Country:
City:
Please note: Update by the moderator on 4 July 2020: access to Salm Castle is no longer possible. Major restoration work began on 15 June 2020. Watch this space. Access to the castle has been restored since 2026 following a long period of works
Park in the car park near the dam at Lake Pierre Percée.
Note: Other starting points along the route may be considered (Pierre Percée jetty – Château de Salm – Vierge Clarisse).
(S/E) Turn right at the dam (Club Vosgien ‘Yellow Ring’ signposting);
(1) 100 metres further on, take the path on the left running alongside the lake.
After 4.5 km on this path, follow the ‘Blue Cross’ markings to the right.
Climb for 500 m to the car park, then on towards the ruins of Salm Castle (signposted).
(2) Return to the car park and take the path opposite, marked with a Green Rectangle.
Follow these markings until you reach the statue of the Virgin Clarisse.
(3) Continue to the right as far as the ‘Grotte des Poilus’ (note: after the statue of the Virgin Clarisse, take a forest track for 400 m, then turn right onto a small, barely visible path, still following the Green Rectangle markings).
(4) At the grotto, take the path marked with a Yellow Disc for 400 m, passing close to the Rocher de l’Arche and then the Rocher de Dame Galle (accessible from the forest track).
(5) Turn left onto the forest track for 100 metres (Yellow Cross).
At the crossroads, take the path leading uphill (Yellow Triangle); pass Rocher de la Pierre à Cheval, then descend to the forest track (Blue Cross) and head to the right
After 450 m on this track, turn left at a bend, staying on the Blue Cross path towards Rocher de la Soye.
Stay on this path until you reach the RD182.
(6) Take the RD182, passing through the hamlet of La Ménelle – Musée de la Ménelle.
At the crossroads, there are two options: 1 (the route followed) or 2:
- take the Green Rectangle-marked path for 30 m, then follow the Yellow Triangle markings until you reach the 497-metre mark; turn left onto the Green Cross-marked path for 500 m. Turn left onto the forest track (Red Cross). After 660 m, take the Blue Ring trail and join the Yellow Ring trail, then head for the car park near the dam (E),
- take the RD182b – this is the route followed – to reach the junction near Celles-sur-Plaine.
(7) Continue to the car park past the Para forest lodge, then follow the Blue Ring trail to the Vierge de Para. Turn left and stay on the Blue Ring trail until you rejoin the Yellow Ring trail taken at the start of the walk. Turn left and head for the car park near the dam at Lac de la Pierre Percée (S/E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Difficult 
