Ormont Massif

Hike through the pine forests on the heights of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, in the Ormont area, to discover Saint-Dié from several viewpoints.

Details

208781
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.31 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 354 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 353 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 862 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 509 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Access: From Saint-Die-des-Vosges, take the CD82 towards Nayemont-les-Fosses. On leaving the hamlet of Dijon, turn left towards Résidence Abel Ferry and continue for about 2km until you reach the Kiosque du Paradis on the right, where you can park.

(S/E) Take theGR®533forest path marked with a green rectangle towards Roche des Fées. When you reach the end of the forest path, take the path opposite that continues uphill, following the green markings and yellow diamond.

(1) At the end of the path, head east on the other Roche des Fées path. Climb and cross a forest track. At the next junction, take a sharp right onto the ridge path to reach the Roche des Fées viewpoint.

(2) Turn left (east) towards Roche du Sapin Sec, still following the green and yellow markings. You will reach a crossroads with a sign for Roche du Chapeau.

(3) Continue straight ahead (east-northeast), pass the television relay station and climb up to Roche des Cailloux.

(4) Retrace your steps to the crossroads with the sign for Roche du Chapeau.

(3) Turn right onto the path marked with a blue cross. At the T-junction, turn left towards Roche du Chapeau, following the yellow cross markings.

(5) At the hairpin bend, leave the track and follow the signs to Fontaine du Chapeau on the left (west). Make a hairpin bend and then descend the winding path. At a forest crossroads, take the path down to the left towards Le Paradis. You will reach the tarmac forest road.

(6) Continue left (south-west) towards Nayemont and arrive at the forest road.

(1) Head towards Le Paradis on the right and follow the same route back to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 509 m - Le Paradis kiosk
  2. 1 : km 1.1 - alt. 630 m - Forest road junction
  3. 2 : km 1.86 - alt. 738 m - Roche des Fées viewpoint
  4. 3 : km 2.28 - alt. 825 m - Crossroads signposted Roche du Chapeau
  5. 4 : km 2.52 - alt. 862 m - Roche des Cailloux viewpoint
  6. 5 : km 3.3 - alt. 799 m - Roche du Chapeau crossroads
  7. 6 : km 4.65 - alt. 649 m - Forest road
  8. S/E : km 6.31 - alt. 509 m - Le Paradis kiosk

Notes

Walking shoes.

Worth a visit

Visit Saint-Dié and its cathedral.
Lake Gérardmer located about 30km away.

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

4.6 / 5
Based on 13 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.5 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
PIERORAZIO
PIERORAZIO

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

  • Beautiful route with numerous views of the valleys
  • pleasant forest trails
  • interesting historical remains from 1914–1918
  • fairly technical descent from Ormont (slope with roots and rocks), made more difficult in wet weather

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Dompie
Dompie

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 29, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A very pleasant hike through the woods in the heat.
Some sections are quite steep, but the view at the end is breathtaking!
A must-do in St Dié

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TitiAcheres
TitiAcheres

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 06, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A walk to enjoy in warm weather, in the shade
Nice viewpoint
Thank you for this itinerary

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JCD54
JCD54

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 07, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A beautiful route that is easy to follow and very pleasant to walk!

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jeanjacschaeffer
jeanjacschaeffer

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 20, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Very beautiful route, well marked and well explained

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Zielinsky
Zielinsky

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 16, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very satisfying hike, but a few suggestions for the description:
The intention (admittedly commendable: to facilitate access to S/E and situate the hike in its context) to include an excessively large area on the periphery has the effect of reducing the readability of the route itself. At this scale, the dots marking the stage numbers become intrusive and the details are difficult to see (for those who, like us, only use the downloaded and printed map). As a result, labels 6 and 2 unfortunately obscure a somewhat complex part of the route. Hikers are obviously not familiar with the terrain and are wary of uncertainty.
- At no. 2: the map does not mention the name of the place (Col des Cailloux), but it is clearly visible in situ. Simply mentioning it would be more useful and reliable than the circumlocution " the crossroads where a sign indicates Roche du Chapeau ".
- In addition, it might be appropriate to state explicitly at this point that, depending on individual preferences and abilities, numbers 3 and 4 allow for variable geometry on this very beautiful hike! From this pass, there is a choice: either (as we did) just Roche des Cailloux as a round trip; or, it seems, to take a detour: Roche des Cailloux - Roche du Hof - Roche du Sapin Sec, and from there rejoin the basic route (via a Rectangle Vert trail followed by a Croix Verte track) at point 808.
- At no. 1 on the way back: after following the track from no. 6, we luckily didn't miss the start of the path down to Paradis on the right. Nevertheless, this can happen, and hikers should be spared this possibility by mentioning the name of this junction, Carrefour de Bellevue, which is also clearly marked. Why not do so?
We will happily do this hike again – now with experience! Thanks to its author.

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Chama
Chama

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 28, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful hike, quite popular due to its proximity to St Dié. Superb views from the various rocks, all of which are remarkable.

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Alinette
Alinette

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jan 10, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hike done on 10/01/2021, with beautiful sunshine and snow. The route description is spot on, the hike is really nice, with some beautiful views. A little slippery today with the snowy/frozen ground (we did it with regular hiking boots).
We added a short detour to Roche du Sapin Sec (which added about 2km to the route, I think), the view is worth seeing, especially at this time of year with the snowy landscapes.
You can extend the walk with a detour to the Molières waterfall, but we didn't do it due to lack of time (no idea how long it takes to get there).

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waiwaite
waiwaite

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 30, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : Not used / Not applicable
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We extended our walk to La Roche du Sapin. It's very easy with the app. Beautiful views and shade

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EDITH14060501
EDITH14060501

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 10, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

superb hike

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nono0911
nono0911

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 06, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average

a beautiful hike through the woods and around the ridges with several viewpoints over Saint Diè and its surroundings
but it's a shame not to extend the route to the Roche du Sapin Sec and enjoy a superb 360° panorama
which avoids retracing your steps + 1 km, clearly marked, which leads back to the return route

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hchevalley
hchevalley

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 17, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

a lovely walk with beautiful views.
Option to extend the walk by going to the Roche du Sapin Sec rock or the Molières waterfall.

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delotmartine
delotmartine

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 28, 2016
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The route should be extended to the dry fir tree rock, where there is a magnificent viewpoint.

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