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.
Calculated time: 3h20[?] 
Distance : 8.61km
Vertical gain : 310m
Vertical drop : 305m
Highest point : 1017m
Lowest point : 771m 
Difficulty : Average
Back to starting point : Yes
Walking
Areas : Vosges mountains, Florival / Vallée de la Lauch / Guebwiller 
Location : Lautenbachzell
(68610)
Starting point : N 47.923182° / E 7.118343° 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 :
D/A : km 0 - alt. 772m
1 : km 1.07 - alt. 831m - Intersection. Take the left path.
2 : km 1.82 - alt. 973m - Auberge du Gustiberg
3 : km 3.47 - alt. 1008m - Lac du Grand Ballon
4 : km 5.53 - alt. 945m - Fork. Continue straight ahead.
5 : km 6.59 - alt. 950m - Kletterbach waterfall. - Klettenbach
D/A : km 8.61 - alt. 773m
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).
Visorando and this author cannot be held responsible in the case of accidents or problems occuring on this walk.
Global average : 4.33/5
Number of opinions : 2
Description quality : 4/5
Routemap quality : 4.5/5
Walk interest : 4.5/5
Global average : 4 / 5
Date of walk
: 27/08/18
Description quality
: Good
Routemap quality
: Good
Walk interest
: Good
We walked this hike, but changed it a bit. When at the lake, it is nice to go (couterclockwise) around the lake and follow the Col du Haag. After about 1 km, turn right and you can take a higher route to Gustiberg.
Global average : 4.67 / 5
Date of walk
: 08/09/16
Description quality
: Good
Routemap quality
: Very good
Walk interest
: Very good
Couldn't actually find car park indicated from coordinates, drove along a tiny degrading road with a precipitous drop on one side! took us to Lac du Grand Ballon, fine - walked from there to Grand Ballon following signs instead - good walk! (much up).
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The GPS track and description are the property of the author.
