First pick
Plateau de Chamoise
Wood or forest
338 ha11.6 km of path
2 h 35 minto walk all 11.6 km of path
2.2 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Leo Wehrli · CC BY-SA 4.071%woodland
Outdoors in Nantua · protected areas, woods and footpaths
71% of Nantua is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 32 km in Nantua. Footpaths add up to 43 km across Nantua (3 km per km²). No protected area reaches Nantua; the nearest, Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier (Natura 2000), is 4.9 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier, 4.9 km
Woodland
71%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
43 km
3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Plateau de Chamoise
Throughout this page, the Ain median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is Nantua?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune71% mapped woodland, more than in 98% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes32 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyPlateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier (Natura 2000) is 4.9 km from the town center.
What sets Nantua apart: its woods, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Nantua compares with French towns
Each figure against the 3,798 compared French towns (communes with an overall grade): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Described, not graded.
Protected areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland71%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
98out of 100
Footpaths3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
73out of 100
Hiking routes2.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
97out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Nantua has the 3rd most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,388 to 3,445 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Mours-Saint-Eusèbe (3.7 km per km²) to Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mours-Saint-Eusèbe Drôme | 3.7 | 12% | 0% | 180 km |
| 2 | Fontanil-Cornillon Isère | 3.5 | 42% | 36% | 210 km |
| 3 | Nantua Ain | 3 | 71% | 0% | 302 km |
| 4 | Anduze Gard | 2.9 | 49% | 100% | 55 km |
| 5 | Villiers-Saint-Frédéric Yvelines | 2.5 | 17% | 0% | 131 km |
| 6 | Essert Territoire de Belfort | 2.4 | 41% | 0% | 431 km |
| 7 | Auribeau-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes | 2.3 | 48% | 16% | 8.4 km |
| 8 | Vals-près-le-Puy Haute-Loire | 2 | 17% | 0% | 164 km |
| 9 | Hégenheim Haut-Rhin | 2 | 11% | 0% | 420 km |
| 10 | Ligugé Vienne | 1.8 | 38% | 0% | 114 km |
| 11 | Annet-sur-Marne Seine-et-Marne | 1.8 | 24% | 23% | 158 km |
| 12 | Sainte-Marie-de-Ré Charente-Maritime | 1.7 | 7.5% | 0.4% | On it |
| 13 | Aubin Aveyron | 1.7 | 49% | 2.3% | 166 km |
| 14 | Plouër-sur-Rance Côtes-d'Armor | 1.6 | 25% | 100% | On it |
| 15 | Saint-Céré Lot | 1.6 | 28% | 0% | 196 km |
| 16 | Saint-Martin-du-Var Alpes-Maritimes | 1.5 | 23% | 16% | 15 km |
| 17 | Carpiquet Calvados | 1.4 | 0.2% | 0% | 16 km |
| 18 | Rupt-sur-Moselle Vosges | 1.3 | 67% | 100% | 441 km |
| 19 | Azay-le-Rideau Indre-et-Loire | 1.2 | 27% | 100% | 162 km |
| 20 | Lespignan Hérault | 1.1 | 0.3% | 69% | 8.7 km |
| 21 | Saint-Ambroix Gard | 1 | 30% | 100% | 78 km |
| 22 | Vic-la-Gardiole Hérault | 1 | 4.8% | 70% | On it |
| 23 | Troarn Calvados | 1 | 19% | 0% | 11 km |
| 24 | Saint-André Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.9 | 1.3% | 0% | 6.3 km |
| 25 | Thurins Rhône | 0.8 | 31% | 0% | 240 km |
| 26 | Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs Isère | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | 213 km |
| 27 | Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Landes | 0.7 | 62% | 21% | 34 km |
| 28 | Andeville Oise | 0.7 | 11% | 0% | 105 km |
| 29 | Vouvray Indre-et-Loire | 0.7 | 10% | 9.6% | 192 km |
| 30 | Pont-sur-Yonne Yonne | 0.6 | 20% | 0% | 238 km |
| 31 | Brassac-les-Mines Puy-de-Dôme | 0.5 | 15% | 3.4% | 214 km |
| 32 | Moult-Chicheboville Calvados | 0.5 | 8.3% | 6% | 19 km |
| 33 | Saint-Romain-de-Jalionas Isère | 0.4 | 19% | 18% | 257 km |
| 34 | Landrecies Nord | 0.3 | 1.3% | 100% | 133 km |
| 35 | Feillens Ain | 0.3 | 12% | 18% | 315 km |
| 36 | Longages Haute-Garonne | 0.2 | 8% | 0% | 153 km |
| 37 | Vescovato Haute-Corse | 0.2 | 16% | 2.9% | 5.9 km |
| 38 | Bellevigne-les-Châteaux Maine-et-Loire | 0.2 | 28% | 100% | 128 km |
| 39 | Traînou Loiret | 0.2 | 33% | 21% | 207 km |
| 40 | Iwuy Nord | 0.2 | 4.4% | 0% | 110 km |
| 41 | Saint-Médard-d'Eyrans Gironde | 0.2 | 29% | 36% | 33 km |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park or wood. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Green: parks, gardens and woods mapped on OpenStreetMap, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · INPN / PatriNat · IGN
Places to walk
Parks and woods to walk in, in and around Nantua
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Plateau de Chamoise leads, at 338 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt du Vernay
Wood or forest · 190 m outside the commune
39 ha0.3 km of path
2.7 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier is the nearest protected area, 4.9 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier
4.9 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
Designations overlap (a regional park can hold a Natura 2000 site), so the rows don’t add up; the first counts each piece of land once.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
43 km of footpaths and 32 km of hiking routes cross Nantua
Paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and waymarked hiking routes, mapped on OpenStreetMap inside the commune; woods are mapped forest and woodland, private woods included.
