Forêt de la Grésigne

Castelnau-de-Montmiral

Occupied since protohistory, as several oppida identified within its bounds attest, the Grésigne became from the 17th century a strategic asset for the French royal navy: Colbert's agents had oaks selected there for ships' masts, while in 1666 the forest inspector Louis de Froidour drew up a damning report on the anarchic plundering of the massif by glassmakers and local users, who cut wood and heather without restraint. A canal project (1748–1772), intended to float timber down the Vère to the Tarn and on to Moissac, failed and gave way to a century of intensive deforestation: on the eve of the Revolution, timber was already growing scarce there. Managed today by the Office national des forêts, the Grésigne reconciles the sustainable exploitation of oak with the protection of a remarkable biodiversity, ranked among the richest in France for saproxylic insects.

Getting there : Access via Castelnau-de-Montmiral or Vaour; many waymarked hiking and mountain-bike trails.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound