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Car park at the Hénan arboretum (Hénant).
GR®34trail markers: white and red + yellow
(S/E) Start with your back to the car park (Kerdruc - Kerochet sign) to join the coastal path that runs alongside the karstic cave. Follow this shaded path, but watch out for pine roots on the trail. Walk along the castle fence and note several wooden barriers with stone pillars. You can catch a glimpse of the castle between the trees. You will come to a small wooden footbridge.
(1) After the footbridge, stay on the path that runs alongside the river and then moves away from it to reach a deserted road at the edge of the woods (picnic table). Turn left and continue along this small road. Pass the first dead end on your left and you will come to a second one.
(2) Turn left into Impasse des Cormorans, signposted "La cabane aux coquillages" (the shellfish hut), which leads to an oyster farm. Continue along the coastal path behind the building until you reach another cul-de-sac that leads to a road. Just before this, you will see a pretty thatched cottage on your right.
(3) Cross the road and continue slightly to the left along Rue des Vieux Fours (lodge). In this hamlet, you will see several cottages and old bread ovens. Continue along this lane, which turns right, ignoring a path on the left (signposted oyster farm), and you will reach a crossroads.
Go down the small dirt track almost opposite, following the signs for the coastal path (orange dot). Continue along this path lined with old chestnut trees that were cut down (winter 2019) to reach one of the arms of Anse de Poulguin.
(4) Turn right and follow the coastal path lined with pine trees. Cross the first footbridge and head towards the end of this inlet, where you will cross another footbridge. Continue winding your way along the water
(5) At the Kerochet sign, ignore the path that climbs up to the right towards the village of Mesmeur and continue below the Kerochet property. This magnificent spot by the river is steeped in history, having once been used as a quarry. Large blocks of granite are still visible in the cove and along the path.
Cross the new footbridges at the end of each arm of the cove and, at low tide, note the abandoned boat hulls, like ghost ships buried in the mud. Soon the first meadows and oyster farms appear.
(6) Pass a shellfish farm, leave the access road on your right and go around the last bend to come out near the Château de Poulguin, recognisable by its tower. Walk along the wall of this property and reach the small access road to the château. Leave theGR® to continue towards L'Aven.
Yellow markings on signposts (not very numerous)
(7) After a car park on the left, look out for a group of fountains on the right, a wash house with a picnic table that invites you to take a short break. Head back up towards Kerantré and Kervren along the road that runs alongside beautiful properties on the right. Pass the Kervren greenhouses.
(8) Just before a stop sign 50 metres ahead, look out for a small street on the right (signposted Kerforn, Kervren farm, Kérrangoff). Be careful, as this sign is not easy to see. If you see a tennis court on your left, you have gone a little too far. Follow this path which goes around Kervren, passing close to a beautiful house with an old well and a bread oven. Continue along this path which leads into a wooded area and comes out onto a small road.
(9) Continue straight ahead (there is a beautiful granite block opposite), ignoring the dead-end road on the right, until you reach a junction of small roads in the hamlet of Mesmeur. Continue straight ahead in a northerly direction until you reach the next intersection at Parial.
(10) Cross over and take the dirt track almost opposite. This beautiful path runs alongside large meadows where horses and ponies usually graze. Continue to a country road and follow it to the right (grassy strip on the left). You will arrive at the houses of Petit Hénan.
(11) Just before a sign indicating a stop 100 metres ahead, look for a marker post on the left (not very visible) indicating the start of a path into the woods. This path quickly turns left and at the first intersection, ignore the sign indicating a right turn. At the next intersection, follow the sign for "Étang du Hénan" and continue along this path at the edge of the woods until the next intersection.
(12) Ignore the path that branches off to the right and begin a steeper descent towards the pond used for aquaculture. Continue along this path, which runs alongside the pond, until you reach a road near the tide mill (under renovation in May 2018). Turn right, pass by the miller's large stone house and return to the arboretum car park (S/E).
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