Between Peterseyen and Langmattweiher

(S/E) Leave the car park next to the spa centre via the footpath to the north-west of the car park (opposite the D27 road, known as the Route de Haguenau). Set off away from the spa centre.
When you reach Rue de Froeschwiller, turn right. Leave the village of Morsbronn-les-Bains.

(1) At the first T-junction, turn left onto the road that passes near the pumping station and climbs towards a farm in the hamlet of Hinterfeld.
When you reach the house, turn left onto the farm track leading to the top of the hill. Just before the summit, on your right, in a copse of tall trees, you will see the Eagle Monument dedicated to those who died in the 1870 war.
At the top of the hill, the farm track passes at the foot of a telecoms mast serving the area, before heading downhill. Continue straight on until you reach the D148.

(2) Turn left onto the D148 towards Morsbronn-les-Bains. The road descends and, at the school, turn right into Rue des Vergers.

(3) After the last houses lining this street, turn right onto the shared path (for pedestrians, cyclists and tractors).
Follow this path as it winds through the fields until you reach Rue du Verger in Hegeney. Go down this street to the crossroads by the church.

(4) At the junction in front of the church, turn left onto the D427, Rue Principale, which runs through the village of Hegeney. Continue straight on until you reach the junction with the Route de Haguenau (D27).
To cross the D27 safely, use one of the two pedestrian crossings and continue along the farm track located almost directly opposite.

(5) At the four-way junction, where there is also a wayside cross, take the farm track leading off to the right. Continue along this track until you reach a T-junction with another farm track.

(6) Turn left onto this farm track, which climbs very gently. Pass a track on your left to walk past a wayside cross marking the top of the hill.
The track then passes under a high-voltage power line before reaching the first houses in Durrenbach, near a recent housing development. Continue on to Rue des Vergers.

(7) Turn left onto this street and follow it straight on to Place de l’Église de Durrenbach.
Turn right to the north of the church to reach, via a short footpath, Rue Principale at the school.
Turn left onto this street heading north and carry on straight ahead. The street curves sharply to the left near a large wayside cross (on your right).

(8) A little further on, cross the main road (the D86) to join the cycle path that runs alongside it.
Follow this cycle path (shared path) to the Maison des Associations and the Syndicat des Eaux: an area equipped with two picnic tables and a drinking fountain.

(9) Turn left to pass under the archway between the Maison des Associations and the Syndicat des Eaux to reach a car park.
Cross the car park heading south to join a short section of cycle path leading to the junction of the D27 (Route de Haguenau) and the D86 (Route de Woerth).

Cross the D86 with care, using the pedestrian crossing. Continue along the pavement beside the D27 until you reach the Hôtel Beau Séjour.
Cross the D27 with great care (using the pedestrian crossing) and enter the spa centre’s grounds through an opening in the hedge and up two or three steps.

Continue along the path that winds through the park to go round the spa centre.
When you reach the corner of the south building (at the rear of the building), turn right to reach the car park via a pedestrian crossing next to a single-storey building (S/E).

The car park is located next to the spa and functional rehabilitation centre. Alternatively, there is another car park at the Maison des Associations, next to the roundabout where the D27 and D250 roads meet (the route passes this way on the return journey: in this case, adjust the route description to return to the starting point as described).

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear. This unmarked route occasionally follows sections of various marked routes in the area. It is therefore advisable to follow the directions in the description and on the map.

Walk completed by the author on 7 November 2017.

Morsbronn les Bains
History
6 August 1870, Battle of Froeschwiller-Woerth.
In the spring of 1904, a borehole drilled by the Gewerkschaft Gute Hoffnung, in search of oil, discovered a hot spring at a depth of 450 metres, to the north-west, on the edge of the road from Froeschwiller leading to the village of Eberbach-Woerth and the hamlet of Lausberg. Georges Urban, a restaurant owner from Morsbronn, bought the spring and, following analyses, this reserve of hot water at 42 °C was found to have beneficial properties for rheumatism as it is rich in sodium chloride and calcium.
Monuments
All Saints’ Church: Morsbronn is one of around 50 towns in Alsace with a church serving multiple congregations.
Several monuments commemorating those who died in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, including the impressive ‘Adler’ (‘Eagle’), not far from the Bouygues telephone relay station on the village hillside.

Thermal Baths
The thermal water at Morsbronn-les-Bains comes from two natural springs discovered in 1904 during drilling operations carried out to locate oil deposits in the region: the ‘Les Cuirassiers’ spring at 38.9°C, drawn from a depth of 400 metres, and the ‘Saint Arbogast’ spring at 41.9°C, drawn from a depth of 670 metres.
These two extraction points provide the spa with an abundant supply of naturally warm water rich in sodium chloride, calcium, magnesium and sulphur.
With their sedative, analgesic and relaxing properties, these waters are recommended for the treatment of:
- chronic and debilitating inflammatory rheumatic conditions,
- spinal, cervical or lumbar osteoarthritis, and osteoarthritis of the hip or knee
- fibromyalgia,
- progressive polyarthritis,
- the after-effects of osteoarticular trauma.