Gunstett Plain and Surbourg Forest (short route)

The car park is situated next to the spa and functional rehabilitation centre. Alternatively, there is another car park at the Maison des Associations, next to the roundabout where the D27 and D250 roads meet.

(S/E) Leave the car park and head for the D27, known as the Route de Haguenau. Cross the road with great care (at the pedestrian crossing) and follow it, turning left.
Walk past the spa centre. Continue towards the exit for Morsbronn-les-Bains.
Cross the D86 road leading to Durrenbach and take the footpath (cycle path) which descends towards the car park at the Maison des Associations.

Go under the archway between the Maison des Associations and the Syndicat des Eaux to join the cycle path that runs along the rear of these buildings. Here, there are two picnic tables and a drinking fountain.
Turn left onto the cycle path. Cross the Route de Gunstett with care (at the pedestrian crossing).

(1) Turn right onto the cycle path that runs alongside Route de Gunstett.
Opposite the entrance to the leisure park, cross the road via the cycle path (protected crossing) and follow the road on the right-hand side. Cross the Sauer via a small bridge built for the cycle path. Continue to the entrance to Gunstett.

(2) Turn right onto a small dead-end road serving the houses. The road continues as a farm track which turns at a right angle and runs behind the gardens of the houses on Rue des Iris.
The farm track runs along the edge of a small wood before winding its way through fields and joining Impasse de la Rivière. Carry on straight ahead and, at the end of this cul-de-sac, turn right into a street leading towards the Sauer.
On the banks of the Sauer, you’ll see the pretty wooden wash house.

(3) Return to the road and turn right into a large open space. When you reach the mill buildings, turn right onto a farm track and cross the River Sauer.
Go round the mill along a farm track which soon crosses the River Sauer again, leading you to a large sawmill.

(4) Turn left and walk up Rue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny until about twenty metres past Rue du Général Koenig on the left.

(5) Turn right onto a forest track known as Neuweg.
This track is lined with two wayside crosses in its first section and another further on, after passing under the high-voltage power line.
Carry on straight ahead until you reach a road leading from the D250 to the village of Biblisheim.
Cross the road carefully and continue straight ahead onto a path that leads into the woods, close to the edge.

(6) At the first crossroads, about three hundred metres on, turn left (at a right angle) onto the track heading north.
Carry on straight ahead until you reach the D250 road. Cross with great care and carry on straight ahead through the forest (a path that is more or less marked out in a relatively open area) until you come out onto a forest lane running perpendicular to the direction you are travelling in.

Turn right onto this lovely forest lane. Continue straight on until you reach a T-junction.
Turn left onto a forest track which gradually becomes narrower.
Pass the first path on the left and continue to where the path crosses a forest lane (at an angle).
Turn left onto the forest track and continue until you reach a forest road. The path comes to a crossroads where the road coming from the north gives way to a stony track, but where several other paths, some more clearly marked than others, also join.

(7) Turn right onto the road heading north. This crosses a vast open area before reaching the edge of a wood (Heidenbusch).
Turn left onto a path which starts on the right-hand edge of the woodland and then enters the woodland, running almost level.
When you reach almost the opposite edge of the woodland, turn right at a right angle onto a forest track which quickly begins a steep descent.
At the junction with a forest track, turn left onto this level track before heading uphill to the edge of the woodland.
It leads onto a small road heading west. Turn right onto it.

(8) At a right-hand bend in the road, take the forest track on the left which runs alongside the fence of a plot of land. Follow this overgrown forest track until you reach a road.

N.B. Those who do not wish to take this overgrown farm track can continue along the small road that goes round the area, turning left twice onto other roads.

At the end of the farm track, carry on straight ahead onto the farm track which takes the place of the road at this point. This farm track runs almost along the ridge as far as Gunstett.
Carry on straight ahead to Rue des Seigneurs, which overlooks the village of Gunstett and is lined with newer houses.

(9) Carry on straight ahead, along the hillside, into Rue des Romains. Follow it to the D250 road (which descends after a right-angled left-hand bend).
Turn right onto the Route de Gunstett (D250). Cross it carefully to rejoin the cycle path as you leave the village.

(2) Take the cycle path, cross the Sauer and cross the Route de Gunstett carefully (at the pedestrian crossing) near the entrance to the leisure park.
Continue along the cycle path until you reach the junction with the D27 Route de Haguenau.

(1) Turn left to cross Route de Gunstett with care (at the pedestrian crossing) and take the cycle path leading towards the Maison des Associations.
About a hundred metres further on, turn right to go under the archway between the Maison des Associations and the Syndicat des Eaux.
Cross the car park of the Maison des Associations heading south and take the path (cycle path) which leads to the junction with the D86 road heading towards Durrenbach.

Cross this road with care (at the pedestrian crossing) and continue straight on until you reach the front of the Beau Séjour hotel.
Cross the D27 road with great care (at the pedestrian crossing) and turn right into the spa centre grounds via a pedestrian entrance (three steps).
Take the path that goes round the spa centre buildings to the north and west.

When you reach the rear corner of the southernmost building, turn right to reach the car park via a narrow pedestrian passageway next to a small building (S/E).

This walk takes place over varied terrain, which may be damp or even slightly muddy, so suitable footwear is essential.

As this route is not fully signposted, you will need to follow the directions in the description and on the map, whilst also reading the landscape.

Alternative route:
For walkers who do not wish to walk approximately five hundred metres off the path, upon reaching the road at the corner of Gunstett Wood, just before the ‘6 ’ (elevation 165 on the map), take the road to the left which runs alongside the wood on your right. As you approach the D250 road, take the right-hand branch at the T-junction, cross the D250 road with care and continue along the forest track heading north-east. At the next crossroads, elevation 190 on the map, take the track on the right heading east. Shortly afterwards, you will rejoin the route described in the guide.

Hike completed by the author of this guide on 20 October 2017.

Morsbronn-les-Bains

History

6 August 1870, Battle of Frœschwiller-Wœrth.

In the spring of 1904, a borehole drilled by the Gewerkschaft Gute Hoffnung, whilst searching for oil, discovered a hot spring at a depth of 450 metres, to the north-west, on the edge of the Frœschwiller road leading to the village of Eberbach-Wœrth and the hamlet of Lausberg. Georges Urban, a restaurant owner from Morsbronn, bought the spring and, following analyses, this hot water source at 42°C was found to have beneficial properties for rheumatism as it is rich in sodium chloride and calcium.

Monuments

All Saints’ Church: Morsbronn is one of around 50 towns in Alsace with a ‘simultaneous’ church.
There are several monuments commemorating those who died in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, including the impressive ‘Adler’ (‘Eagle’), not far from the Bouygues telephone relay station on the hills above the village.

Thermal spas in Morsbronn-les-Bains

The thermal water at Morsbronn-les-Bains comes from two natural springs discovered in 1904 during drilling carried out to locate oil deposits in the region: the ‘Les Cuirassiers’ spring at 38.9°C, drawn from a depth of 400 metres, and the ‘Saint Arbogast’ spring at 41.9°C, drawn from a depth of 670 metres.

These two extraction points provide the spa with an abundant flow of naturally warm water rich in sodium chloride, calcium, magnesium and sulphur.

With their sedative, analgesic and relaxing properties, these waters are recommended for the treatment of:
- chronic and debilitating inflammatory rheumatism,
- spinal, cervical or lumbar osteoarthritis, and osteoarthritis of the hip or knee
- fibromyalgia,
- progressive polyarthritis,
- the after-effects of osteoarticular trauma.