The Château de Chambord Park: Wildlife, Walks and Bikes

5,440 hectares of forest, heath and water inside a 32-kilometre wall, with stags and wild boar in it and more paths than you can walk in a day. Here is how you get into it, on foot, by bike, by boat or by 4×4 — and the Loire château tours that include Chambord that leave you time to.

5,440 hectares inside a 32-kilometre wall

The park around Chambord is the largest enclosed park in Europe. Its wall runs for 32 kilometres, averages 2.5 metres high, and was begun around 1542 in small blocks of Beauce limestone. The estate compares its area to inner Paris.

It is open every day of the year. Part of it is open to walkers and cyclists, and part is a reserve you can only enter with a guide.

Stags, boar and 150 kinds of bird

The stags came first: without them François I would never have chosen the place. They are still kept in large numbers, alongside wild boar, a few roe deer and about 100 Corsican mouflon held for research. You have a real chance of seeing deer from the paths at either end of the day.

The birdlife is richer still: 150 species, including six pairs of ospreys, short-toed and booted eagles and goshawks. Bats, crested newts and the occasional salamander live in the wet ground by the Cosson, and more than 650 plant species grow across the estate.

See the reserve by 4×4

The only way into the closed part of the forest is a guided tour by all-terrain vehicle. You stop at a trophy room that shows how a single stag’s antlers changed year by year, and it is common to meet deer or boar on the way.

The summer tours run only in the morning because the nature guides spend the afternoons watching for fire across the forest. Book by phone or email with the estate.

The stag bellowing, mid-September to mid-October

For about a month each autumn the stags call during the rut, and the estate opens a watchtower in a closed zone to hear them. Watches last three hours, take up to 16 people aged 12 and over, and cost €45 from Sunday evening to Friday morning or €60 at weekends. A private tower for up to four costs €250 and books out early.

Walking: the canal circuit and the Grande Promenade

The easiest walk is the four-kilometre circuit round the canal, open all year, with observation hides, jetties and signs in French and English. It is flat, and it gives you the château from the water.

For longer, take the Grande Promenade: more than twenty kilometres of paths through a part of the forest once closed to the public. It reaches the Avenue du Roi, which runs straight to the south facade, and the ponds of the Faisanderie and the Bonshommes. The reception desk hands out a map.

Cycling and the Loire à Vélo

The park carries more than 25 kilometres of cycle paths, including about six kilometres of the Loire à Vélo route and three of the Châteaux à Vélo loops. Those loops link Chambord to Blois, Cheverny and Chaumont, so you can ride between châteaux if you have the legs. Bike parking is free by the main entrance and the P0 car park, with a charging point for e-bikes.

On the water: punts, bikes and electric cars

From 4 April to 1 November 2026 the jetty hires out boats, bikes and cars from 9:30 to 18:45.

The punt gives you the view of the château that ends up in everybody’s photographs. The Chambord Passport knocks a few euros off each.

Dogs, picnics and the rules

Dogs are welcome in the park on a lead but not in the château, the gardens or the stables, except assistance dogs. There are picnic kiosks near the car parks and picnic spots in the forest. Stay on the open paths: the reserve is closed for a reason, and the animals are the reason.

Where to check these figures

Every figure above comes from the Domaine national de Chambord’s own published pages, listed below. Hours and rates move, so check yours before you travel.

• Discover the park
• Fauna and flora
• The park through history
• Activities and leisure
• Chambord by bike