niffer sports ground and the tennis courts. After the rowing club (a Franco-German club), you’ll reach a junction.

(2) Turn right and leave the canal bank. The path slopes down slightly and, in season, is surrounded by maize fields. Before the embankment of the old railway line, just below the power line, turn left. At the next junction, turn right and carry on until you reach the D468. Opposite, you can see the Black Forest range, including the Blauen (1,165 m).

(3) Cross the D468 and walk down the embankment (take care), continuing to the next junction with a tarmac road.
Turn left and head north towards Petit Landau. You’ll pass a pigsty on your right. Surrounded by fields typical of the plain, carry on to the end of this tarmac road and turn right to reach a few information boards.

(4) Turn left to reach the start of a housing estate, then take the^first street on the right, Rue d’Alsace. Continue along this street until you reach a small roundabout and take the^second exit on the right, Rue des Violettes. Carry on straight ahead along a tree-lined avenue, leave the housing estate, and at the next junction, turn left to join a departmental road next to the water tower.

(5) Cross the road and carry on straight ahead; go straight past the^first junction; at the next junction, turn right onto a dirt track (hard to see in summer as the grass is tall), and join the D52. Cross this road (take care), then follow the D52 to the left for a few metres. Turn onto the^first path on the right to reach the Grand Canal d’Alsace.

(6) Turn right and follow the Grand Canal d’Alsace upstream until you pass under a bridge.

(7) Under the bridge, continue along the water’s edge until you reach the large lock and the car park (S/E).

Bring a cap and sunglasses in summer, as the Alsace plain doesn’t offer much shade

Le Corbusier lock, a few hundred metres from the Niffer large-capacity lock (a typical example of Le Corbusier’s architecture).