The Vosges…. once, together with the Black Forest, a huge mountain range. Until Italy found it necessary to collide with Europe some thirty million years ago. This created the Alps and the huge plate on which the old mountains lay broke and largely collapsed. In the enormous groove that was created then, the Rhine now separates the Western Vosges from the Black Forest in the East.

The ridge that remained formed the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1918. 1918, you read that right. The end of the First World War. Afterwards, boundaries were literally shifted, but you can already imagine that the terrain of the Vosges in WWI was particularly turbulent, and the Route des Crêtes (literal translation: road over the mountain ridges) is a remnant of that.

The road was built by the French army at the time to connect the southern front in Alsace with the northern and ran just behind the front line for the Rhine Valley. There are several 'mountain ridge roads' in France, but none carry as much history as the Route des Crêtes in the Vosges.

Our route starts at the Hotel Col du Bussang, located barely 500 meters from the source of the 544 kilometer long Moselle, a 'highlight' on the route where you should make a stop, if only to pay tribute to the river that has already provided so much Eifel and motorcycle pleasure to all of us.

It's hard to believe that a river of this size comes from such a tiny source. Don't expect majestic Moselle views here, because the large, imposing Moselle here is just a (very) small stream that is slowly growing into adulthood.

After 14 kilometers you pass the first gas stations on the route, after which you drive gently curving towards the north-east through, among other things, the Foret Domaniale de Géhant where there was also heavy fighting in WW I.

You are now driving in the direction of the 'start' of the Route des Crêtes, or the ridge route through the Vosges. The Route des Crêtes is best known for the home-garden and kitchen motards when it comes to the Vosges. This is the first route that comes to their mind when the Vosges is the subject of the day. After all, these people think that the Vosges only has the Route des Crêtes to offer, but those people are terribly mistaken. The Vosges is so much more than that… But the Route des Crëtes is a mandatory bucket list ride that every self-respecting motorcyclist should have ridden at least once.

In this route you go up the Route des Crëtes at the height of the Col du Bonhomme. The same home-garden and kitchen motards think that the Route des Crêtes starts there, but they are grossly wrong about that… The actual start is slightly more northerly of the Col du Bonhomme, but it also strongly depends on which map you have in front of you…

From Col du Bonhomme, where you can take a break if desired, you pass the 'Gazon du Fang', one of the highest peaks of the Vosges (1306m), completely surrounded by a beautiful nature reserve and equipped with a majestic view point. After all, it is only a few hundred meters from the car park to the cliffs on the edge of the plateau overlooking the plains of the Rhine and Alsace. With good weather you can see as far as the Jungfrau in Switzerland. Very beautiful and well worth the walk.
After the 'Lawn' you pass the Col de la Schlucht at the next route point; posing here is pleasant and, if you feel like it, a 'toboggan ride' is a pleasant change here.

Just like we can pull super nice turns with the sled on the Col de la Schlucht, we will do the same with the motorcycle on the Col de la Bramont.

We leave the Route des Crêtes for this. As I said, the Vosges really are so much more than the Route des Crëtes and you will fully support me here after the Col de Bramont. You will not regret your side step, on the contrary, the 'Bramont' with its 40 delicious pins is a real pleasure to drive. Then you return slowly via the D27 to the Route des Crêtes, to quickly reach the 'Grand Ballon', the highest point of the Vosges.
You can also consider a short stop here to enjoy, in good weather, the view that extends as far as Mont Blanc….

After the 'Grand Ballon' we make a small excursion to the wartime past of the Hartmannswillerkopf on route point 12. Here you become quiet and very humble… Hartmannswillerkopf is after all a historic cemetery on the place where around 50,000 people died in an absolutely pointless trench warfare between 1914 and 1916. All to seize power over a rocky outcrop now nicknamed 'The Man-Eater' and 'The Mountain of Death'. You would for less….
A truly hallucinatory battle was fought here. For example, on December 21, 1915 alone – in one day – 250,000 shells were fired by the French Artillery. You can perhaps imagine the massacre and the rebuttal of the Germans. 6000 bunkers were built here. Half of these are still visible along a 90-kilometer course of trenches from which the smell of death may never disappear.

When you've got rid of the chills, we'll set sail from Hartmannswillerkopf back to the hotel on the Col du Bussang.

In the small version, the Route des Crêtes is a super relaxing ride in which motorcycle 'tourism' has taken on a new meaning. Excellent roads lead you to touristic highlights while giving you plenty of time to fully enjoy it all. That is also the reason why this route, despite the few kilometers, also receives a 5 star rating, which will probably be extensively confirmed during the evening meal.