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Above Munster the main road to Gerardmer crosses the mountains by the principal pass, the Col de la Schlucht, where it intersects the so-called Route des Cretes, 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 Selestat, once at the heart of a silver-mining district. From Munster it is 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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