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Park in the free car park at the village hall.
(S/E) Cross the small bridge, then turn immediately left onto the greenway, signposted with a Red Rectangle. Follow the River Weiss for a while, then turn right away from it to enter a wooded area. You’ll come to a road.
(1) Follow this road, passing the swimming pool and the Alspach industrial estate, until you reach the paper mill, where the thousand-year-old Alspach Abbey is situated – which is open to visitors (unfortunately, it is not always accessible).
(2) Retrace your steps and continue along the path, still marked with red-white-red Red Rectangles, which leaves the road and climbs into the forest. Pass the Oratoire Saint-Jean on your right. Go round a small fishing pond on the left.
(3) Don’t miss the ruins of the Val Saint-Jean hermitage, dating from 1120. Continue the steady climb, following the same markings. Cross a forest track and, further on, join another at a bend.
(4) Follow it to the left, then leave it at a hairpin bend to reach the pretty hamlet of Ursprung.
(5) Walk through this hamlet and, as you leave it, follow the Yellow Disc signposts. The climb is now over for the rest of the walk. A more gentle path takes you to Saint-Alexis (where you can enjoy a bite to eat on the lovely terrace). You can visit the little chapel by asking for the key at the restaurant.
(6) Continue by turning right onto the path marked with a Blue Cross, which descends into the forest.
(7) At the fork in the road, continue along the right-hand branch, following the same markings, until you reach a crossroads.
(8) At a four-way junction, carry on straight ahead along the path, which is still marked ‘Blue Cross’. Continue to the large crossroads at the Chêne de la Chapelle.
(9) Follow the ‘Remarkable Trees’ trail, which continues straight ahead (ignore the two paths branching off to the left and right). You’ll reach the Rocher des Corbeaux, which offers a magnificent view over the whole valley.
(10) After 200 m, at the junction with a forest track, join the path marked with a Blue Cross, which continues through the forest.
(11) Just after the junction with another forest track, go round the radio mast. The path then becomes increasingly steep and stony as you approach the castle, whose keep is open to visitors (splendid view of the town).
(12) Continue along the ‘Red Ring’ signposted path, which takes you to the centre of the old town.
(13) Just in front of the Church of the Invention of the Holy Cross (1225) stands the pretty Constantin Fountain (1521). Do take a moment to visit the Mont des Oliviers Gallery (1500) located just behind it. Continue along the quaint little street for 200 metres.
(14) Turn left to cross the small bridge over the Weiss (1514, the only fortified bridge in Alsace). Carry straight on to the right; after 100 m, cross the Weiss again.
(15) Carry straight on to the left. The Blue Ring-marked path, which climbs gently, takes you leisurely through the vineyards. After 1 km, at the four-way junction, leave the marked path and follow the road to the far left for 100 m.
Rejoin the path taken at the very start. Cross the Weiss and arrive at the car park (S/E).
Visorando Member
Difficult 
Easy 
