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Parking (free) and the start point are at the car park in the village centre, located almost opposite the Grand Hôtel, near the beautiful Town Hall (alt. 573 m, if you wish to set your altimeters).
(S/E) From this car park, turn right onto the pavement of Rue Principale, which slopes gently downwards, and leave Rue du Wittertalhof on your right (the street you will return via). From there, staying on the pavement, follow the Andlau stream on your right for about 500 m from the start.
(1) Take Rue/Chemin du Eck on the right for about 1 km; initially a tarmac road, it then becomes a forest track. Continue straight on through the forest until you reach the junction of the forest tracks.
(2) There are three possible directions here; take the first road on the right for about 2.3 km to the Col de Bellevue.
(3) At the pass, turn right onto Chemin de Hirra, marked with a Red Ring, for 2.5 km.
(4) Leave Chemin de Hirra and turn right onto the path, still marked with a Red Ring, which leads to Villa Mathis. Directly opposite Villa Mathis, between the “Parc Aventure” and the “Tour de l’Extrême” with a slide, you will find a rest area with a lovely wooden table and two benches for a picnic stop. Head to the park entrance.
(5) Turn right onto the Route Forestière de la Ceinture but leave it after a few metres to take the path
that veers right, marked with a Yellow Saltire and a Red Ring, and climbs slightly. It rejoins the Route Forestière de la Ceinture. About 300 m after this junction, be careful not to miss the short climb to the right.
(6) Turn right to go round via the summit of Grande Bellevue. You’ll reach the summit after about 200 m.
(7) At the summit, there is also a lovely wooden table with two benches where you can take a break. The view is somewhat obscured by the height of the trees, but you can make out some of the peaks mentioned above. A short descent follows to rejoin the forest road you left earlier.
(8) Turn right onto the Route Forestière de la Ceinture, let the signposted path branch off to the right and continue
for about 200 m until you reach an X-junction.
(9) Turn left onto the path marked with a red Rectangle with a white cross and a yellow Disc. Continue downhill towards the north until you reach the entrance to the village.
(10) When you reach the Wittertalhof, turn right onto Rue du Wittertalhof; the street runs through the whole village towards the east and then turns north to reach Le Hohwald and the junction with the Rue Principale.
(11) Instead of returning to the Rue Principale, a few metres before it you can cross the playground to the left and reach the car park via the rear (S/E).
A lovely walk, ideal for getting back into the swing of things after winter.
Visorando Member
Easy 
Tourism professional
Difficult 
