Loop Alsace: Niedermorschwihr - Katzenthal - Chateau du Wineck - Trois-Épis. Vineyards and forests.

A varied route that takes us through the typical landscape of the Alsace with its vineyards and wine cellars in combination with a vast zone of beautiful forests.

The route starts at a parking lot in Niedermorschwihr near the junction of the Rue de l'Église with the Altenbergweg. From here we walk along the outskirts of the village and then we immediately pass through a beautiful area of vineyards. The route takes us here over easy to walk country roads with little ascent so that this is a pleasant warming up. In the meantime we already have nice views over the Rhine valley.
After almost two kilometres we reach Katzenthal. Here we can clearly see that this area has its roots in the production of wine. All houses have wine cellars and the places for wine tasting are not missing. Past Katzenthal we go up steeply and we arrive at Chateau du Wineck. This small castle dates from 1200 and is completely surrounded by vineyards. From here we have another panorama, now over Katzenthal and the Rhine valley. Visiting of the Chateau du Wineck is possible from April to October on Sundays and holidays from 14:30 until 18.00 h. Near the castle we will find a picnic table. A little further we arrive in the forest. We now walk on easy going forest paths through a beautiful mixed forest with occasionally trees of an impressive size. At some point, our path changes into a rather narrow trail (Just over 5 km from the start). Our route now is marked by beautiful mosses and ferns that grow exuberantly in this part of the forest. This will continue until we arrive at the Monument du Galtz.
The Monument du Galtz is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Great War 1914-1918, in particular those who fell on the battlefields of Alsace. The monument stands on top of a hill and we can go up a bit via a spiral staircase so that we have a very impressive view of the surrounding area from here. At the foot of the monument we find a number of benches to rest. From the monument there is a tourist's path to Trois-Épis so walking from here is very easy. On this stretch we will encounter several memorial signs. A little further on we leave this main route and continue on the Sentier Castenau which is a more suggestive trail through the forest. We follow this trail all the way to Trois-Épis.
Trois-Epis is probably best known for the Redemptorist Fathers Monastery and the Eglise Notre Dame de l'Annonciation which are located right next to our route as we walk through the village (but not included). The locality takes its name from an apparition of the Virgin Mary to a blacksmith of Orbey named Thierry Schoeré on May 3, 1491. She would have held three ears of wheat in one hand and a hailstone in the other, suggesting that piety would be a source of good harvests. At the place of the apparition, the inhabitants built a small wooden chapel. In the sixteenth century, the pilgrimage experienced a great boom and the new chapel, now made of stone, was enlarged several times to welcome the faithful. Most of the village is nowadays occupied by a health center.
Our route takes the main road through the village and than continues through a beautiful wooded area. There are quite a few hiking trails from Trois-Épis to Niedermorschwihr and we start to follow on of these after leaving the village. After a short stretch I preferred to deviate from this route. Instead we will walk through the valley of the Weidbach. In this way we come across an inspiring forest over a path that winds back and forth around the stream. We ensue this path downhill until we are near Niedermorschwihr where we walk the last part on a nature trail. Here we will follow a beautiful route right along the stream with a bridge and a staircase where necessary. It is clear that a lot of attention is paid to tourism in this region! We arrive at the edge of the village and now ensue a route that takes us past the local sights: beautiful half timbering and a church with a tower with a spiral twist in the roof.
I would say that this is a worthy end of the walk before we come back to our starting point.

Some additional information:
The route is designed in a counter clockwise direction
Time spent: total 6 hours 58 minutes of which moving 3 hours 52 minutes
There are picnic tables after 3 and 8 kilometres from the beginning
There are no taps with drinking water along the way
The track is mostly rather easy from a technical point of view.

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