On the heights of Villé

This short hike in the hills above Villé takes us from the River Giessen to theGR®532trail along the ridges, with beautiful views of the Champ du Feu massif on one side and the Col de Fouchy on the other
the other.

Details

852695
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 10.54 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 313 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 313 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 586 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 281 m

Photos

Description of the walk

Park in the car park near Bassemberg Town Hall.

(S/E) We head west towards Fouchy-Lalaye.
We follow the Giessen river upstream, following the yellow Vosges Club signposts.

(1) When you reach Lalaye, turn right onto the street behind the town hall (red circle). On your right, you will pass the entrance to a mine and continue following the red circle.

(2) When we come to the red cross on our left, we follow it towards the Lalaye Cave Chapel.

(3) From the chapel, take Rue du Haut Pré on the right. 200 metres further on, do not take the path towards Banc du Forestier, but stay on the red cross markings, following the main forest path to the left.

(4) After the last house, a little further on, we leave the path leading to Vieux Moulin on our left and, when the Red Cross turns left at a hairpin bend, we stay on the main path, which we will only leave much further on when a path marked with a green circle branches off to the right.

(5) We take the path marked with a green circle and very quickly arrive at a forest shelter.

(6) From there, we follow the ridge path, marked with a yellow rectangle, and pass the Banc du Forestier shelter.

(7) Shortly afterwards, we turn left towards the Belle Vue kiosk.

(8) We take the return route, following the blue triangle markings, which bring us back to our starting point, the Bassemberg car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 282 m - Car park near the town hall - Walk along the - Giessen (rivière)
  2. 1 : km 1.59 - alt. 306 m - Lalaye town hall
  3. 2 : km 2.01 - alt. 356 m - Red Cross
  4. 3 : km 2.25 - alt. 400 m - Chapel
  5. 4 : km 2.96 - alt. 418 m - Turn right at the fork
  6. 5 : km 5.45 - alt. 515 m - Green circle on the right
  7. 6 : km 5.67 - alt. 539 m - Forest shelter
  8. 7 : km 7.92 - alt. 453 m - Banc du Forestier shelter - Col du Banc du Forestier
  9. 8 : km 9.17 - alt. 391 m - Belle Vue kiosk
  10. S/E : km 10.54 - alt. 282 m - Car park near the town hall

 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

4.1 / 5
Based on 20 reviews

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.3 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
cmb
cmb

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

An extension towards La Honel is appealing, firstly to enjoy the view from a calvary, and then from the summit.
But on 15 September, it was raining.

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NRO
NRO

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 08, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

short hike suitable for a family with an 11-year-old girl. Varied, shaded trails, which is nice in summer. Thank you for sharing

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8500633301
8500633301

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of your route : Nov 03, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A good little route to start with, my friends enjoyed it even though the sun wasn't shining

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RANDO ASSE
RANDO ASSE

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

This route was interesting given the intense heat on Sunday, with two-thirds of the route being shaded.
the path leading to the Virgin Mary statue is poorly maintained, with brambles and vegetation encroaching on the path.
the shelters are well maintained and the rest of the route is in good condition.
as the Virgin's rock can be reached by car, few people use this trail.

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virgule
virgule

No remarkable sites.

I did this hike in 2021 and rated the route as "very interesting".

I have this kind of comment on some of my routes: "no view", "monotonous path", "nothing to see"

This is a hiking site, so it's for people who appreciate nature, trees, plants, animals, and tranquillity. Those looking for remarkable sites (Himalayan footbridges, waterfalls, castles) are sightseeing, not hiking.

At "remarkable sites", people queue up to have their photo taken. That's anything but hiking.

Furthermore, I am not the author of this route.

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Freddy H
Freddy H

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 13, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

In places, the path is very narrow.
Many sections are paved.
No remarkable sites.

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

a tip for not having to worry about markers: use the Visorando app

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RANDO ASSE
RANDO ASSE

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 05, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

currently, during our outings, the Vosgien club's markings have been changed, as have the colours of the signs, which is confusing. For this outing, after the chapel (3), when joining the road, you must first turn left for a few metres before turning onto Rue du Haut Pré. After the Alisier shelter (5), there are quite a few destinations, and we made a small mistake by heading downhill, but we still reached the Banc du Forestier shelter. We may have missed some beautiful views. As we were pressed for time, we didn't continue on to the Belle Vue kiosk but went straight back down via the red cross. It's very steep and in good condition in places. It's a very beautiful route that I would recommend, but it's best to do it in sunny weather as the shelters are open on one side and yesterday it wasn't very warm for our lunch break.

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virgule
virgule

@Mv76

Impossible to find the route. I never found the cave, even at the start you can't find the trail

The markings are fine along the Giessen. Just follow the river upstream. Then, pass to the left of the town hall, and it's signposted "Rocher Notre Dame"

It's not a Lascaux-type cave, but more like Lourdes.

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virgule
virgule

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 09, 2021
Reliability of the description : Not used / Not applicable
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

A very beautiful hike today, under beautiful sunshine. It's an area I didn't know, and it was a wonderful discovery.
I'd say it's not very busy, as I only came across six people. For this region, on a weekend, I consider that to be very few.

Very pretty views. The shelters are great for picnics or taking a break. The trails are clean; I only counted one or two pieces of rubbish over the 10 km.

With the map or app, it's very easy to find your way around. I wanted to use the guidebook, but it's really tedious. I imagine the reviews above are from people who didn't use either the map or the app. On this route, there are sometimes five or six CV markers on the same trail. As a result, the markings are more confusing than helpful. Indeed, as mentioned, the markings on the ground sometimes do not match the map. I think it is best to ignore them.

Thank you for suggesting this route.

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virgule
virgule

Hello,

with the card or the app?

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Mv67
Mv67

Overall rating : 2.3 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 07, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Impossible to find the route. I never found the cave, even at the start you can't find the trail

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virgule
virgule

I wonder if some local branches of the CV take malicious pleasure in constantly changing the markings...

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grandin
grandin ★

Thank you for your suggestion, Michel Stocky
Can you copy the text of the description into Word or similar, make the changes by highlighting them, for example, then paste it all here in a new comment, or send me a private message?

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michel stocky
michel stocky

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Oct 24, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

the labelling has changed! The new labelling no longer matches the description. I am happy to provide the new references
can you tell me how to do this?

kind regards

Michel STOCKY

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