Walking tours and Topoguides

In the forest of Bettlach, directly accessible from the town, a path called "casemates" of about 2km, connects three imposing forts of the Maginot Line, built between 1937 and 1940.

This path is lined with excellent explanatory panels that tell the story of this Maginot Line, the colossal efforts it required and the ephemeral role it played at the start of the Second World War.

A beautiful view of the Jura massif spices up this little loop.

The town of d'Oltingue, in partnership with the ONF, has set up a new 3 km footpath allowing you to discover magnificent remarkable trees.

From the parking lot of the St Brice chapel, this trail, straddling Swiss and French territories, will allow you, among other things, to confront a magnificent beech, the largest in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, but also a pedunculate oak, two large Douglas-fir trees or even two Sylvester pines. Possibility to eat on site at the St Brice inn.

The walk begins on the site of the Abbey of Lucelle, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the world. The monastery shone brightly for a long time and its history can still be read in the few remaining buildings. From there, a Swiss getaway allows you to discover a curious rock shelter suspended above the nascent river. We then go up to the plateau which overlooks a valley between two wooded ridges and crossed by the winding waters of the Lucelles.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

Discover the village of Bettlach, facing south which enjoys a superb panorama of the Alsatian Jura massif. Its forest also hosts vestiges of the Maginot line presented through interesting panels. This line of defence, despite the efforts it will have made, played an ephemeral role during the Second World War. The walk then joins the Saint Brice chapel, on the heights of Oltingue, mentioned from the XXth century where you can eat in season in the inn which adjoins it.

Downloadable topoguide below.

According to Marc Glotz, "The Sundgau has only two Romanesque churches, both founded by the dynasties which divided the region in the Middle Ages: the Habsburgs and the Ferrettes. If Ottmarsheim evokes Carolingian grandeur, Feldbach recalls the monastic simplicity. We leave it as we return from a pilgrimage, with regained serenity and the impression of having crossed the furtive shadows of the counts. " 

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

Thank you for respecting the instructions! Be careful not to obstruct private yards by parking.

The snowshoe circuits are marked! Enjoy! 

The town of Winkel and the Sundgau Tourist Office welcome you to the place called “La Charrière” where you can enjoy two snowshoe circuits: 

- a PINK circuit with a length of 3 km, ideal for family practice. This small course takes place in 1h / 1h30 and presents no difficulty. It partly follows the circuit of the Moroccans set up in memory of a Moroccan infantry regiment stationed in Winkel during the Second World War. 

- An ORANGE circuit with a length of 6 km 2h30 / 3h Steps. This very beautiful course will lead you successively to the Allée des Hêtres, to the Neuneich pass to finish with the summit of Glaserberg. Magnificent panoramas over the Alsatian and Swiss Jura will enhance this route all along the route. 

Walking times are indicative. Depending on your walking pace, they may vary. Thanks for taking it into account.

You will enjoy at Winkel de 2 Nordic hiking trails (ungroomed) to be performed in Nordic ski touring or cross-country skiing. These circuits are signposted and have distances of 2,5 km-6,5 km. The tracks are made on skis by volunteers from the first snowfall.

Please note, the site is not suitable for skating as the circuits are not groomed.

Need to rent skis or snowshoes? "Diebolt cycles " in Hirsingue offers a wide choice of Nordic equipment. Snowshoe rental costs € 6 for half a day and € 8 for the day. Sticks are included. 

On this 1914-18 war memory trail, you can observe, in addition to many bunkers, the traces of the mine war, with the pond called "funnel", 9 m deep, the result of an underground explosion, provoked by the German army, under the French positions.

You will cross Gildwiller le Mont, a former pilgrimage site, and its way of the cross to reach Ammertzwiller, which is distinguished by the presence of fields of miscanthus, a plant resembling rushes, sown to replace corn, which pollutes too much in nitrates.

Fifteen didactic panels complete the route.

Departure: Church of Ammertzwiller or Gildwiller on the Mont.

Map of 55 walks and hikes in Sundgau and the Alsatian Jura on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 8€

750 m long and decorated with 23 terminals, the Sentier des Fosses allows you to discover part of the flora and fauna present in a typical alder-ash-tree.

