Sommet du Ballon d'Alsace

Lepuix

The Ballon d'Alsace is not the highest peak in the Vosges, but it is one of the most laden with stories. On its summit pasture at 1,247 metres, where three départements meet, every monument tells a chapter. First, the statue of the Virgin: tradition has it that Joseph Grisward, a farmer on the summit caught in a terrible snowstorm in 1860, vowed that if he came through it he would raise a statue to Mary — it has stood facing the clouds since 1862. Further on stands the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, the work of the sculptor Mathurin Moreau commissioned by the industrialist Napoléon Marchal and erected in 1903. You also come across the cast-iron orientation table placed in 1880 by the Belfort Alpine Club. The discovery trail loops round the summit in an hour and a half, among bilberries, grazed pastures and immense views — from the Belfort Gap to the Bernese Alps in clear weather. A historic col of the Tour de France, a listed site at the heart of a massif bidding for the Grand Site de France label, the Ballon offers the walker an open-air mountain of stories.

Getting there : Reached by car via the Col du Ballon d'Alsace (D465), car parks at the summit; discovery trail looping round the summit (3–4 km, 1 h to 1 h 30, interpretation panels). Maison du Ballon open from May to October. The GR5 and GR59 long-distance footpaths pass over the summit.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound