Les Deux Donon

Circuit passing through the peaks of Grand and Petit Donon, using the marked trails of the Club Vosgiens and theGR®5.

Forestry work is taking place for one month until May 2024 between (10) and (11).

Details

335386
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 17.05 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 7h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 775 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 776 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,007 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 409 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the Col du Donon car park on the D392.
(S/E) With your back to the pass, go down the road and turn left onto the path marked with a temple sign indicating the direction of the summit of Grand Donon (which is also theGR®5); beautiful views from the summit, Celtic ruins, temple museum. At the track, turn right and you will come to a fork.

(1) Continue on theGR®5which leads to the summit of Grand Donon. The path then branches off to the right and becomes narrower. Cross a road and, at the antenna, continue to the right and then straight ahead until you reach the temple.

(2) Descend on a narrow path that is stony in places; during the descent, admire the Petit Donon, which you will then have to climb, and reach the pass between the two Donons. At the track, keep left then turn right towards the pass between the two Donons.

(3) Leave theGR®5, heading slightly to the right to take the path marked with a yellow triangle, until you reach a crossroads.

(4) Take the path marked with a red disc on the left until you reach another crossroads.

(5) Take the path marked with a yellow disc on the right leading to the summit of Petit Donon. Admire the view, especially of Grand Donon.

(6) Return by the same route to the previous crossroads.

(5) Continue to the right, then right again onto the path marked with a yellow disc that goes around the Petit Donon. Follow the track to the right, cross another track and you will reach a wide path.

(7) Follow it to the right (yellow signpost). This will take you to the crossroads leading to the Petit Donon.

(4) Retrace your steps to the pass between the Deux Donons.

(3) Take the path on the left marked with a yellow cross, which quickly joins a path marked with a blue cross and leads to an intersection with a wide path.

(8) Leave the blue cross markings and take a yellow cross path that branches off to the right. Stay on this path, ignoring those starting off to the right or left. Continue straight ahead until you reach a wide track: follow it straight ahead until the next crossroads. Keep going until you reach a track: go straight ahead and continue straight ahead until you reach the crossroads near Vacquenoux to join theGR®5.

(9) Turn right onto thisGR® (red rectangle). Cross two tracks. Continue straight ahead at the third track to reach a fork.

(10) Turn right, then left onto the track until you reach the stream. Cross it and continue to the right. Stay on the first path on the left until you almost reach the road.

(11) Keep right and continue straight ahead at the next two tracks. At the end of the path, turn left onto the track until you reach the Col du Donon car park. (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 722 m - Parking at - Col du Donon (728m)
  2. 1 : km 0.67 - alt. 798 m - GR trail junction
  3. 2 : km 2.2 - alt. 1,007 m - Large - Donon (le)
  4. 3 : km 3.54 - alt. 822 m - Pass between the Deux Donons
  5. 4 : km 3.77 - alt. 830 m - Petit Donon crossroads
  6. 5 : km 4.19 - alt. 900 m - Petit Donon crossroads
  7. 6 : km 4.52 - alt. 961 m - The - Le Petit Donon
  8. 7 : km 5.75 - alt. 798 m - Petit Donon loop junction
  9. 8 : km 7.63 - alt. 711 m - Wide crossroads
  10. 9 : km 10.73 - alt. 409 m - GR5 crossroads
  11. 10 : km 12.47 - alt. 499 m - Intersection with old GR trail
  12. 11 : km 14.71 - alt. 599 m - Fork
  13. S/E : km 17.05 - alt. 721 m - Return to the Col du Donon car park.

Notes

Good hiking boots, fairly steep paths in places, stone steps to climb.

Always be cautious and plan ahead when you're outdoors. Visorando and the author of this route cannot be held responsible for any accidents occurring on this route.

The GR® and PR® markings are the intellectual property of the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre.

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 89 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
genevieil
genevieil

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 30, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

All the conditions were just right that day for a brilliant hike:☀️😎

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HANTZH2
HANTZH2

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 22, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful hike steeped in history

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User 3674434
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A beautiful hike, the magnificent Donon and pleasant trails, but again forestry work forcing us to take a
detour.

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User 26108057

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 26, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Nice itinerary
one downside is the disc and red circle, which are confusing

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mlk67
mlk67

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 23, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Explanations a bit confusing.
The first part up to Petit Donon was very pleasant and technical.
Completed in 6 hours.

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PopEtAlex
PopEtAlex

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Dec 30, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very pretty route, with magnificent views in the first part and a second part in the forest. A varied and very pleasant walk. We really enjoyed ourselves.
Because of the frost and recent snow, the rocky paths around the Donon were a bit slippery, but with a bit of care it was fine without any major problems.

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irma70
irma70

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 21, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

parish specific to Brittany, a beautiful wooded walk, superb scenery and a lot of fun hiking in this region.

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MMarine
MMarine

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 22, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We met a lot of people for the first 3 km and then no one.
The first few kilometres are steep, with a lot of rocks to climb and then descend. It's essential to be well equipped (good shoes and poles) and to be a beginner.
Magnificent views from the Donon temple and the Petit Donon.

Thank you for this great route!

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Gutfreund
Gutfreund

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 24, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A parish specific to Brittany!
Short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2qTUe0w...

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VINCE 68
VINCE 68

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 17, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Superb morning walk!

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

There's nothing we can do about it, but the GR5 overhangs the road, and cars and motorbikes are unfortunately noisy.

There's nothing we can do about it. Many of these motorbikes come from Germany, where they are banned from the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse at weekends. So they come to pollute the route des crêtes, where the elected representatives have not yet understood the dangers of mass tourism.

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syfred
syfred

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Magnificent! Crowded up to the Temple and quiet after that.
Note: from memory, if I'm not mistaken: on stage 7, it's not a yellow cross but a yellow easel.
On the final stretch, and what a final stretch it is, there's nothing you can do about it, but the GR5 overhangs the road, and cars and motorbikes are unfortunately noisy. But the final climb takes us away from it quickly, and high up.
We loved it! Thank you so much!

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VL79
VL79

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 14, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

The start of a busy circuit. Two very fine views from the temple and from the small donon. On the other hand, the rest of the walk is uninteresting, as you descend as far as Grandfontaine and then climb back up to the car park: a lot of ascent but no place of interest on the second part of the walk, no views... shame.

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lazzerini
lazzerini

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 04, 2024
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We did the walk on a Monday rather than a Sunday to keep the number of people on the trails to a minimum. It was a success, especially so early in the year.

The Grand Donon temple is a magnificent place. The view of it from the Petit Donon is amazing, and you can see the temple when the weather is good. This was the case for us, and it was unexpected as there was a lot of fog. After the Grand Donon and Petit Donon, the return journey is much more conventional, especially with the change after the (10).

As already mentioned last year, the GR signposting used here, after the 10th, no longer passes over the Grandfontaine footbridge, which in fact no longer exists. The safety rail has been closed. We can therefore assume that there will be no replacement and that the modification is made to last. The new route is much steeper, very unpleasant with the noise of the secondary road and the forestry work. In short, we would have preferred to return to the car park by another route. Note that the path marked Croix Jaune (which ran parallel to the old route) is no longer accessible either, according to the information note on site.

GPX trail: https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-4635... for the author or moderator to update.

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Jp 3011
Jp 3011

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A fine ride
The last ascent of the Donon was a good physical effort...

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