Haute Bers, Mountain summit in Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges, France
Haute Bers is the highest summit of the southern Vosges, reaching 1,252 metres on the ridge between Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle in the Vosges department and Rimbach-près-Masevaux in Haut-Rhin. Its rounded top carries a small grassy chaume along the crest, ringed by beech forest that thins toward the summit, with a broad meadow in the hollow between it and the Moyenne Bers.
The name Bers derives from the Gallo-Roman Bersa, meaning cradle, referring to the valleys where the three chaumes (low, middle and high Bers) were established. The Alsatian name Obere Bers may also mean highest mountain. The summit marks the border between the Vosges and Haut-Rhin departments and lies on the ridge between the Ballon de Servance and the Rossberg.
The name Bers comes from the Gallo-Roman Bersa, meaning cradle, after the valleys where the three chaumes were set. The Alsatian name Obere Bers may also read as "highest mountain". The Vosges side calls the mountain Gresson, from der Kratzen, a word for both a summit and an old lawn.
The summit is served only by an unmarked path, so map and compass are needed; it is not reached by marked trails from Rimbach-près-Masevaux. The communal refuge of Haute Bers (chalet de la Doller) stands in the large meadow between Haute Bers and Moyenne Bers. The summit's forest belt limits the view, while the meadow opens onto the plain and the Rossberg massif.
Despite being the highest summit of the southern Vosges at 1,252 m, Haute Bers is rarely visited: its forest belt limits the view, and it is served only by an unmarked path, unlike the nearby tête des Perches. Its summit chaume is no longer farmed and is gradually being reclaimed by forest.
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