Crossed by the river "La Loutre", the trail is laid out in a wetland where about 80 pits are identified. Tables are set up near the arboretum for picnics and educational work. Nearby are a Sundgauvian orchard and typical ponds. The trail is accessible from the reception area of ​​the Porte d'Alsace.

The forest bordering the town of Durmenach contains a group of 184 large trees, including one called "giant larch". These trees were planted in 1784 by Baron Reutter de Weyl who brought them back from Vorarlberg to Austria. Today labeled, this forest is suitable for a pleasant walk that leads from the valley of the Ill to the old bed of the Rhine, at the foot of the Jura. The well-marked path spares time for rest and leads to a strange crypt, the last vestige of a convent destroyed by the Revolution, where the shadow of an outlawed poet still looms.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

This hike will allow you to discover the breeding farm of llamas and Central Asian Shepherd Dogs of the Hornihof, its beautiful forest which offers magnificent panoramas on the Alsatian Jura and Switzerland from the Glaserberg and its picnic air la Neuneich.

Sunday afternoons between 15 and 17 p.m., in at least acceptable weather, there are small free guided tours of the farm which you can take part in spontaneously. To be sure that you will find someone in uncertain weather, you can also register by telephone (03 89 40 33 60). Free access 

Access: from the Col du Blochmont, take the marked “red cross” path on your right just before going down to Kiffis.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

This circuit will take you around the Saint-Glucker Chapel (site of the disappeared village of Saint-Léger) and further to the Neiweiher pond. Walk along the stream that crosses the flowered village of Hirtzbach and discover the Reinach Park, the last icehouse in Sundgau, and its castle. Do not hesitate to visit them! You can also see the Sonnenberg Institute, a private school, which in 1850 was a spa. 

Guidebook (pocket of 10 walks) given free of charge at the Tourist Office or downloadable opposite. 

Porte du Sundgau, Illfurth is also a high place of history. The fighting of the 1st World War fell in the Sundgau from August 1914. Indeed the French blew up the viaduct of Dannemarie and the front stabilized and extended from the Vosges to the Swiss border.

The front line passed a few kilometers from Illfurth on the Heidwiller side. During this visit, you will discover several bunkers with multiple uses, both ammunition depot, observation post or location of artillery pieces, also the location of a second large cannon located near the Church de la Burnkirch and several casemates.

 Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

The path of the planets, created by the Astroaspach club in partnership with the Municipality of Aspach, is a 3 km circuit which invites you to discover our solar system in an original way thanks to educational panels representing the distance between the planets on a scale. : 1 meter traveled represents 2 km in space! From the Sun to Neptune, what a journey!

Along the way, you can also enjoy the walk in the forest of Litten, its Chapel (1862) then the rural outskirts of the village, walk in the alleys of Aspach to cross at the end of the route the Jardin des Libellules (garden council dedicated to the preservation of water and biodiversity).

This  80 km marked hiking route crosses the Jura massif Alsatian and uses as a common thread the three castles of the territory (Ferrette, Morimont in Oberlarg and the Landskron in Leymen). It offers you the opportunity to recharge your batteries in the soothing setting of an unknown and unspoiled region. Between hiking and discovery, the marked route takes the most beautiful paths and trails that will lead you without great difficulty from one end to the other of this little piece of land forgotten by the frenzy and the ambient agitation. The Alsatian Jura opens its doors to you, it is up to you to enter. 

A complete guidebook details the entire route to download at the bottom of this page.

Do not hesitate to request it directly from the Tourist Office, it will be sent to you by email in PDF format or by post.

The circuit of the three castles is roaming over 4 days / 3 nights with a recommended departure:  

• At the Château du Morimont in Oberlarg for better balancing of the stages
• At the Town Hall of Leymen to take advantage of access by public transport via the tram from Basel station

 Nevertheless, the stay can be made at the start of all stages.

A turnkey stay while roaming with luggage transport is offered to you. The stay is flexible, depending on your means of transport and the place of departure. It can happen:
- in 4 days / 3 nights
- in 4 days / 4 nights

For more information on this traveling trip with luggage transport, click here.

