Short walk around Haut du Bois from Ruxelier

Car park before the Auberge du Ruxelier: please leave spaces for the inn’s guests.

(S/E) Walk past the inn and follow the path through the forest marked with a Red Disc sign south-eastwards.

(1) Pass by some rocks, the first of which can be used as shelter, and continue to the memorial stone for Appoline Foinant, who died in 1851.

(2) Shortly afterwards, begin the first steep climb of the route.

(3) At the crossroads, leave the Red Disc markings to your right and take the unmarked path leading uphill opposite, between a rock and the path marked with the Red Disc. About 200 m further on, this path leads out onto a wide track suitable for vehicles.

(4) Turn right onto it to reach the Maquis du Haut du Bois. 300 m further on, at the large crossroads, rejoin the Red Disc-marked path.

(5) Follow it to the left, towards Xamontarupt and Docelles. Walk through the forest until you reach a 90° bend to the right, with a sheep pasture to the left of the track. Walk past a house on the right and follow the road for a few dozen metres until you reach the 664-metre mark. Turn sharply left, running alongside the park.

(6) At the entrance to the forest, ignore the Red Disc-marked path branching off to the right and continue straight on along the private track leading down towards the hamlet of Haut du Bois.

(7) In the hamlet, take the path on the right, skirting a sheep paddock on the left, until you reach the woodland.

(8) Shortly after entering the forest, turn sharply left onto an unmarked track that goes round the sheep paddock and continue until you rejoin the Chemin du Tour de la Vologne: marked with yellow and red GRP® signs.

(9) Take this signposted path on the left, heading north-west. You’ll follow this path right to the finish. Pass the sign for the Cheniménil Forest and carry on to the Carrefour des Bois Banis.

(10) Carry on straight ahead and, a little further on, you’ll reach a viewpoint overlooking the villages of Cheniménil and, further on, La Baffe.

(11) Continue down a slightly steeper slope until you reach the road, which you follow to the left to return to the car park (S/E).

Walking poles may be useful, particularly between points (1) and (4), where there are three tricky steep sections, especially in wet weather.

Take a break at the Maquis du Haut du Bois, where there are benches and information about this Maquis.