Chêne des Hindrés

Paimpont

In the middle of an oak wood of modest trees stands a sessile oak, Quercus petraea, 5 m in girth and more than 20 m high, with a remarkably straight bole, whose branches then snake in every direction. The photographer Olivier Hamery, in 2005, described it as the sole survivor of an ancient stand and attributed nearly 400 years to it; the departmental tourist board says 500. It is the largest oak in the state forest and its only remarkable tree, according to the description given by the Guide de Brocéliande, too straight to become a tree of legend, it is content to be the guardian of the last broadleaves sheltering in this corner of the forest. It has indeed no Arthurian tale of its own, and its history is quite recent: Félix Bellamy, who came in the 1890s to see the Pierre des Hindrés a hundred metres away, does not mention it; its first printed mention dates from 1992, in the review of the Montfort ecomuseum, and the forest section, formerly 'les Hindrés', took its name in the early 2000s. At its feet, an old charcoal-burner's hearth recalls the forges of Paimpont, which consumed the forest for centuries. It is alive, not without dead wood or traces of lightning; a naturalist, from its growth rings from 1993 to 2009, does not rule out that it is only three centuries old. In 2017, the ONF surrounded it with a fence and a wooden deck to protect its roots from the trampling of some five thousand visitors a year.

Encyclopédie de Brocéliande — Le chêne des Hindrés ↗

Getting there : From Paimpont, forest road towards the Cadieu crossroads; Rocher de Cadieu car park, then a footpath of about 800 m, passable by wheelchair in dry weather (to be checked); a 4 km loop is possible. The site is freely accessible all year round, except during certain hunting periods (to be checked). Merlin's tomb is a few steps away.

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

Ambient sound