Discover Le Thillot: Hiking Trails and Mining Heritage

Le Thillot combines hiking trails with mining heritage, historic memorial sites and opportunities for a range of outdoor activities. For planning your stay, trail distances, elevation gains and walking times provide a practical guide: options range from an easy hike of about an hour to challenging trails with considerably longer distances.

Hautes-Mynes: Mining Heritage and an Underground Visit

The Hautes-Mynes showcase mining heritage created in granite between 1560 and 1761. At the Rouge-Montagne mine, visitors enter the underground network wearing a helmet and headlamp. As access and the equipment required may change, check the current visiting conditions before your visit. A museum with archaeological objects, models and videos is also part of a visit to the Hautes-Mynes. This lets you combine a tour of the underground network with a look at artifacts and displays in the museum.

Choose Hiking Trails by Distance and Elevation Gain

The Circuit de la Vierge is an easy family trail, approximately four kilometres long, with 84 metres of elevation gain. The Circuit de Chaillon, also an easy family trail, covers 3.5 kilometres and has 126 metres of ascent. The two routes therefore differ in both distance and elevation gain: the Circuit de la Vierge is slightly longer, while the Circuit de Chaillon has more elevation gain. Trail conditions may change; check them before setting out.

Another route runs from the church to Étang de Chaillon. This easy hike is 2.5 kilometres long and takes about an hour. For a longer loop, the Circuit poussette Le Thillot is described as 4.4 kilometres long, with a stated duration of two hours. The loop starts at Étang de Chaume and passes between ponds, meadows and streams; there are numerous viewpoints along the way.

The route around Tête des Noirs Étangs is listed as 9.1 kilometres, taking three hours and ten minutes, and of moderate difficulty. It starts at the Hautes-Mynes visitor car park in Le Thillot. Short detours to Source de l'Ognon and small picturesque ponds are possible along the way. These detours are an option in addition to the main loop described.

Voie du Tacot and Marked Trails

La Voie du Tacot is an easy, five-kilometre route for several activities. It is suitable for walking, cycling, inline skating and pushchairs, and runs away from road traffic. The starting point is next to the Musée des Hautes-Mynes; the route initially follows the Voie Verte towards Remiremont. Five information panels cover the historic trading link between the Vosges and Haute-Saône from 1912 onwards.

The Le Thillot trail station has 13 marked routes, from beginner level to more demanding levels of sporting difficulty. Two of the trails described illustrate the range: the moderately difficult Circuit trail 7 – Les Hautes Mynes is 17.76 kilometres long and has 710 metres of elevation gain. The difficult Circuit trail 12 – Le tour des Crêtes covers 30.75 kilometres with 1,250 metres of elevation gain. The routes therefore differ in both distance and stated difficulty level. Check trail conditions before setting out.

Memorial Sites, Church and Views

The Vierge du Thillot, also called Notre-Dame de la Libération, commemorates the liberation of the village on 26 November 1944. It stands on a 585-metre-high summit with panoramic views over the valley. The Circuit de la Vierge thus combines a named memorial site with a short family hike described as easy.

The Église de Le Thillot was inaugurated in October 1904. Its stained-glass windows were made by the Ateliers Loire between 1947 and 1949. Those wishing to include an option for time in the water can visit the Piscine de Le Thillot – Complexe aquatique et espace bien-être, which has a 25-metre pool, a learning pool, a Pentagliss slide and a paddling pool. Check the current opening hours before visiting.

Le Thillot lies at the junction of two roads: the RN66 runs between Mulhouse and Nancy; the RD486 leads towards Franche-Comté, La Bresse and Gérardmer. The combination of hikes, trails, mining heritage and local sights offers several ways to choose the focus of your trip.

Discover more destinations: Charmes, Ban-De-Sapt, Raon-Aux-Bois, Ventron, Beaufremont, Autigny-La-Tour, Girmont Val D'ajol, Dommartin-Lès-Remiremont

For the broader travel overview: Vosges.