Le bivouac, which consists of setting up your tent for a single night, from sunset to the next morning, is also possible throughout the route. More complete information from the Tourist Office.

This beautiful hike, with superb panoramas, will allow you to discover the Landskrön castle, a dreaded building until 1814, that a Franco-Swiss association maintained with passion and the Mariastein abbey where crowds of people come to pray every year. pilgrims.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

The flowered village of Friesen, in the Vallée de la Largue, has conserved around fifty half-timbered buildings, the construction of which spanned from 1497 to 1878: corbelled houses, traditional farms, fountains, monobloc farms, houses of short timber housing, forges ... put on a show.

A guide, available at the Tourist Office, offers you an easy walk through preserved and richly flowered streets to discover this unique heritage, including the oldest half-timbered house known in Alsace.

The skilful geometry of the traditional sundgauvian half-timbered house, the result of a construction technique developed over five centuries by the corporation of carpenters, is revealed there. The old farm buildings, adapted to modern life, have retained all their old-world charm and the geraniums put the finishing touches on the picture.

The Km 0 trail allows you to discover on a 7,5 km course, in flat and wooded terrain, the various vestiges of the three fronts: French, Swiss and German. The route can be done in both directions.

From 1871 to 1914, Pfetterhouse was the village of the three borders. The terminal of the three powers, where the borders of France, Switzerland and Germany met, had become a tourist attraction and a place of international conviviality.

In the fall of 1914, the French fixed the start of the Front at the Swiss border of Largin. The boundary marker n ° 111 then became the Zero Kilometer of the Western Front.

The Friends of the Zero Kilometer association works, through this discovery trail, to promote and promote this place steeped in history and symbols.

The work it has undertaken has made it possible to restore several concrete structures on the front line, freely accessible and secure. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

This path winds through the village, over the heights and into the woods of Werentzhouse.
Along the route, signs invite you to discover the trees, the fauna, the
cultures, a protected site, the remarkable oak and part of the history of Werentzhouse.
A remarkable view of the Alsatian Jura and the Ferrette castle enhances the circuit that you can start from the town hall. It has been marked by the Vosges Club with a blue ring. It also joins the circuits of the big oak of Durmenach. 

The landscapes crossed here are among the most beautiful in Sundgau. The Mannlefelsen rock shelter, a major Mesolithic site in Alsace, precedes the Ebourbettes which recount General Giraud's escape in 1942. Further on, the ruins of Morimont offer an interesting history lesson on the adaptation of a medieval castle with guns.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

Bendorf is undoubtedly one of the most preserved villages in the Alsatian Jura. You will not see any corn crops there and still beautiful old orchards and pastures, some of which are completely natural. The surrounding forest is beautiful and this route offers many attractions including the Dr Herrings cave, magnificent pasture beech trees, prehistoric entrenchments and the Kastelberg site, not forgetting the plague cross in the Bendorf cemetery and its legend.

Downloadable topoguide below.

The Chemin de Mariastein is a 30 km marked hiking route that crosses the Alsatian Jura, from Levoncourt to Mariastein, taking a former pilgrimage. This route was created at the initiative of the association of Marcheurs de Levoncourt to commemorate the 50^nd anniversary of the pilgrimage which takes place over one day or in several stages.

The Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-la-Pierre, called in German Mariastein, is an abbey belonging to the Benedictine congregation of Switzerland. It is located in the canton of Solothurn in Metzerlen-Mariastein, about thirty kilometers from the village of Levoncourt. The historic route linking Levoncourt to Mariastein has thus officially become “The Way”, like that of Compostela.

It can be done in one go or in stages, all departures being accessible by car. 

• 1st stage of 8 km: Parking Julien Idoux, Levoncourt - La Charrière, Winkel.
• 2nd stage of 7 km: La Charrière - Col du Blochmont.
• 3rd 9 km stage: Col du Blochmont - Burg (CH).
• 4th stage of 6 km: Burg - Mariastein.

Total distance: 30 km

The town of Winkel welcomes you on this tourist trail called "Moroccan Trail" for a meeting with its history and heritage.

