The Labaroche rollercoaster

The starting point is the car park in front of the Musée des Métiers du Bois in Labaroche. It is the heart of village life. You can make the most of this spot to refuel at the local shops before or after your walk. If you’re coming by bus from Colmar (line 015), simply get off at the ‘La Place’ stop.

Yellow Ring trail markers

(S/E) To start the walk, go round the museum to the right and head towards the Sanio company, where you will find the first Yellow Ring signpost, which you should follow. Walk alongside the company (on your right) and, at the right-hand bend in the road, turn left. The path joins a small road just before the junction with the D11 at a place called Le Chêne.

(1) Take the road on the right to begin crossing the hamlet of Le Chêne. Continue to follow the Club Vosgien markings. Keeping straight on along the small road, you will pass through two other hamlets in Labaroche: Les Plains Champs and Le Faîte. The latter offers the first unobstructed view towards the west. Continue to a junction in the hamlet of Morey Fontaine, opposite a dead-end.

(2) Turn right towards the east until you reach a right-hand bend. Continue for about 200 m until you reach a Stop sign at the crossroads opposite the chapel that gave its name to the fourth hamlet on the walk you have just passed through.

Red Ring markings

(3) You have reached the centre of the ‘8’, the heart of the walk. You have now completed the first section of the route. From here on, follow the Red Ring markings opposite, which lead to the mast visible for much of the route. With the chapel on your left, start walking along the pavement beside the D11. After the^first junction, continue to the next one at the exit of a right-hand bend (small car park on the right).

(4) Turn left to begin the climb to the summit of Le Crat. After about 150 m, you’ll see a fire hydrant on the left, with a Club Vosgien sign next to it. Leave the road and take a grassy path on the left. It climbs steeply, crosses a wide track and ends between two properties on a small road. Follow it to the right for about sixty metres.

(5) Turn left onto a forest path that continues to climb steeply. Follow the Red Ring markings to the summit of the hamlet known as Le Cras (888m).

(6) At the highest point of the hike, the summit is visible from the whole village and is easily recognisable thanks to its imposing mobile phone mast. Then continue left, descending towards Phimaroche and then climbing back up to Le Gestion (826m), keeping a northerly direction and following the Red Ring markings.

(7) Le Gestion: the ruins of a forgotten castle that suffered the ravages of the First World War. Here you can admire the landscape with a view that is more or less unobstructed but well explained, as you will have access to two recently installed orientation boards. Details of this historic site can be found here.
Then head down the opposite side, curving to the left. Cross a road and immediately turn left onto a track, heading south.

Blue Ring signposting

(8) Leave the Red Ring and join the Blue Ring by veering slightly left. Then enjoy the walk through Le Cras, with its beautiful houses and stunning view to the west, the last of the day.

(3) Return to the chapel to tackle the final panoramic stretch, this time facing east towards the Alsace plain. To do this, cross the D11 then turn right as soon as possible after the Demangea carpentry firm. After about 500 m you will reach the cemetery.

(9) At the end of the cemetery wall, you can go via the church on the right, or take the path on the left leading to "Derrière la Roche". Follow the Red Ring markers, which will take you to the stop sign at the hamlet of La Place; turn left to return to the car park of the Musée des Métiers du Bois (S/E).

Club Vosgien signposts

You can visit the Musée des Métiers du Bois. There are also places to eat within 100 metres of the car park. If you’re lucky, this spot is also where the food trucks gather.