The best road cycling routes around Haut-Du-Them-Château-Lambert

As soon as you enter the village centre of Le Ménil, the road noticeably steepens. From here, it is still 2.1 kilometers to the top. This section is very regular and has no surprises or steep outliers. The percentages constantly hover around 4.1%. You cover the last 86 meters of altitude here to the highest point at 621 meters.

Smooth, even pace between Le Ménil and Cornimont, wide road and mild gradients — ideal as a connecting climb in the southern Vosges massif.

The center of Le Thillot lies in the valley of the Moselle and forms a small but lively village heart. On the Place du 8 Mai stands the 19th-century Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste, surrounded by bakeries, cafés, and local shops. It is a compact, well-organized center with a mix of Vosges architecture, daily amenities, and a quiet village atmosphere. The bakery facade caught my attention.

De Col des Croix is a 679-meter-high mountain pass in the French Vogezen massif, located on the border of the Vosges and Haute-Saône departments. The pass forms an accessible connecting road (the D486) between the northern Le Thillot and the southern Servance. At the top, you will find the well-known Le Chalet Snack du Col des Croix, and the road splits towards the D16 (Route des Forts), the route that continues to the higher Ballon de Servance.

It is a varied and relatively long climb of 13.5 kilometers with which you cover 663 meters of altitude. The average gradient is 4.9%, but this figure is very misleading. The climb actually consists of two completely different parts, interrupted by the Col des Croix

The descent from the Ballon de Servance to the Col des Croix is a technical and quiet route of 10.1 kilometers along the Route des Forts (D16). During this ride, you descend 478 meters with an average gradient of 4.7%. I found it a nice descent.

The end of the climb is somewhat disappointing. There is nothing marked. No photo opportunity. You have a small parking lot, a closed military road, and a picnic spot well hidden under the trees. At the two yellow signs (mainly for hikers) there is the only indication that you are at the Ballon de Servance and at 1158 m. The climb is "cozy". No cars, completely shaded, a few kilometer markers.

From Plancher‑Bas, a long, quiet forest climb begins towards the Ballon de Servance, deep in the Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges. Over more than 18 kilometers, you gain almost 900 meters in altitude, but the real height difference is in the final kilometers: there, stretches of 5 to 12% steadily push you upwards through dense, shady forest. The road is narrow, quiet, and feels purely natural — a climb where you get completely into rhythm. At the top, there is no classic viewpoint, but an open space near the military area: sober, quiet, and precisely for that reason so typical of Servance.