Footpaths
43 km
3 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 km
waymarked: 2.2 km per km²
Woodland
71%
about 10.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
NantuaAin medianFrance median
Footpaths3
Hiking routes2.2
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
NantuaAin medianFrance median
Woodland71%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 73% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 98% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. Every home in Nantua is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
11 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Tour d'Horizon15 km
Via Lugdunum, Geneva to Lyon13 km
Tour des Fècles9.7 km
Tour du Crêt Torcet9.6 km
Du Landeyron aux Fècles7.7 km
Roche Merveilleuse6.8 km
Sentier de Colliard6.7 km
Sentier des Glacières5.2 km
Sentier des Écureuils4.3 km
Voiles du Landeyron4.2 km
Sentier de la Garde du Mont Cornet3.2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Nantua: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Vieu, 8.2 km away, and the daylight at the town’s latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 143 | 122 | 125 | 126 | 138 | 115 | 124 | 106 | 127 | 153 | 165 | 166 |
August is the driest month (106 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 166 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 107 nights a year. The climate in Nantua →
Neighbors
Next to Nantua
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Montréal-la-CluseBellignatOyonnaxArbentValserhônePlateau d'HautevilleNantua
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nantua | 0% | 71% | 3 |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 4 km | 0% | 67% | 2.1 |
| Bellignat 3,525 · 11 km | 0% | 65% | 2.5 |
| Oyonnax 22,480 · 12 km | 0% | 59% | 2.4 |
| Arbent 3,555 · 16 km | 0.2% | 80% | 1.7 |
| Valserhône 16,712 · 16 km | 19% | 59% | 1.7 |
| Plateau d'Hauteville 4,857 · 21 km | 1.2% | 65% | 1.9 |
Valserhône has at least twice as much protected land.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected areas. National-park cores, national parks’ outer areas, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites, from INPN. A national park’s core is strictly protected; its outer area and a regional park are charters between communes, not bans. Designations overlap, so the total counts each piece of land once.
- Woodland. Forest and woods as OpenStreetMap maps them, private woods included: woods nobody has mapped are missing, and a mapped wood isn’t necessarily open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footpaths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, then waymarked hiking routes (GR and others) measured apart. A route often follows a path or lane already counted: the two overlap. Paths nobody has mapped are missing.
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (INSEE’s 200 m grid) within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or wood edge. It measures nearness, not a way in. Guadeloupe and French Guiana have no grid: their pages say whether the town center is within 800 m.
- The coast. The straight-line distance from the town center to OpenStreetMap’s coastline, which follows the tide line into estuaries. A commune is on the coast when the coastline crosses its boundary.
- No grade yet. U.S. and UK towns have an Outdoors Grade; French towns don’t yet. Each figure is set beside the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade) in the département and in France, each figure its own median.
Questions about the outdoors in Nantua
Is Nantua in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier, 4.9 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Nantua?
OpenStreetMap maps 43 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 32 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Nantua is woodland?
71% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Nantua near the sea?
No: the coast is 302 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Nantua?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain, from Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at the nearest suitable station.
Why is there no Outdoors Grade for French towns?
TownRatings grades the outdoors in the U.S. and the UK; the French figures are new and not graded yet. This page sets each one beside the median compared French town instead.
Sources: INPN / PatriNat (protected areas 2026, Natura 2000 2024) · © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (paths, hiking routes, woods, coast, gardens) · INSEE, Filosofi 2021 200 m grid (residents) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Météo-France normals 1991–2020 · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.