Massif des Vosges

The Vosges Mountains, located in the northeast of France, form the historic border between Alsace and Lorraine. This mid-altitude massif is famous for its "ballons," its rounded peaks, including the Grand Ballon, its highest point (1,423 m).
The Vosges mountain range is the counterpart of the Black Forest, which extends across the Rhine in Germany.

Only the Hautes Vosges form the "Vosges mountains" strictly speaking, while the Northern Vosges constitute a wooded area of ​​low mountains. The Alsatian side has steep slopes while the Lorraine side has a gentler slope.

From north to south, the massif is bordered by the wine route and several hundred ruined castles.

Two Vosges regional parks

The Vosges massif has two regional natural parks: the Ballons des Vosges Regional Natural Park and the Northern Vosges Regional Natural Park.

The Vosges are renowned for their ski resorts (La Bresse, Le Hohneck, Le Markstein, etc.) but are also popular in the summer thanks to a network of 20,000 km of trails marked by the legendary Club Vosgien.

The most popular Vosges peaks

• Le Champ du Feu: located less than an hour's drive from Strasbourg, It is the highest point in the Bas-Rhin department (1100m). Along with Mont Saint-Odile, it is the favorite peak of the people of Strasbourg! At the summit, the Vosges club built a lookout tower in 1898 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the club's creation. A magnificent view of the Vosges, the Alsace plain, and the Black Forest awaits you!

• Le Hohneck: close to Colmar, it is the 3rd highest peak in the Vosges with its 1363 meters. At the summit, you can admire the Lorraine and Alsatian slopes, which are very different from each other. Below is the famous Col de la Schlucht (1139 m) which connects Gérardmer to Colmar.

• Le Grand Ballon or Ballon de Guebwiller (near Mulhouse): the highest peak in the Vosges mountains is very easy to climb, as it only takes 30 minutes round trip to reach it from the nearest car park. The highlight: the view of Mont Blanc, 230 km away as the crow flies, with favorable weather conditions of course!

• Le Ballon d’Alsace: near Belfort, it is located at the southern end of the Vosges mountains and peaks at 1247 m. Quite characteristic with its grassy ridge emerging above the forest, it is easily reached from the nearby car park (30 minutes round trip).

The Vosges Club and its thousands of marked kilometers

Created in 1872, recognized as being of public utility in 1879, the Vosges Club has 128 associations in the Vosges Mountains to practice hiking, Nordic walking, orienteering walking and other outdoor activities.

Many volunteers work on marking and maintaining more than 20,000 km of trails, managing chalets, refuges and shelters for hikers while respecting the protection of nature and landscapes.

Some legendary hiking trails in the Vosges:

• The Rock Trail: a legendary hike in the Munster valley, one of the most popular with nearly 40,000 hikers per year. This trail requires surefootedness and a lack of vertigo. It was created by the Vosges Club of Munster in 1909 to allow visitors to admire the valley's landscapes with their alpine dimension.

• The Vosges Massif Crossing: the historic 430 km long route links Wissembourg to the Territoire de Belfort. Marked with a red rectangle, it is nicknamed "the red rectangle trail". It partly follows the GR5® and the GR53® and requires around twenty days of walking to complete it in its entirety.
  This route is certified at European level: Leading Quality Trails - Best of Europe!

• The Alsace Castles Trail: this trail offers hikers the opportunity to roam from the north to the south of Alsace on a path passing by more than 80 castles, over a length of 450 km, from Wissembourg to Thann. To complete it in its entirety, there are 28 stages of around 18 km each.

• The Way of St. James of Compostela in Alsace: connecting Wissembourg to Belfort and created in 2003, it constitutes the link ensuring continuity between Northern and Eastern Europe, at the gateway to Franche-Comté. It is divided into 12 stages of approximately 25km.

• The 5 Lakes Tour: Lac Blanc, Lac Noir, Lac du Fourlet, Lac Vert, Etangs des Dames, lakes of very different sizes and environments.

• The Markstein Tour: a beautiful 25km hike between stubble fields and forests in the Thur Valley.

Before setting off hiking in the Vosges, don't forget to equip yourself properly: backpack, comfortable shoes, water bottles, hiking poles... Discover our range of hiking poles dedicated to the regions and massifs of France, and in particular our model of Vosges telescopic hiking pole.

Also feel free to check out our article "Choosing your hiking poles wisely".

Source: www.massif-des-vosges.fr; https://www.club-vosgien.eu/ ; https://vosgesquipeut.fr/