On the slopes of the Grand Ballon from Jungholtz

A moderately challenging hike which, as the paths wind their way, offers beautiful views of the Rimbach Valley, the Alsace plain and, of course, the summit of the Grand Ballon. Crossing the little Kaltenbach valley with its trees and moss-covered rocks, its small waterfall and the remarkable 1914–1918 baths is a real treat.

Details

4443410
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 20.08 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 8h 10 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 842 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 843 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 988 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 438 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Car park at the Sainte-Anne Convalescent Centre above Jungholtz.

(S/E) To the left of the information board, take the path marked with a Blue Cross towards Holzwasen/Firstacker. A few metres further up, you’ll reach a wide forest track. Follow it uphill, ignoring the paths coming from the left and, a little further on, near a reservoir, a path branching off to the right marked with a Green Ring (botanical route). Then ignore a path on the right marked with a Blue Ring (Lautenbaechlein route). Continue uphill on the wide forest track, ignoring a path coming from the left, until you reach a junction at a hairpin bend near the Rocher des Sorcières.

(1) Do not take the path opposite marked with a Red Cross towards Rimbach, but continue uphill on the path veering left and marked with a Blue Cross (towards Holzwasen). Superb view over the Rimbach valley. Some 250 metres higher up, veer right, still following the Blue Cross markings; ignore the path leading straight ahead marked with a Green Triangle. After a somewhat steep climb, you’ll reach a three-way junction.

(2) Leave the Blue Cross-marked path and take the path on the left marked with a Yellow Triangle towards Holzwasen via the southern slope. About a hundred metres higher up, turn right, leaving the path straight ahead.
Continue along this Yellow Triangle path, passing a track on the left and then a second one on the right, until you reach a junction with a wide path ascending from the left. Take this path marked with a Blue Cross towards Holzwasen/Sudel. Follow it uphill for about 150 metres to find the start of a footpath.

(3) Turn right onto this path, which is somewhat steep in its first section and still marked by a Blue Cross, leaving the wide forest track to continue straight ahead. Continue, ignoring two paths coming from the right, to reach the Holzwasen shelter.

(4) At the rear left of the shelter, take the path, still marked with a Blue Cross, towards Sudel/Firstacker. This path leads onto a forest track where you turn left and head uphill. Continue uphill along the path, crossing two forest tracks which you ignore. Pass above the Chalet du Sudel and, a few metres further on, enter the forest at the Sudel signpost. Head slightly to the right uphill, ignoring the path on the left and the one leading down to the Sudel pasture. Continue uphill to reach the junction of paths at the Col de Firstacker.

(5) Walk down the meadow and head towards the signpost. Look for the Red Triangle path (towards CVSoultz/Glashütte), ignoring all other directions. Enter the forest at a large green signpost (Ville de Soultz - Water catchment area ...). Walk past the Club Vosgien de Soultz mountain refuge and head towards the Glashütte farmhouse inn.

(6) Walk past the farm and, about 50 m beyond the inn’s entrance, look for a gap in the fence leading to the pasture below (Blue Triangle and Red and White Rectangle sign). Head down the meadow along a wide path that curves sharply, aiming for a solar panel situated at the junction with a forest track arriving horizontally. At the junction with this track, follow it downhill, veering left and completing the hairpin bend. Ignore the two paths branching off furthest to the left at the middle of the hairpin. About 150 metres after this hairpin bend, you will come to a second hairpin bend, which you follow downhill for 50 metres.

(7) At the crossroads after thissecond hairpin bend, ignore the path straight ahead marked with a Red Rectangle and White Rectangle towards Rimbach Zell, and take the path marked with a Blue Triangle to the right towards Diefenbach. Cross a wooden footbridge and, further up, ignore the path heading to the left. Continue slightly uphill to reach a junction with a wide path.

(8) Turn left downhill into a wide 180° bend on this path towards Diefenbach/Rimbach Zell. Continue slightly downhill and approach a bend near the Diefenbach Inn.

(9) In the middle of this bend, take the path furthest to the right, marked with a Blue Triangle. At the top of a small hill after 300 m, ignore the two wide paths on the right and the one on the left, and continue along the path marked with a Blue Triangle (Rimbach/Zell) and a Red Triangle (Holzwasen); about 300 m further on, you will reach a crossroads by a bench.

(10) Ignore the Blue Triangle path continuing straight on towards Rimbach and take the path on the right, which is a bit steep at the start and marked with a Red Triangle, heading towards Holzwasen. This path crosses a level path and continues uphill to a wide path, which you should take on the right, still climbing. Ignore a path on the left and then another on the right, and you will arrive at Holzwasen for thesecond time.

(4) From the shelter, take the wide path opposite towards “Croix Zimmermann/Col Amic”, marked with a Red Disc and a Red Cross. Follow this path for about a hundred metres.

(11) Leave the wide Red Disc path, which continues towards Col Amic, and take the small descending path on the left, marked with a Red Cross, towards Hartfelsen/Croix Zimmermann. When you reach a junction with a wide forest track, take this track to the right as it descends. Continue downhill, ignoring a small path coming from the right. Join the road leading to Col Amic. Follow it downwards for a few metres to the left.

