Le Grand Ballon via Saint-Amarin

Date of your route : Apr 27, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A magnificent route with beautiful forest sections and breathtaking panoramic views.
However, we chose the wrong day: it was the weekend of the Grand Ballon trail run and the hike included several sections that were shared with the 24 and 33 km routes. When you read that there are more than 3,000 people registered for this event, you can imagine how busy the sections in question were... That said, we found the trail runners to be friendly and respectful.
We followed the advice of other hikers and stayed on the GR532 before reaching the Edelweiss chalet, as there was a lot of traffic on the road on this spring Sunday.

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Date of your route : Aug 29, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Very good description. Apart from at the Haag Pass and summit, I didn't meet a single soul.
A challenging route, completed in 5 hours, without a proper lunch break at the Haag inn.

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Date of your route : Apr 09, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,
Thank you for sharing this route. I was able to follow it on Easter Sunday.
There weren't many people, even at the summit.
Starting from Saint-Amarin is a very good idea. The village is beautiful and peaceful, and the forest just above it is very pleasant to explore.
Even though the start is good for cardio, I found the entire route to be very interesting. When you're not admiring the landscape, you can see beautiful trees along the way.
Between points 9 and 10, I stayed on the GR, as the ridge road has just reopened. You can quickly get around it.
In short, a very beautiful hike for a cool spring day. To be done again

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Date of your route : Nov 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

My husband and I followed this trail thanks to the advice and comments of other hikers.
for the month of November, the trail was not very busy. It is worth climbing up to the Grand Ballon, even with this granite path, which is not necessarily aesthetically pleasing
everything is very well marked.
We set off from Meerbaechel directly via the red circles. It took us five hours, including a good break in the small shelter overlooking Lake Ballon.
to descend, we didn't follow the blue crosses all the way to the end because, yes, it's steep. We took the "old path" which joins the red circles and thus allows you to complete a circular route

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Date of your route : Jul 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

A pleasant hike, mostly through woodland, not particularly difficult. The path between points 2 and 3 is no longer very visible, so it's best to take the marked paths, which involve a slight detour. At point 8, I took the opportunity to go down to Lac du Ballon and then back up to point 9 via the yellow triangle. This adds 4 km and 130 m of elevation gain, but the lake is very pretty. Well worth doing.

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Date of your route : May 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Long hike around the Grand Ballon, no one on the trail despite the crowds at the Grand Ballon. A few details: at point 2, it's not the path furthest to the right, but the one that climbs the most. Between points 9 and 10, I recommend staying on the right-hand side of the road; there is a path above leading to the fork at the chalet. Do not go left, as there is no path and it is steep. There are footprints, so some people have tried.

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Date of your route : May 04, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike started in the rain on 4 May 2021. We slept at the Storkenkopf refuge (a small enclosed hut with a fireplace, table and benches inside and outside). We set off the next day in snowy conditions with strong gusts of wind and no visibility. No problems with signposting as the Visorando maps make it easy to find your way around.
Physically demanding. To be done again in good weather.

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Date of your route : Sep 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike, quite steep, especially at the beginning, where the forest section requires scrambling without any real path, but there's no need to worry, you'll find your feet easily, and the app with the route is very reliable. The scenery is fabulous. The difficulty level is good, but still accessible. For your information, we completed the route in 4½ hours. Don't be put off by the estimated time and miss out on a beautiful walk. Try it in the opposite direction, as the return trip is tiring for the legs because it is very steep. The ideal stop is obviously the Haag farm, where the food is excellent. Take a break after the circular at Grd. Ballon ;-)

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Date of your route : Jul 20, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

I did the route in reverse to have the steep slope on the way up, as suggested in a comment. I also used the Visiorando app, which is very useful on the way down because you can easily miss the path if you're not paying attention, as I did twice. On the way up, the blue cross is clearly visible, so no problem there.
after the Edelweiss chalet, I joined the GR 532-5, but as it runs alongside the road, I turned off towards the Storkenkopf to reach the Haag farm, which is much nicer. With a 360° view, I stopped there for lunch and even saw a chamois grazing peacefully below.
personally, I find the summit of the Grand Ballon awful with all that concrete, and the only interesting thing about it is the orientation tables.
if I had to do it again, I would descend directly after the Haag farm after stopping at the summit of Storkenkopf.
in any case, thank you to the author of this outing, it's just what I needed.

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Date of your route : Jan 01, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The route was taken in reverse for the section between Col du Haag and Saint-Amarin. The only slight concern was that the detour via the Merbaechle inn was on a route that was not "officially" signposted and was not easy to follow on the ground, especially in foggy weather in a forest area consisting mainly of conifers.

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Date of your route : Sep 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A beautiful hike that we had to cut short due to very bad weather. However, the starting point is rather vague and we couldn't find it. We saw it on the way back, we think. It would therefore be better to specify it more clearly

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Date of your route : Aug 19, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The start of the walk is very steep... especially for someone who isn't used to it... It would be better to start from somewhere else, as we did (Chalet l'Edelweiss)... Otherwise, it's a very beautiful route.

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Date of your route : Oct 19, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

I only did the last part of the route at the foot of the Grand Ballon. A bit of a cold wind, but magnificent scenery.

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Date of your route : Sep 10, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The hike is really very good, the trails, mainly in the woods (except for the Grand Ballon itself), are very pleasant.
I would like to confirm two things that have already been pointed out about the route:
After the Maerbaechle farm, the description says to take the path furthest to the right at the next crossroads, but this is incorrect. In fact, the path furthest to the right also leads to the yellow rectangle, but it takes a fairly long detour. On the other hand, it climbs much more gradually than indicated in the description. This may be better...
Secondly, at the Edelweiss refuge, the signposting is red discs. You will only find blue crosses 5 to 10 minutes later, at which point you should follow the blue crosses straight ahead and abandon the red discs.

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Date of your route : Aug 04, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant hike thanks to its diversity. However, it is almost essential to have a GPS or the Visorando app as the route is imprecise (at least if you want to follow it, as it is not really possible to get lost). There are some inconsistencies between the description and the route, particularly between points 3 and 5. You can travel light as there are full catering facilities halfway along the route. Personally, I would reverse the direction because, like many people I think, I prefer steep climbs to steep descents. The Eldeweiss trail, which is very nice, would indeed be better climbed than descended.

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