Forêt de Ferrières – Ancient Royal Hunting Forest
The Forêt de Ferrières is a 3,200-hectare swathe of oak and hornbeam woodland that once supplied venison to the French royal table and later became the private estate of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Today it is a public forest managed by the ONF (Office National des Forêts), crisscrossed by signposted walking and cycling trails that feel a world away from the resort next door.
Walking and Wildlife
The GR14 long-distance footpath cuts through the heart of the forest, but shorter loops of 5–10 km are marked with yellow blazes and easy to follow without a map. In autumn the canopy turns a deep copper-gold and the forest floor is carpeted with ceps and chanterelles – mushroom foragers appear from Paris on weekend mornings with baskets and knives.
Roe deer are common at dawn and dusk, and the forest holds a healthy population of wild boar. The étangs (ponds) at the forest's centre attract kingfishers and grey herons year-round. Bring binoculars and patience.
Château de Ferrières
At the forest's heart stands the Château de Ferrières, built in 1855 by Joseph Paxton (the architect of London's Crystal Palace) for Baron James de Rothschild. The Italianate pile is now owned by the University of Paris and is not regularly open to the public, but its exterior and the surrounding English-style parkland can be viewed from the approach road and is spectacular in late-afternoon light.
The village of Ferrières-en-Brie, on the forest edge, has a boulangerie and a small café where locals gather on Sunday mornings – a good spot to fuel up before a walk.
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