The Millières moors

Set off to explore the rich diversity of the Landes region around Lac des Bruyères. Discover the two types of heathland – open and pine-wooded – as you stroll around this former sandpit, now a popular spot for family walks.

Details

35271861
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.12 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 1h 50 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 20 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 20 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 31 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 9 m

Description of the walk

The walk is accessible from the Lac des Bruyères car park, located 200 m away.
Yellow markings.

(S/E) Take the Discovery Trail, walk along the small lake and you will soon reach a crossroads of paths.

(1) Take the path on the left, pass under the power line and begin your walk through the open heathland.
Continue along the path and discover the two faces of the Millières moors: open heathland with heather, broom and gorse, and wooded areas with pine trees, planted after the Second World War.
You will then reach a Y-junction.

(2) Take the path on the right. Follow it for 400 m then turn left. 250 m further on, cross a farm track then turn left to walk alongside the local motocross track. You’ll reach a crossroads.

(3) Turn right onto the farm track and continue for 800 m. At the first junction, keep right, then turn right again at the junction 100 m further on. Continue for 400 m until you reach a three-way junction.

(4) Take the path on the right and follow it for 900 m. Then take the path on the left to walk alongside Lac des Bruyères at a distance. Continue on to reach a viewpoint.

(5) Turn right to reach the lake’s shore. Take the small path on the right to reach the jetty on the water.

(6) Continue, then walk along the small lake to return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 28 m - Car park at the - Lac des Bruyères
  2. 1 : km 0.4 - alt. 23 m - Discovery trail junction
  3. 2 : km 1.44 - alt. 30 m - Y-junction
  4. 3 : km 2.36 - alt. 17 m - Motocross - Ay (fleuve)
  5. 4 : km 3.7 - alt. 26 m - Three-way junction
  6. 5 : km 5.07 - alt. 18 m - Viewpoint
  7. 6 : km 5.68 - alt. 11 m - Pontoon
  8. S/E : km 6.12 - alt. 28 m - Lake car park

Worth a visit

(5) Viewpoint: from here, you can see the private estate of the Bois de Plaisance de l’Aulne, owned by several famous figures:
- the Lords of Bricqueville, companions of Duke Guillaume at Hastings,
- Turgot, Minister of Finance under Louis XVI,
- and Charles-François Lebrun,Third Consul alongside Bonaparte.
(6) Developed area and jetty: here you can appreciate the scale of the Millières sandpit in its heyday. Operational from 1969 to 2005, this site produced 70% sand and the remainder as aggregate, amounting to 100 to 150,000 tonnes per year. Two types of terrain were excavated: heathland and peatland.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 5 reviews

Reliability of the description
4.4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.2 / 5
Route interest
4.2 / 5
Jean-Y
Jean-Y

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 04, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely short walk through the moorland.

Machine-translated

Speedy 2016*
Speedy 2016*

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 24, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A pleasant walk, but there are places where you can no longer see the coloured markings, particularly around the motocross route.
Otherwise, a very pleasant and peaceful spot. Not difficult, but you need to be careful at the moment as there are lots of very damp patches. I recommend this walk.

Machine-translated

Mathélisa
Mathélisa

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 17, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk, but very, very wet at this time of year. Some sections are flooded, so you have to walk through the heathland on either side.

Machine-translated

Pougier
Pougier

Hello,
Unlike the shores of Lac des Bruyères, which are mainly sandy, the Millières moorland is rather clayey and tends to retain water rather than drain it. This is why this walk is generally recommended outside the rainy season. As for signposts, there are around fifty of them, or eight per kilometre, which is a reasonable average, though there is always room for improvement.
I should also mention that, following Storm Ciaran, a decree currently prohibits access to the Millières moors. However, it is permitted to walk around Lac des Bruyères. The walk is shorter, but the ground is dry.
Best regards.

Machine-translated

Souricier
Souricier

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 26, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route is pleasant and poses no difficulty when using the app to guide us, as it is poorly signposted; moreover, at the time we walked it, the ground was extremely muddy, with potholes that demanded more attention than the signposts, lest we end up with mud-filled shoes.
This was only on the first section, which is surprising as we’re in moorland, surrounded by pine trees. You’d expect the ground to be sandy and well-drained... well, not at all... after that, it’s a pleasant path...

Machine-translated

Bernard Bégué
Bernard Bégué

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 30, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A short, peaceful and pleasant walk through the moorland and heather, with sweeping views and a real sense of being in the savannah – you almost expect to see giraffes pop up! You can hear the road a bit at times, but overall it’s very peaceful...

Machine-translated

Other walks in the area

For more walks, use our search engine .

The GPS track and description are the property of this route's author. Please do not copy them without permission.