A short family trail to discover the Etang du Moulin des Defays.
FFCT "Base d'activité VTT de randonnée" label.
Tours depart from the Cercle de voile.
On the way:
Be careful: at the start, cross the D203.
At the end of the route, the dyke allows you to admire the 32 hectares of the Grand Etang.
History:
- 1925: the forest becomes state-owned.
- 1930: the forest is rehabilitated and planted with conifers.
- 1938: Fire destroys 360 ha of the forest.
- 1939-1945: Logging and resistance operations devastate the forest.
- 1975: The forest and its bocage become part of the Normandie-Maine Regional Nature Park.
- 2024: The Normandie-Maine Regional Nature Park was awarded the Unesco Global Geopark label.
What to see :
- Nature discovery trail: this 2.4 km botanical trail takes in holly, rowan, chestnut, oak, beech, birch, hazel, Scots pine, maritime pine, larch, fir, Douglas fir and spruce. There are explanatory signs along the way. Start from the large car park.
- L'étang du Moulin de Defays: "defais" or "defas" refers to a small area of land or pond. In the Sillé forest, there is the étang des défas (deffays). This name was used to indicate land, woods, ponds and garennes that were forbidden to approach. In 1789, the Defais pond was the Moulin pond.