Forêt d'Orléans

The Forêt d'Orléans ( Forest of Orléans ) is a large forest area ( domain forest , Forêt domaniale ) in the north of the French city of Orléans in the Loiret department . It forms part of the Natura 2000 network .

History and location

The forest seen from the Les Caillettes observation point

The forest in Saran

Signpost at the star of the Carrefour des huit routes

The forest, formerly known as Forêt des Loges , came to the French royal family at the end of the 10th century.

The 50,000 hectare forest is spread over 35 municipalities, 35,000 hectares are state-owned ( Forêt domaniale d'Orléans , the largest forest domain in France). It extends between the landscapes of the Beauce , the Gâtinais and the Loire Valley between the cities of Orléans and Gien and in the north almost to the city of Pithiviers . Its original area was around 150,000 hectares.

The following municipalities have a share in the state forest:

The remains of the former Cistercian monastery of La Cour-Dieu lie in the forest . The long-distance hiking trails GR 3 and GR 32 of the French GR long-distance hiking trail network run through the forest.

geology

The subsoil of the forest, which has only a low relief (height between 107 and 178 m), consists of tertiary sands and clays .

Flora and fauna

The forest is a mixed forest in which the oak stands make up more than half of the tree population. The conifers are mainly Scots pines , which cover around a third of the forest.

The osprey was reintroduced in 1984. In addition, the coming booted eagle , the short-toed eagle , the honey buzzard , the hen harrier , the nightjar ago. In mammals u. a. Red deer , roe deer , hare and squirrel represented.

Web links

Commons : Forêt d'Orléans - collection of images, videos and audio files

ONF website (French), accessed on July 17, 2018 Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 28 ″ N , 2 ° 9 ′ 39 ″ E48.007777777778 2.1608333333333