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Head to Hirzenstein. To do this, drive through the village of Wattwiller on theD53 towards Markstein and, 500 m after leaving the village, at a Y-junction, turn right towards Hirzenstein. Park in the car park before the Hirzenstein hotel complex.
(S/E) The starting point is next to an information board showing the Club Vosgien trails. The circuit begins on a forest path to the right of an electrical transformer. Follow the Club Vosgien signs (yellow triangle) towards Lippische Schweiz.
After a few metres, you will see the first German shelter on your left. Cross the valley and the stream. Not far away, you will pass an old German water point called "Léopold Bad". Continue to a T-junction.
(1) Then turn left (west) to go up the valley, still heading towards Suisse Lippique (yellow triangle).
Just after a right-hand bend in the forest path, you will arrive at the start of the fortified trench of Swiss Lippique (there are information boards).
(2) Ignore the trench that climbs up to the left and continue straight ahead. Pass a valley and find the start of a path on the left. Follow this path, which crosses the valley again and then climbs up along the ridge (yellow triangle). You will pass a series of structures, shelters, firing posts and bunkers.
You will arrive at a small pass and a rocky spur (elevation 767). From this fortified rock, you will have a magnificent view of the southern Alsace plain.
Continue climbing towards the summit, following the trench and the yellow triangle.
(3) At the Hexenkuche machine gun nest, which could fire on the entire valley, the path leaves the ridge line and crosses from one side of the valley to the other. The path is flat until you reach a T-junction. Turn left and continue climbing through the fortified trenches, following the yellow triangle marked "Tranchée de l'Échelle" (Ladder Trench) to reach the top of the ridge.
(4) Discover a vast complex of trenches. A memorial trail (red circle) with explanatory panels allows you to explore the entire Hartmannswillerkopf battlefield.
Turn right towards the small white cross of the Alsace-Lorraine volunteers and the monument tothe 152nd. Cross a series of trenches and fortified posts. When you reach the cross, you will have a magnificent view of the Alsace plain.
(5) From this point, you can understand the strategic importance of this rocky spur and the determination of both sides to capture it.
Retrace your steps along the memorial trail (Anneau Rouge) until you reach the fork in the path on the ridge.
(4) Follow the path marked with a red rectangle crossed by a white line to the right towards the other large white cross known as the "lumineuse" (the luminous one), which marks the boundary of the French lines. At the foot of the cross, there is a picnic area.
The hike continues through the French trenches, following the Sentier de Mémoire (Anneau Rouge) trail westward, which generally follows the summit ridge to Rocher Sermet.
(6) Note that the area is much less fortified, with only small forts and shelters. Continue the descent, following the ridge towards the south-west, and reach the Col de Silberloch and its necropolis via the Sentier de Mémoire, marked with a red ring and then a red rectangle crossed by a white line. Cross this and take a small gate on the southern side of the Necropolis, level with the large flagpole, and join the start of a path by following the track that branches off to the left for a few metres.
(7) Follow this path down a right-hand side gully, following the yellow disc markings, heading south-east, until you reach a small bridge.
(8) Note the monument on the right in honour of General Serret, commander of the66th Division, who was mortally wounded here. Cross the bridge and take the path immediately on the right (yellow disc), opposite another German fortified trench.
The path descends a few metres to a forest track.
(9) Turn right towards Hirzenstein, towards Impasse des Alpins and Chemin des Dames. Leave the yellow disc markings and follow the red triangle. At the "Poste Gustave", cross the "nameless ridge" and arrive at the next forest crossroads, known as "Impasse des Alpins".
(10) Take the path downhill on the left (red triangle), which is the Chemin des Dames. You will cross the "nameless ridge" again.
(11) After a bridge, leave the forest path and descend on a trail on the right, marked with a red triangle and blue ring. Just before arriving at Hirtzenstein on your right, you will see a small German memorial. Continue until you reach the hotel complex and car park (S/E).
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