Camping de La Chesnaie

Camping de La Chesnaie lies at the foot of the village of Saint-Denis-du-Maine in Mayenne, within a leisure park built around an 11-hectare lake. The site can also be reached from Meslay-du-Maine on a footpath of about 3 km that runs alongside the swin golf course.

Accommodation includes bare pitches for tents and motorhomes, eight 35 m² mobile homes for six people, one of them adapted for guests with reduced mobility, and eight 35 m² chalets for four people, with a terrace and garden furniture. All units of the same type are identical, with an equipped kitchenette, a shower room and a separate WC. A 200-seat hall near the gîtes is used for family meals and gatherings.

The setting is that of a leisure park: a landscaped beach with supervised swimming in season, fishing jetties, pedalos, canoeing, mini golf, swin golf, play areas and a small snack bar. The atmosphere is family-friendly and quiet, far from the big, lively campsites.

Opening period: the website does not publish opening dates for the campsite. It only gives the reception office hours: Tuesday to Friday from October to March, Tuesday to Saturday from April to June, every day in July and August. Off-season opening of the pitches and rental accommodation is therefore not confirmed: it is best to call 02 43 98 48 08 before booking.

Accommodation is booked online on the campsite website, or by phone and email with the leisure park. Wifi is free throughout the site, and the website notes good 4G coverage from one operator, handy for sharing a connection.

Several services are available on request: sheets at 12 € per bed per stay, a cleaning option at 55 € for a gîte, a barbecue to be booked with the accommodation, and a table and iron lent free of charge. The free baby kit includes a bath, a high chair and a travel cot without sheets. A laundry room with a coin-operated washing machine is near reception, and eight lockers store fishing gear or bikes.

As for the water, the lake beach is supervised in season only. A snack bar with a terrace serves ice cream and drinks; the website announces no restaurant, but it does mention local producers and a food map of southern Mayenne for stocking up. Pets are allowed, except category one and two dogs, on presentation of a valid rabies vaccination certificate, and must be kept on a lead.

The leisure park offers most of the activities. You can swim at the landscaped beach, take a pedalo or a canoe, and fish in the lake, which is managed by the departmental fishing federation: predatory fish, coarse fish and sometimes a fine carp. A day or annual fishing permit can be bought on site or online.

Swin golf, similar to mini golf but played on grass, is described as accessible to everyone, with a free introduction by an instructor before each game. Boules, quoits, board games, rackets and balls are lent out, and the table tennis table is free to use in July and August. Children have play areas, and the website also mentions geocaching.

On foot or by mountain bike, a 45-minute walk links the park to the village of Saint-Denis-du-Maine, with heritage information points, and a trail leads to Meslay-du-Maine and its racecourse. In the area you can visit the Château des Arcis, the Manoir de Thévalles, the Saulges caves, the Musée Robert Tatin, the Refuge de l’Arche, the Musée de l’Ardoise or the town of Château-Gontier, then go further afield to Terra Botanica, La Flèche, Saumur, Angers or Mont-Saint-Michel.