Above Munster the main road to Gérardmer crosses the mountains by the principal pass, the Col de la Schlucht, where it intersects the so-called Route des Crêtes, built for strategic purposes during World War I. It's a spectacular trail, traversing thick forest and open pasture, where the herds of cows that produce the Munster cheese graze in summer; in winter it becomes one long cross-country ski route. Starting in Cernay, 15km west of Mulhouse, it follows the main ridge of the Vosges, including the highest peak of the range, the Grand Ballon (1424m), north as far as Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, 20km west of Sélestat, once at the heart of a silver-mining district. From Munster it's also accessible by a twisting minor road through Hohrodberg, which takes you past beautiful glacial lakes, the Lac Blanc and the Lac Noir, as well as the eerie World War I battlefield of Linge, where the French and German trenches, once separated literally by a few metres, are still clearly visible.
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