The forest of Fontainebleau: the guide to experiencing it like a local

We all have our own gateway to the Forest of Fontainebleau: a rock where we learnt to climb, a blue trail we followed one autumn Sunday, a stag spotted at dusk. Just 40 minutes from Paris, this massif of sandstone and sand is one of the most beautiful in France, and by far the most popular. Here’s what you need to know to understand it, and above all, to choose where to start.

A royal forest turned playground

Before it became ours, the forest belonged to the kings. A hunting ground since the year 1000, it took on its present form under François I^er and its castle. Henri IV laid out the Route Ronde, a 26 km route to follow the hunts by coach. But the real turning point came more recently, in the 19th century.^e In the 19th century, the Barbizon painters (Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet) set up their easels in the heart of the countryside and devised a new way of looking at the landscape. In 1842, a former soldier in Napoleon’s army, Claude-François Denecourt, marked out the world’s very first signposted trails here – his famous «blue trails». The arrival of the railway in Avon in 1849 did the rest: the forest became a weekend retreat for Parisians. It has remained so ever since.

Sandstone, sand and chaos

If the landscapes of Fontainebleau are unlike any others in Île-de-France, it is down to geology. Around 35 million years ago, a sea deposited thick layers of very pure sand here. Some of this sand cemented together to form sandstone banks, which erosion subsequently fractured into a jumble of boulders and sculpted into plateaux – those perched rocky slabs where water pools in small ponds. The result: spectacular gorges, «seas of sand» such as at Cul du Chien, and this very distinctive sandstone – both striking and fragile – which has earned the massif its worldwide reputation.

' Coming soon: our complete guide to the geology of Fontainebleau (page coming soon).

Biodiversity that has to be earned

You might think you’re walking through a peaceful forest; in reality, you’re walking through one of Europe’s hotspots for biodiversity, home to over 5,600 plant species and nearly 6,000 animal species. There are hundreds of red deer, roe deer and wild boar here; they are shy creatures, most often seen at dawn. The heather-covered moors are home to rare birds such as the subalpine warbler, and the ancient trees in the strict nature reserves shelter insects found almost nowhere else. To help you learn to interpret these signs, the Tourist Office organises some wonderful guided walks, on the trail of animals in the forest or discovering Franchard's biodiversity.

› Coming soon: our feature on the forest’s flora and fauna (page coming soon).

The global home of bouldering

It was here, at «Bleau», that bouldering was born. As early as the late 19th^e In the 19th century, mountaineers would come to train on the boulders before setting off for the Alps; climbing then became a discipline in its own right, with its colour-coded routes devised locally (and copied all over the world). Today, nearly 500,000 climbers come every year to test their skills on the sandstone of Apremont, Le Cuvier or Les Trois Pignons. Never tried it? The Tourist Office organises introductory bouldering sessions for a safe start.

› Coming soon: our guide to bouldering in Fontainebleau, sector by sector (page coming soon).

Hundreds of kilometres of trails

The forest boasts nearly 300 km of signposted trails maintained by the Friends of the Forest: the blue trails at Denecourt for adventure, the yellow trails (six of which are accessible by pushchair or wheelchair) for easy walks, and the ‘25 Bosses’ circuit for those with strong legs. From the Family storytelling walk to a complete tour of the massif over several days, there's something for every calf.

' Coming soon: our guide to walks in the forest of Fontainebleau (page coming soon).

Where to start?

• Gorges de Franchard A postcard landscape of chaos and moorland.
• Apremont Gorges Rocks of astonishing shapes, starting from Barbizon.
• Les Trois Pignons : the Cul du Chien ‘sea of sand’ and the climbing capital.
• The Denecourt Tower A 360° viewpoint, accessible on foot from the station.
• Mount Ussy The most beautiful walk«, said Denecourt himself.

See also

Frequently asked questions