The Storkenkopf is the second-highest summit of the

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...

. It is located in the French region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, close to the Grand Ballon.

Etymology

In German and in Alsatian ''Storkenkopf'' means "

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

s' head".

Geography

The mountain is divided between the French

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Saint-Amarin, Geishouse, and Lautenbachzell, all belonging to the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

''department''. Near the mountain's top is the ''ferme du Haag'', a farm which also provides accommodation.

Access to the summit

The well known Route des Crêtes ( French for "road of the peaks") transits not faraway from the top of the mountain, which is possible to reach on foot following a

forest service road Forest Highways or Forest Routes are a category of roads within United States National Forests. They are built to connect the national forests to the existing state highway systems, and to provide improved access to recreational and logging area ...

for about .''Le tour des Vosges en 365 jours - Storkenkopf'', article o
www.vosges-rando.net
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References

{{commons category, Storkenkopf Mountains of the Vosges One-thousanders of France Mountains of Haut-Rhin