Les Echasses

Les Échasses covers about 4 hectares of pine forest in Gastes, a Landes village close to Lake Parentis-Biscarrosse, which is reached on foot in around ten minutes (1 km). The site is rated 2 stars and prides itself on its calm: it lies away from any traffic, with marked-out pitches where children can move around safely.

The site has 155 pitches: 32 bare plots for tents, caravans and motorhomes, 5 stopover spaces for motorhomes and 118 rental pitches. About a hundred mobile homes for 2 to 6 people sit alongside two more unusual stays, a wooden caravan and a Campétoile, a sort of cabin perched on stilts for travellers with light luggage (hikers, cyclists, motorcyclists).

As for opening, the campsite describes itself as open all year round. In practice, the mobile homes can be booked outside summer, with a minimum stay of 2 nights off-season (7 nights in July and August) and arrival possible from 3pm to 5pm. The bare pitches, the wooden caravan and the Campétoile, however, follow the period from mid-April to mid-October: the 2026 rates for the camping area run from 6 April to 11 October. An off-season stay is therefore mainly an option in a rental.

Gastes keeps the understated charm of the Landes, with its church without a bell tower, the Sainte-Quitterie fountain and the Étangs du Nord, a listed site. The cycle path running along the lake links the neighbouring villages, including Biscarrosse about 9 km away.

Water sports on Lake Gastes possible all year round according to the campsite, and bike rides on the coastal cycle path.

The facilities stay simple and family-oriented. The campsite offers Wi-Fi, paid, with passes ranging from one day to one month, bike hire (tandems, step-through models and mountain bikes), and also travel cots, high chairs and changing tables for families with young children. A snack bar hosts themed evenings in summer, and there is a petanque court and a play area on site.

The mobile homes are recent and well equipped: 1 to 3 bedrooms depending on the model, living room, kitchen with gas hob, fridge, microwave, electric coffee maker and toaster, bathroom, television and reversible air conditioning. Each has a covered terrace (11 m² for the Astria model, at least 15 m² for the others), garden furniture, and a private parking space and garden. Sheets, duvets, pillows and towels are not provided; extra blankets can be hired for 4 € each, which is handy when nights turn cool off-season. Pets are allowed under certain conditions, to be checked at reception.

There is no swimming pool on the campsite: swimming is in Lake Gastes, whose shallow beach, with showers and a play area, is supervised in summer. The village summer market takes place on Tuesdays. The camping area is only open from mid-April to mid-October; the supervised beach and the snack bar evenings are reserved for the warm season.

It all starts at Lake Parentis-Biscarrosse. Its shallow sandy beach suits little ones, and windsurfers and catamaran sailors are out on the water, according to the campsite, all year round. Around the lake there is also fishing, sailing and, nearby, horse riding, according to Landes tourist guides.

Cycling takes pride of place. The coastal cycle path, accessible from Parentis, serves all the neighbouring villages: Gastes is 8 km away, Ychoux 10 km, Biscarrosse town 9 km, Sainte-Eulalie 16 km, Biscarrosse-Lac 18 km, Mimizan town 23 km and Biscarrosse-Océan 25 km. The campsite hires out bikes on site, and a Camino de Santiago route crosses the region.

On site, petanque and the play area keep young and old busy, and the snack bar hosts themed evenings in summer. On Tuesdays, the summer market brings the village to life. For sightseeing, the church without a bell tower at Gastes, the Sainte-Quitterie fountain and the Étangs du Nord can be discovered on a stroll.

Off-season, the forest and the lake remain usable: bike rides between pines and shores, walking, and water sports for the better equipped. The summer activities (supervised beach, market, snack bar evenings) stop when the holidays end.