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Parking near the "Les Oréades" nursery school on Rue de Castroville in Ensisheim.
A longer route is available with the hike Along the banks of the Ill, Thur and Old Thur rivers.
(S/E) Head towards the roundabout, turn right along the school towards the gravel pit pond. Turn left onto the cycle path (part of the Ensisheim-Thann stage of the Way of St James, marked Chevalet Vert) along the south-east bank of the pond.
At the end, turn right onto the embankment along the western bank and reach the right bank of the Thur.
(1) Follow the Thur upstream to the left. Enjoy the peaceful setting between the river and the forest that bears its name (Thurwald). Pass a ford on the right; further on, the path leaves the forest.
(2) Continue straight ahead along a field for about 200 m. Turn right into the forest to reach the bank and then, a little further upstream, a pretty footbridge over the river. Cross it and leave the Camino de Santiago.
(3) There are two options:
- short version: take the shortcut on the right (marked with a green disc) downstream to quickly reach the two ponds (7), the preferred option if the weather has been very wet - see Practical Information;
- Long version, the option chosen on the map and in this description: turn left upstream (green disc markings). After about 400 m, leave a path on the right and continue to the next crossroads.
Yellow ring markings.
(4) Leave the riverbank by turning right towards the Parc du Petit Prince. After crossing a field, enter the forest. The path quickly reaches the Vieille Thur; after the bridge, turn right. The path heads north again, leaves the forest and passes a sandstone cross engraved with a hand and the year 1611. 100 m after the cross, you will reach a crossroads before the Feldbach stream.
(5) Continue for a few dozen metres and, after a quick look at the Parc du Petit Prince, return to the crossroads.
(5) Leave the yellow ring trail and take the path heading south-east into the Espenwald forest. Continue in this direction until you reach the Vieille Thur streamagain. A grassy path branches off to the left just after the small bridge.
(6) There are two options:
- If the path is too overgrown, continue straight ahead, leave the forest and return to the banks of the Thur. Follow it to the left (Green Disc markings), leave the footbridge and continue to the ponds and point (7).
- Option chosen on the map and in the description: take this little-used path (not shown on the map) on the right bank of the Vieille Thur. Ignore a path branching off to the left (it leads to the riverbank). Further on, the path moves away from the bank in a south-easterly direction, meets a ditch (the former course of the Vielle Thur) and then heads north-east, approaching the Thur, whose rapids can be heard. When you reach a wide path, turn right at the crossroads between two ponds.
(7) A short return trip upstream along the bank of the Thur allows you to enjoy the rapids and the ponds (dead arms of the Thur). Leave the bank, ignore the green disc markings along the bank, and return to the crossroads by passing between the ponds. See the alternative route in Practical Information.
(7) At the crossroads, the green disc marker on the tree opposite is partially hidden by a white label. Head north-east towards Ensisheim. Keep going in this direction. The path approaches the right bank of the Vieille-Thur and meets a wide forest path near a bridge.
(8) Cross the forest path, leave the green disc markings and head along the right bank on a wide path marked with blue triangles. Further on, it moves away from the river along the edge of a field. Shortly after a "private forest path" sign and an old stone marker, the path turns left. At this bend, a wide grassy path branches off to the right.
(9) Leave the forest track and the Blue Triangle markings. Turn right into the forest and after a few hundred metres you will reach the embankment that runs along the left bank of the Thur. Continue straight ahead. At the end, leave the track and continue to the left. Go down the dyke.
(10) Turn left onto the path that leads to a wide track, then turn right to reach the D4b. Follow the road to the right, cross the road bridge and stay on the right-hand pavement to take the cycle path on the right.
(11) Continue between the houses and the old renaturalised slag heap. Turn right before reaching the street. After about 100 metres, leave the track and take a small path on the left which runs alongside the school fence and leads to Rue de Castroville (S/E).
Visorando member
Difficult 
Local authority
Moderate 
