The Fish Trail in Étueffont

Park in the large car park in front of the inter-communal centre, near the swimming pool. The route is marked with a fish symbol.

(S/E) On leaving the car park, turn left onto Grande Rue towards Anjoutey.

(1) Turn right onto Rue du Centre. The road runs alongside the Madeleine on your right and passes the beautifully decorated nursery school. Then turn right to cross the bridge.

(2) Continue straight on along Rue de Petitmagny. At the next junction, turn left and then left again to pass between two small ponds.

(3) Keep left and head up into the forest to reach the top of the two ponds at the leisure centre.

(4) Follow the signposts along the edge of the forest, passing to the right of the chalet, and continue downhill to reach the footbridge at the far end of^{the second} pond. Follow the path which goes round the other side of the pond and runs along the northern edge of the leisure centre car park.

(5) Look out for the information sign and, just after it, turn left, go down the steps to reach the edge of the pond. Then turn right and then left to walk alongside the road.

(4) Turn right and head back along the same path you took on the way there.

(3) Continue to the right and carry on along Rue du Petimagny. On the way back, it is interesting to note that the landscape looks different as the angle of view changes.

(2) Turn right just before the river and follow it downstream. At the next bridge, turn left onto Rue d’Éloie: be careful, the bridge is narrow and cars approach quickly. Then turn left onto Rue Traversière and continue straight on along Rue du Centre, which you took at the start, to reach Grande Rue.

(1) Turn left to return to the car park (S/E).

The route is 4.7 km in total.

Accessible by Optymo bus. Visit the website: line 21-22, Bonnaymé stop in Étueffont.

Visorando was provided with information by Mr Chevalley, a volunteer member of Balisage90.
This walk was created by the municipality of Étueffont.

Étueffont
Its inhabitants are known as the Taffions (from the local dialect).
Place names: Étueffont-Bas: Estuefon (1260), Eytauffen (1296), Eitufun (1316), Stauffen prope Rotenburg (1337), Stoffen/Eisthoffan (1427), Nider Stauffen (1579), Estueffond (1779). In German: Nieder Stauffen.
Étueffont-Haut: Ober Stauffen (1579), Estueffon-Dessus (1620), Stueffon/Stouffont/Stueffont (1533), Étuffont le Haut (1793), Étueffont-Haut (1801). In German: Ober Stauffen.
In ancient times, a fortified Gallo-Roman camp was established at the summit of Le Fayé.
1188: First mention of the name Étueffont in a papal bull issued by Pope Clement III.
1296: Thiébaud, Count of Ferrette, ceded the right of patronage over the church to Lucelle Abbey.
1354: Étueffont is considered the administrative centre of a parish attached to the seigneury of Rosemont.
From the end of the Middle Ages, the village turned to the nascent industrial sector: a forge processing iron produced by the Bethonvilliers furnace, the mining of silver-bearing lead in the nearby Vosges mountains (the peak named Tête du Mineur stands as a reminder of this), forestry, and the production of charcoal. Subsequently, a mill was built on the river and ponds were dug. From the early 19th century, hand weaving developed, followed in the mid-century by the Boigeol-Japy mechanical weaving mill.
In 1879, the Zeller brothers, originally from Oberbruck (Haut-Rhin), set up weaving mills and a spinning mill in Étueffont. These factories thrived for half a century (1880–1930), providing work for several hundred workers. However, the 1929 crisis marked the beginning of the decline of the textile industry, which ceased operations in Étueffont around 1960. René Zeller’s former château has housed the Thérèse-Bonnaymé vocational training centre. It is currently undergoing renovation.
Source: Wikipedia