Adventure

La Route des Crêtes des Vosges

The ridge road opened during the Great War: rounded summits, high pastures, glacial lakes and views over the Alsace plain and the Black Forest.

Grand Est

Distance
107 km
Stages
5
Elevation gain
3 010 m
Difficulty
hard
La Route des Crêtes des Vosges and its 5 stage points. Base map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Where to sleep on La Route des Crêtes des Vosges

Halta lists 172 places to sleep within 5 km of the route: 52 campsites, 37 mountain huts, 70 bivouac spots, 13 hotels. For each one, the app shows the real detour from your stage — and it is that distance, not the straight line, that decides how a day ends.

  • Campsites
  • Mountain huts
  • Bivouac spots
  • Hotels

Alongside the campsites, mountain huts and bivouac spots drawn from open data, there are the hosts of the Halta community: travellers who welcome others into their homes, usually for free. You write to them before you come; you do not book a slot.

The 5 stages of La Route des Crêtes des Vosges

An indicative split, drawn on real roads: distances and elevation come from route calculation, not from an estimate. In the app every stage can be adjusted — stretched, cut short, or pushed back a day.

Stages of La Route des Crêtes des Vosges with distance and elevation gain.
#StageDistanceElevation
1 Cernay → Le Markstein 31 km 1 380 m
2 Le Markstein → Munster 23 km 183 m
3 Munster → Orbey 21 km 648 m
4 Orbey → Le Bonhomme 13 km 494 m
5 Le Bonhomme → Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines 19 km 305 m

Frequently asked questions about La Route des Crêtes des Vosges

How many days does La Route des Crêtes des Vosges take?

La Route des Crêtes des Vosges takes about 3 days, split into 5 stages over 107 km — an average of 36 km a day. The split is indicative: stages stretch or shorten depending on your form and the weather.

Where can you sleep on La Route des Crêtes des Vosges?

Halta lists 172 places to sleep within 5 km of La Route des Crêtes des Vosges: 52 campsites, 37 mountain huts, 70 bivouac spots, 13 hotels. On top of those are the hosts of the Halta community, travellers who welcome others into their homes, usually for free.

How hard is La Route des Crêtes des Vosges?

La Route des Crêtes des Vosges is rated hard, with 3 010 m of cumulative elevation gain over 107 km. Per stage, that works out at roughly 602 m of climbing a day.

Where does La Route des Crêtes des Vosges go?

La Route des Crêtes des Vosges runs from Cernay to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, by way of Munster, Orbey, Le Bonhomme, across Grand Est. It is travelled by bike and totals 107 km split into 5 stages.

Figures established on 17 September 2026, from Halta’s own data. How they are calculated.

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Étapes indicatives d'après la Route des Crêtes (massif des Vosges). Tracé reconstitué par routage (ODbL, openrouteservice.org). Halta 2026-07. Places to sleep: OpenStreetMap, refuges.info and DATAtourisme (ODbL). Photo : Wikimedia Commons (CC).