(12) Turn right onto a path marked with a Red Cross (towards Chapelle Sicurani/Croix Zimmermann/Wuenheim). This downhill path winds through a young forest and leads to a wide track; follow this track downhill alongside the Kaltenbach stream. Ignore a path coming from the left and rejoin the Route du Col Amic at a hairpin bend.

(13) Take a path marked with a Red Triangle (Croix Zimmermann) and a Red Cross (Hartfelsen) on the right. A few metres further down, stay on the Red Triangle path running alongside the Kaltenbach stream, ignoring the path on the right towards Hartfelsen. Then descend a lovely path lined with moss-covered trees along the small Kaltenbach valley, where you can admire a beautiful waterfall and the remarkable baths dating from 1914–1918. Continue for about a hundred metres until you reach the bend in the road leading to the Col Amic, at the Zimmermann Cross junction and the Club Vosgien de Soultz shelter.

(14) You need to find a path marked with a Yellow Disc. To do this, cross the road and walk down it for a few dozen metres, with the car park on your left, until you find the path on the left towards “Sainte Anne/Holzwasen”, marked with a Yellow Disc.
This path crosses a wooden footbridge over the Kaltenbach and climbs back up to join the Route du Col Amic, which you reach after a few steps up a staircase. At the junction with the Route du Col Amic, take the path opposite, still marked with a Yellow Disc (towards Holzwasen/Sainte Anne). Pass a hunters’ lookout post and, after a steep climb, reach a crossroads.

(15) Turn left and continue the climb (less steep). Carry on, ignoring a path coming from the left, and join a wide forest track (marked with a Blue Cross).
At the junction, ignore the sign for Holzwasen on the left and continue along the path towards Sainte-Anne, marked with a Yellow Disc, until you reach the Carrefour de l’Heure.

(16) Ignore the paths leading towards Wuenheim, Thierenbach and Gros Chêne and continue left along the wide path marked with a Yellow Disc. On the descent towards Sainte-Anne, at the bench, pay no attention to the paths coming from the right or left. Stay on the wide forest track and, after crossing a wide path, you will reach the car park at the Centre Sainte-Anne (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 439 m - Sainte-Anne Centre car park
  2. 1 : km 1.81 - alt. 613 m - Rocher des Sorcières - Junction
  3. 2 : km 2.56 - alt. 707 m - Crossroads
  4. 3 : km 4.78 - alt. 738 m - Crossroads
  5. 4 : km 5.59 - alt. 811 m - Crossroads - Abri du Holzwasen
  6. 5 : km 7.93 - alt. 955 m - Firstacker – Junction
  7. 6 : km 9.71 - alt. 805 m - The Glashütte
  8. 7 : km 10.33 - alt. 708 m - Crossroads
  9. 8 : km 10.91 - alt. 732 m - Crossroads
  10. 9 : km 11.55 - alt. 673 m - Diefenbach - Junction
  11. 10 : km 12.27 - alt. 721 m - Bench - Junction
  12. 11 : km 13.99 - alt. 815 m - Crossroads
  13. 12 : km 15.06 - alt. 737 m - Crossroads
  14. 13 : km 15.99 - alt. 601 m - Col Amic Road – Junction
  15. 14 : km 16.97 - alt. 470 m - Soultz Shelter – Junction
  16. 15 : km 17.89 - alt. 549 m - Crossroads
  17. 16 : km 18.62 - alt. 529 m - L'Heure crossroads
  18. S/E : km 20.08 - alt. 438 m - Sainte-Anne Centre car park

Notes

Holzwasen shelter
Glashutte Farm Inn
Diefenbach Inn

Worth a visit

View of the villages of Rimbach
View of the Alsace plain
View of the summit of the Grand Ballon
Kaltenbach Valley

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 4 reviews

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

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 15, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A really lovely, varied route – it’s a shame that in some places the logging vehicles have been through, and with the rain on top of that, it’s made some of the paths so impassable that we had to leave the track because of the ruts – what a pity

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vince68
vince68
• Edited:

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 18, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely route, though at point 12 I couldn’t find the path, so I cut straight across the slope (which was very steep, wooded and therefore risky). I found the path again further down. In fact, the IGN map isn’t accurate at this point; the path starts higher up, before the road on the left (100m). You have to leave the forest track; there must be a marker that I didn’t see. You can see it on the OpenStreetMap hiking maps, and it joins the road further down than point 12, at least 50m lower. I’ll check this theory next time.
Otherwise, a pleasant hike with ups and downs. You can stop at a farmhouse inn halfway for a good meal You can also visit Thierenbach, which is on the way from the start.

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Nature57
Nature57

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : May 19, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely day's walk on this route, which runs mainly through woodland – very pleasant in the heat. The route description and signposting are excellent. There were very few people out and about on this route on 17 May.

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damien.hartmann
damien.hartmann

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : May 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk!
The route runs almost entirely through the forest, with gaps in the vegetation offering superb views of the Grand Ballon and the surrounding valleys at times. The view from the Glasshütte farmhouse inn over the Rimbach valley is absolutely stunning, and makes you want to come back and settle here one day. The Kaltenbach waterfall is magnificent and mesmerising; I stopped there for 10 minutes, lulled by the sound of the water and the steady flow of the three streams that meet there, well-fed by the heavy rain the day before.
The paths are all very pleasant, with no particular difficulty.

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