The Haguenau-Eschbach Grand Tour

Access to the car park

From Haguenau, follow signs for Woerth and take the D27 (Route de Woerth). After passing through two roundabouts, continue on the D27 for 400 metres, then turn immediately left after the railway line. Follow the road to the car park at the wash house.

Yellow rectangle signposting

(S/E) Take the small path that starts to the left of the wash house behind the barrier among the large deciduous trees, following the yellow rectangle markings through plot 1018.

(1) At the end of the path, turn right and continue straight ahead for more than 1 km, ignoring the paths on the right and left, until you reach the end of plots 1060 and 1061 and come to a T-junction.

(2) Turn left. At^{the second} crossroads, turn right (between 1082 and 1083) and continue straight ahead for about 1.5 km, ignoring the various paths and roads, until you reach the ends of plots 1142 and 1143.

(3) Turn left, then right after about 350 m. Continue along the path until you cross the lane that runs along the south side of plot 1191.

(4) Take the path on the right, then turn left at the intersection after 300 m. Turn left again at the end of the path to go around plot 1191 to the north. Join the Eschbach Forest Road (tarmac road) opposite a car park.

(5) Turn right towards the north. Follow the road that leads out of the undivided forest and heads north-west through the fields towards Eschbach. Pass the chapel on your left and enter the village. After passing the first houses, you will reach a Y-junction.

(6) At this fork, turn left onto Rue des Roses, which becomes Rue des Tulipes after about 400 m. You will reach an intersection between five streets where there is a crucifix.

(7) Take the second street on the left, Rue de la Forêt, to walk along the right-hand side of the Eschbach sports ground. Continue straight ahead, ignoring the paths on either side, towards the forest, the edge of which can be seen straight ahead. The street gradually becomes a path that runs alongside a few orchards before crossing the fields.

(8) Return to the undivided forest by following the path that branches off to the left and runs along the edge of the forest. At the end of the path, turn right onto a path among the deciduous trees between plots 1171 and 1172.

(9) After 400 metres, turn right onto the path that enters plot 1172. A few dozen metres further on, at the intersection with the Metzeleck forest road (tarmac road), cross over and continue straight ahead, following the path into plot 1147.

(10) At the intersection at the end of the path, turn left. Continue straight ahead heading south. The path veers slightly to the right after 200 metres. Cross the Isselbaechel stream and continue along the path, which crosses a track and veers to the left. At the junction with a track, continue straight ahead to reach plot 1189.

(11) Turn left along this plot, then, at the next intersection, turn right heading south for about 300 m, between plots 1088 and 1089.

(12) Leave the wide path and turn left into plot 1088. After about 100 metres, cross the ditch via the wooden footbridge and continue along the path that branches off slightly to the right. During this stage, pay attention to the markings on the trees as the path is not always very visible, especially when covered by vegetation.

(13) At the end of the path on the Eschbach forest road (tarmac), turn right and continue straight ahead. After 200 m, the road veers slightly to the left. Turn left at the next intersection. Continue straight ahead on the path for just over 1 km until you reach the intersection of four plots.

(14) Take the path on the right to walk between plots 1022 and 1023 heading south.

(15) At the end of the path, turn left towards the east onto Chemin forestier Sandlach. Stay on this path, ignoring all others. After 1 km, the path leads out of the forest and joins the D1063 departmental road. Follow it eastwards for just over 400 m until you reach the crossroads between plots 1018 and 1019.

(16) Turn left, heading north to return to the forest. After 120 m, you will come to the^first crossroads you encountered after setting off.

(1) Turn right onto the path you took on the way there in plot 1018 and return to the wash house (S/E).

Don't forget to pick up a tourist map of the Haguenau Forêt d'Exception® (Exceptional Forest), available at the Haguenau Tourist Office, which shows the plot numbers marked on the trees at the intersections. This makes it very easy to find your way around the undivided forest!

The Grand Tour Haguenau-Eschbach, Tourist Office information sheet.

Contact

Pays de Haguenau Tourist Office
+33 (0)3 88 06 59 99
tourisme@agglo-haguenau.fr
More information at visithaguenau.alsace

(S/E) The Hundshof wash house is the only^19th-century wash house still standing in the municipality of Haguenau. While the last washerwoman regularly washed her laundry there until the early 1990s, residents of the hamlet of Hundshof still went there to wash rugs, jackets and other bulky fabrics in the summer until the early 2000s. The water from the wash house is discharged into the local stream, the Brunnbach.

Take a break in front of the Saint-Wendelin Chapel, located on the edge of the road between stages (5) and (6), where a bench invites you to linger. An inscription in German above the door reads: "Erected in 1881 by Philippe Dapp". It was built by a resident of Eschbach at a time when Alsace was under the authority of the German Empire.

Between points (9) and (10), you will walk along the route of an old railway line built in 1927, which was used both to supply materials for the construction of the Maginot Line and to deliver ammunition and weapons. Dismantled during the German occupation, its route can still be seen in aerial photographs despite the growth of vegetation.