Le Bonhomme, the three passes and the battlefields of 1914-1918

Park in the car park behind the town hall. If there are no spaces available, park next to the church.

(S/E) The route starts at the corner of the car park behind the town hall. This is the^GR®5, marked with a red rectangle, which you will follow to the summit of the Tête des Faux. Head south-west along a path. You will come out onto the Chemin de la Petite Montagne (tarmac road) and follow it to the left. Take the^first road on the right and follow it for about 50 metres.

(1) Ignore a small lane on the left and immediately take the path on the left. At an intersection, turn left. At the next crossroads, go straight ahead (south-east). Continue along a forest road.

(2) At the fork, take a path on the right. At the crossroads, go straight ahead to an old German cemetery from the First World War.

(3) Continue downhill to the Étang du Devin pond, still following the^GR®5Red Rectangle.

(4) This pond is actually a peat bog. Cross the pond's dyke. The path climbs up in front of you (south) and then winds its way up. Follow the^GR®5Red Rectangle. When you reach the upper station of the German cable car, go around it on the left to reach Roche du Corbeau.

(5) Continue on the same path (^GR®5), heading west-northwest, and climb up to Tête des Faux.

(6) Descend on the other side (south-west), follow the^GR® and ignore all the side paths. After a memorial stone, descend to the Duschesne cemetery.

(7) Go past the cemetery and follow a path marked with a yellow rectangle south-southwest towards Tête des Immerlins. The path is almost straight to the summit.

(8) Then turn right (south-west) for the descent. At the crossroads, go straight ahead and then climb back up to reach the summit of Petite Tête des Immerlins.

(9) Descend on the other side towards the Col du Calvaire.

(10) At the pass, cross the roundabout and follow the blue rectangle markings on the right, along the Route des Crêtes to the chairlift arrival point. You are now on the downhill skiing section of the Lac Blanc ski area. After the chairlift arrival cabin, descend along the forest and ski slopes towards the ski lift departure point. Go around the snack bar at the bottom of the ski lifts. The Blue Rectangle trail starts below, along the road, which it follows for a few hundred metres before crossing it. It continues on the other side of the road, below, to the Col du Louschbach.

(11) The path continues downhill, on the other side of the road in the middle of the hairpin bend. It is still marked with the Blue Rectangle. Take care when crossing the road as cars drive fast at this point.

(12) After about 600 metres, at a crossroads, turn left uphill, still following the blue rectangle markings. After a hairpin bend to the right, keep heading north-northeast until you reach the D148.

(13) After crossing the road (Route des Crêtes), continue north-northeast and follow the Blue Rectangle markings along the former border between France and Germany, which existed from 1871 to 1918. Let yourself "slide" down to the Col du Bonhomme.

(14) Take extreme care when crossing the D415. Visibility is poor and cars rarely slow down. The return route is marked with a red ring. It starts opposite you, slightly to your right. Stay on the forest path, which begins a left turn to descend towards Le Bonhomme in about 1 hour/1 hour 15 minutes. You will pass in front of the small Sainte-Anne Chapel (marked Chapelle Sainte-Claire on the map).

(15) At the chapel, continue along the same path. About 200 metres after the cross (elevation 812), the path climbs to the right and becomes a very pretty grassy trail sheltered by trees on both sides. Take a short detour to Roche Rain Colas Pierre, going around the electricity substation.

(16) From the rock, you have a superb view of the valley above Le Bonhomme. Continue downhill towards the Croix de Mission. Go around a mobile phone mast. At the cross, continue along the path that will take you down to the centre of Le Bonhomme. Pass the church and follow the road to the town hall (S/E).

There are shelters at points (2) and (3) as well as at the Calvaire (10) and Bonhomme (14) passes.
At these two passes, you will find restaurants where you can eat and drink.
There are no other water sources along the route.
Good walking shoes are essential and recommended for this route.

(3) German military cemetery from 1914-1918: the soldiers originally buried here were transferred to another cemetery in Hohrod.

Devin Pond (bog): an information panel will teach you about the flora and fauna of these very special environments. Next to it are old shelters from the First World War for German soldiers.

Cable car terminal station: during the First World War, this cable car enabled the Germans to transport men and equipment from Lapoutroie, at the bottom of the valley, to the battlefields of the Tête des Faux. It continued to the front via a funicular railway. Only the ruins of the terminal station remain.

(5) The Rocher du Corbeau served as an observation post for the German army. At the time, it was covered with a wooden structure.

The Tête des Faux allowed the Col du Bonhomme, an important crossing point between France and Alsace, to be kept under control. The French and Germans therefore fought over it from the early months of the war. The French eventually occupied it, suffering heavy losses.
The ruins of the fortifications from that period can still be seen at the summit.
Tête des Faux memorial site
A little further along the path is a memorial to the officers and soldiers who fell between 1914 and 1918 at La Tête des Faux.

(7) The Carrefour Duchesne National Necropolis contains the remains of 408 French soldiers who died at or near Tête des Faux between 1914 and 1918.

(13) On the former border between France and Germany, which existed from 1871 to 1918, a few boundary stones still remain as evidence. The D (Deutschland) on their eastern side has been hammered out, but the F (France) on their western side is still clearly visible.