Spanning nearly 14,000 hectares, Rambouillet Forest is the largest national forest in Yvelines. From Pepin the Short to Louis XIV, the kings of France went hunting with hounds here, before the State took over the forest during the Revolution.
Managed by the National Office of Forests, it offers a wide variety of landscapes and sites, with woods, moorland, marshes and grasslands alongside streams, peat bogs, ponds and lakes. Many plant species flourish in these contrasting soils, which play a crucial ecological role. This environmental richness, made up of dry and wet habitats, led to it being classified as a "protection forest" in 2009. It's the second biggest protection forest in France, after Fontainebleau.
Made up of 75% deciduous trees (mainly oak) and 25% coniferous trees (Scots and Corsican pines), it includes two "Natura 2000" sites, as well as an area dedicated to the conservation of rare or endangered species. It is also involved in many fauna and flora inventory programmes, including studies on bats.
This national forest includes the Espace Rambouillet wildlife park, home to woodland animals such as stags, roe deer, fallow deer and birds of prey. You can also visit the Château de Rambouillet, a former royal, imperial and then presidential residence, or enjoy the Étangs de Hollande leisure park.
Popular with local people as well as tourists who enjoy walking and cycling, Rambouillet Forest attracts more than 11 million visitors a year.
