Huelgoat is popular with tourists and holidaymakers due to its impressive natural setting among the vestiges of the ancient forest that once covered inland Brittany. The village lies on a lake created between the 16th and 18th centuries to supply water to local silver-lead mines by means of a 3 km (1.9 mi) leat or canal. A number of geological and prehistoric curiosities can be found by following trails in and around the village and forest. One starts the hike from the Moulin du Chaos just in front of the bridge covered in flowers. The Moulin was built in 1339 and is a national monument. Among the formations nearby are: Le Chaos de Rochers, the Chaos of Rocks, is a jumble of hundreds of large boulders below the dammed lake, into which the river vanishes. The walk among the rocks is quite impressive and it makes you wonder how all those large boulders got where they did. It is something of a local legend as many believe that they were put there by the wizard Merlin during the time of King Arthur. Others believe they were put there by fairies. La Roche Tremblante or Trembling Rock, is the most popular of the rocks along the trail. It is a 137-tonne boulder that is pivoted in such a way that it can be made to rock by a person pushing against one point. As you can see, I tried it and I was amazed at how little effort it took to make the large boulder move back and forth (ever so slightly)—I doubt that anyone could ever move it from its current position unless they used mechanical means.