What could be more pleasant than slipping on your sneakers for a nice family or romantic stroll in the forest?
Less than 5 minutes’ drive from your Les Rochelets campsite is the Pierre Attelée menhir, which gave its name to the forest that shelters it. This is a protected natural site, managed jointly by the commune of Saint-Brévin-les-Pins and the Office National des Forêts. The 41-hectare forest is home to pine trees, as well as common oaks, holm oaks, acacias, maples…
It’s a dune forest, a pretty name recalling that it runs along the coast and thus combines the charms of the vegetation with the delight of the dunes. You’ll find a number of information panels explaining the flora and fauna, as well as a presentation of the menhir that gives the forest its name. The forest is also home to squirrels, which you’re more likely to spot in autumn, when they’re hiding provisions for the winter!
Here are three suggestions for walks that will enable everyone to discover this forest, from short outings of less than an hour to half-day hikes!
Round trip from parking lot to menhir (30-minute walk)
From the campsite, take the D213, nicknamed the “blue road”, and quickly take the “L’Ermitage/Le Menhir” exit. You can park on the Avenue des Pierres couchées before walking to the Pierre Attelée menhir, about 1km away, through the forest on the Chemin du Breneau.
Round trip from campsite to menhir (1h30 walk)
If you fancy a longer outing, leave the car at Les Rochelets campsite and walk to the menhir! It’s a 6km round trip, or about 1h30. Start by walking along the seafront and head south until you reach the forest, where you take the Chemin du Breneau, on which you’ll find the menhir.
Circuit du Boivre (3h walk)
If you fancy a half-day nature walk, the Boivre circuit is for you! On this long 12.7 km walk, you can set off from the Rochelets district, join the coastal path and head for the Pierre Attelée forest, before heading inland. This walk takes its name from the Boivre marsh, an ancient maritime gulf filled in with alluvial deposits and isolated from the sea by a dune. You’ll cross this marsh on your tour, where you’ll be able to spot numerous birds.
For this walk, we recommend that you prepare your itinerary, for example using the map on the Loire-Atlantique department’s hiking website , at this link.
Photo@Antonio Garcia Prats/Pixabay