The Lac du Grand Ballon and waterfall of Kletterbach

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An original route to get to Lac du Grand Ballon avoiding the road. You will discover beautiful trees, a waterfall and views over the Petit Ballon and the Black Forest along the way.

Technical sheet

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.61 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 3h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 302 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 299 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 1,013 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 745 m
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Photos

Beautiful view
Lac du Ballon
Kletterbach waterfall
the Kletterbach waterfall

Description of the walk

Park your car in the Schutzle car park down the paved forest road of the same name leading to Lautenbachzell. The GPS position of the start of car park is 47°55'24.20"N,7° 7'6.03"E. From the village centre, continue on Grand Rue towards Sengern to find the path that climbs steeply to Schutzle on the left (a sign indicates the direction of Gustiberg). Follow this road to the car park 3 km away. The paved road ends here (S).

Follow signs for Gustiberg. After a 90° turn to the right and crossing a stream, a small well-marked trail heads up steeply to the left (1). Take it to the Gustiberg colony, then on to the farmhouse (2). You then come to stubble and the forest road. Follow it to the Lac du Grand Ballon (well signposted) (3).

On the way back, return to the Gustiberg farmhouse and inn and continue on the forest road on the right, following the Blue Crosses. It goes down a bit at first and becomes flat after a fork that you pass on your left (at a picnic table) (4). Continue to the Kletterbach waterfall at the first rapids you come across (5).
One hundred metres before the waterfall (retrace your steps), a path starts on the left and winds down. Take this and head down to the forest road where you turn right to reach your starting point. Along the trail, you can see the lower waterfall.

Hope you enjoy this walk in Lautenbachzell.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 745 m - End of the tarmac road
  2. 1 : km 1.07 - alt. 812 m - Intersection, path on the left.
  3. 2 : km 1.82 - alt. 976 m - Auberge du Gustiberg
  4. 3 : km 3.47 - alt. 998 m - Lac du Grand Ballon
  5. 4 : km 5.53 - alt. 926 m - Fork, straight on
  6. 5 : km 6.59 - alt. 933 m - Klettenbach
  7. S/E : km 8.61 - alt. 745 m - End of the tarmac road

Practical information

This is a well-trodden route, even if the path back after the waterfall is not very busy and not necessarily very visible. For this part, I recommend proper walking shoes.

If the weather has been below freezing for a while the waterfall may freeze and is definitely worth a look!

You can stop at the Gustiberg farmhouse and inn for a drink or food (outside of summer and weekends, remember to warn them of your arrival).

Reviews and comments

4.5 / 5
Based on 74 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.5 / 5
Clarity of route map
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.5 / 5
Cordier 72
Cordier 72

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : N/A
Busy trail : No

Route follows the track. Adding the tour of the lake would be a plus

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User 26477885

Overall rating : 2 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 13, 2025
Reliability of the description : N/A
Clarity of route map : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : N/A
Busy trail : No

I couldn't find the exact starting point for the hike or get a precise description of the route, so we followed a marked trail

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Colette messner
Colette messner

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 12, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

It's a shame that the forest approaching the watercourse is cluttered with trunks and vegetation, making access impossible and views of the waterfall difficult!

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MCVR13
MCVR13

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 03, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A fine route, most of it in the shade of the forest, which is much appreciated during this hot week at the beginning of September. The lake is magnificent in its green setting.
The waterfalls are meagre at this time of year, but we were expecting that.
Thanks for sharing

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Bayek
Bayek

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Sep 17, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Short and accessible tour. We did it the other way round, i.e. we took the path marked with blue crosses on the way out and not on the way back as indicated in the description. As the path is quite steep, we thought it would be wiser to take it uphill rather than downhill. But don't worry, we're just quibbling, as it's still accessible in both directions 😉
The passage through the Auberge du Gustiberg is most pleasant. And as for the balloon lake, it's a little gem.

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Marion68
Marion68

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Aug 19, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

Lovely hike. It's uphill at first, then becomes easier. Beautiful scenery and magnificent lake.

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honey68
honey68

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : Jul 15, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

A very pleasant route, almost all of it in woodland. A slightly steep climb shortly after the start to the Ferme auberge.

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Paola D'Alessandro
Paola D'Alessandro

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 25, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A superb walk to do in hot weather. The route is shady and not very busy, so it was very pleasant. We also walked around the lake, which gave us 11.5km and 300m of ascent.

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randoviso17
randoviso17

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 11, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : Yes

A lovely shady route, well suited to hot weather. I adapted the start by avoiding the part along the road and taking the forest track from the Monument Brun. It's a nice trail that climbs steadily. We then took the route we'd planned and walked past the pretty waterfalls. There were a few tricky sections, but the route was diverted to avoid the dangerous, degraded areas.

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Carla du 68
Carla du 68

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Jun 05, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Hello,

Hiking on a bank holiday Monday.
I didn't meet many people.
The route is reliable and the directions are good too, even if I didn't follow them very much.

Nice little hike, with a small climb towards the start of the route. This will be the only difficulty.
Some open views to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Be careful, the fences around the horses and others near the inn towards point 1 are electrified.
The waterfall is not imposing but is still very pretty depending on the time of year and the flow of water.

We recommend this walk for a lovely stroll.
Thank you

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keyla
keyla

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of walk : May 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Superb hike! Worth repeating.

Be careful, there's no Internet on most of the route, especially at the start! Print out the description!

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Oliv68
Oliv68

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Apr 03, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

Good walk with medium difficulty. No problems finding your way around.

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Porta Jacques
Porta Jacques

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of walk : Mar 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Busy trail : No

A lovely hike, in a magnificent forest, with a pleasant path that went well and didn't make you feel the climbs. The waterfalls, still frozen over, were superb. The jewel in the crown was the lake, which was still covered in a thick layer of ice, which is not surprising given the biting cold, which also explains the fact that we were alone in the world. Although we were well equipped, our hands and feet were cold throughout the hike, and the icy north-north-easterly wind probably had something to do with it. There were still a lot of trees in the way.

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Randonneur lorrain
Randonneur lorrain

Overall rating : 4.5 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : N/A
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

The Schützle car park is fairly easy to find: I personally use the maps.me app when I'm driving or hiking. Be careful, it's a fairly narrow forest road, so fortunately I didn't run into anyone.
There weren't many people around in February, despite the sun (and the unusual heat).
I first visited the Kletterbach waterfall: the path from the forest road is well signposted, but there were a lot of trees on the ground at the end.
Back on the forest road, then a steep path to the Gustiberg farmhouse inn (closed).
From this farm, the route is then almost flat as far as the lake, which is still partially frozen.
The tour of the lake cannot be done along the banks, but must be done from higher up (there is still a little snow in some places).
A lovely walk to do in a morning (or afternoon).

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Caroboiteamail
Caroboiteamail

Overall rating : 4 / 5

Date of walk : Feb 14, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Busy trail : No

Very nice hike, the frozen waterfall was very pretty, as was the lake, it must be even nicer in summer.
On the way back some trees had fallen, so it was a bit of a climb to get through, but otherwise OK.

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