Between 1929 and 1940, to guard against any enemy invasion, France built along its borders to the North East a veritable wall of fortified works: the Maginot Line.

In Winkel, in its southernmost part, its unfinished construction between 1939 and 1940 was closely linked to the life of a Moroccan infantry regiment. In their memory, a path already bore their name. It is now quite a journey.

Three circuits are offered: 2,6 km - 3,6 km, 5,6 km.

You will also discover rich, varied environments, typical of the Alsatian Jura, made up of forests, pastures and remarkable landscapes, as well as a set of remains of the Maginot line (casemates, anti-tank defenses, shelters, etc.) today witnesses of history and an authentic element of local identity.

Take advantage of your visit to Winkel to discover the source of the Ill, the main waterway in Alsace, located a few steps from the Sentier des Marocains.

This hike around Ferrette, the great classic, is the opportunity to visit the ruined castle and the city of the powerful counts of Ferrette. Narrow and romantic trails lead to amazing limestone promontories and the mysterious Dwarf Cave, where a famous legend is told. The route can be extended to include the Rossberg panoramic tower and complete an 8 km loop. To do this, follow the blue disc Vosges club markings along the entire length of the course.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

This small 3 km loop will allow you to discover the ruins from the Landskron castle to Leymen. Departure from Leymen tram station or from the castle car park.

Embellished with remarkable viewpoints, themed stations and botanical panels, the trail will take you to a site of great wealth: a forest in the Alsatian Jura. It is notably composed of more than fifty wooden sculptures made using several techniques: chainsaw, wood chisels, wood lathe, etc. Children love it! Possibility of strolling in the village to admire about thirty stork nests. 

Two proposed distances: 2,4 km or 3,4 km.

Path through the forest of the municipality of Durmenach. In particular, you will discover a "giant larch". This tree was planted in 1784 and comes from Vorarlberg in Austria. It largely dominates the surrounding forest and cannot be missed.

Course of approximately 5,5 km shaded and pleasant in summer.
Marked green disc.
Start date from the edge of the forest behind the football stadium, at the end of rue du Niesbach.

Speaking of this part of the Sundgau, André Gide wrote: "We are constantly surprised, as we cross the forest, to find ourselves in the presence of an unsuspected sheet, sleeping mysteriously in the shelter of the beech groves; the rushes y adorn narrow sandy beaches, bordering large fields of water lilies, and there are several remains that recall the First World War and the front line between Largitzen and Bisel.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

Hirtzbach deserves an in-depth visit. The castle, the English park and the opulent residences of Unterdorf line up wisely on either side of the stream, with beautifully flowered banks in summer. Along the way, a country and forest escapade leads to the site of the disappeared village of Sankt-Glückern and to the Landfürstenweyer, the Princes' Pond, with still water.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

The walk leads to the heart of the Glaserberg massif, on the heights of Winkel. You will cross the national forest of Saint-Pierre and the Allée des Hêtres, made up of a remarkable alignment in several ways: number (about 40), age (over 150 years), shape and dimensions of beeches (28 m high and 3m in circumference on average) as well as the regularity of the alignment. Once at the Neuneich pass, it is possible to extend the route to the Blochmont pass and the Hornihof farm, which allows you to contemplate magnificent landscapes characteristic of the Swiss Jura. Take advantage of your visit to visit the source of the Ill.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

Friesen presents an exceptional range of half-timbered houses built between 1499 and 1876. Thanks to a meticulous inventory work, the promenade allows the approach of multiple witnesses of a rural world that disappeared forever after the Second World War. A country path then leads to the Chapel of Our Lady of Grünenwald and to Ueberstrass, in the footsteps of the Knights of Malta.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.

The Eptingen, already established on the margins of the Sundgau in the XXth century, held the two Hagenthals
and Neuwiller where they lived in comfortable castles. This walk crosses their former seigneury and passes through a bottleneck one kilometer wide between the borders, since Neuwiller forms a sort of French peninsula in Helvetic territory. Text Marc Glotz taken from the hiking guidebook in the Sundgau.

Topoguide on sale at the Tourist Office for the price of 1 € the sheet or 10 € the 17 pedestrian topos. Topoguide downloadable from the website of our partner Visorando.