First pick
Bois Perriod
Wood or forest
302 ha7.8 km of path
1 h 45 minto walk all 7.8 km of path
1.7 km north-westfrom the center
Promenade de l'AllondonChemin de MaraisChemin de Mollet+1 path
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Ypsilon from Finland · CC017%woodland
Outdoors in Saint-Genis-Pouilly · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Saint-Genis-Pouilly has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
44 km of footpaths cross Saint-Genis-Pouilly (4.5 km per km²). No protected area reaches Saint-Genis-Pouilly; the nearest, Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park, is 0.7 km from the town center. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 2 km in Saint-Genis-Pouilly. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.3%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park, 0.7 km
Woodland
17%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
44 km
4.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.3 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
4
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois Perriod
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 Saint-Genis-Pouilly?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths4.5 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyHaut-Jura Regional Nature Park is 0.7 km from the town center.
What sets Saint-Genis-Pouilly apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Saint-Genis-Pouilly 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 areas0.3%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
53out of 100
Woodland17%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
56out of 100
Footpaths4.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
88out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
41out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Genis-Pouilly has the 11th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (14,068 to 14,791 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Maurice (8.8 km per km²) to Castelsarrasin (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Maurice Val-de-Marne | 8.8 | 9.4% | 0% | 157 km |
| 2 | Valenton Val-de-Marne | 8.7 | 6.6% | 0% | 164 km |
| 3 | Villers-lès-Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 8.4 | 48% | 0% | 365 km |
| 4 | Laxou Meurthe-et-Moselle | 6.9 | 74% | 0% | 364 km |
| 5 | Billère Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 6.7 | 4.2% | 9.2% | 93 km |
| 6 | Chenôve Côte-d'Or | 6.5 | 10% | 17% | 403 km |
| 7 | Audincourt Doubs | 5.3 | 36% | 0% | 414 km |
| 8 | Auray Morbihan | 5 | 8.3% | 100% | On it |
| 9 | Dinan Côtes-d'Armor | 4.7 | 17% | 100% | 5.6 km |
| 10 | Montesson Yvelines | 4.7 | 2.3% | 0% | 136 km |
| 11 | Saint-Genis-Pouilly Ain | 4.5 | 17% | 0.3% | 298 km |
| 12 | Canteleu Seine-Maritime | 3.7 | 64% | 100% | 49 km |
| 13 | Bar-le-Duc Meuse | 3.7 | 55% | 0% | 297 km |
| 14 | Douarnenez Finistère | 3.3 | 16% | 3.8% | On it |
| 15 | Saint-Orens-de-Gameville Haute-Garonne | 3.2 | 6.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 16 | Bois-Guillaume Seine-Maritime | 3 | 3.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 17 | Montataire Oise | 2.9 | 11% | 0.1% | 116 km |
| 18 | Ollioules Var | 2.9 | 23% | 14% | On it |
| 19 | Plérin Côtes-d'Armor | 2.9 | 14% | 1.8% | On it |
| 20 | Rixheim Haut-Rhin | 2.8 | 41% | 23% | 441 km |
| 21 | Pontivy Morbihan | 2.8 | 14% | 0% | 36 km |
| 22 | L'Étang-Salé Réunion | 2.6 | 52% | 39% | On it |
| 23 | Persan Val-d'Oise | 2.5 | 0.3% | 0.1% | 120 km |
| 24 | Saint-Avold Moselle | 2.5 | 53% | 2.9% | 356 km |
| 25 | Roncq Nord | 2.3 | 2.5% | 0% | 53 km |
| 26 | Carrières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.2 | 5% | 0% | 138 km |
| 27 | Fameck Moselle | 2.2 | 32% | 0% | 309 km |
| 28 | Sainte-Maxime Var | 2.1 | 65% | 19% | On it |
| 29 | Morangis Essonne | 2.1 | 0.8% | 0% | 163 km |
| 30 | Crépy-en-Valois Oise | 2 | 16% | 0% | 137 km |
| 31 | Pont-à-Mousson Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.8 | 31% | 0.4% | 341 km |
| 32 | Flers Orne | 1.6 | 2.5% | 0% | 59 km |
| 33 | Hautmont Nord | 1.6 | 11% | 0% | 130 km |
| 34 | Saint-Brevin-les-Pins Loire-Atlantique | 1.6 | 7.3% | 25% | On it |
| 35 | Saint-Paul-lès-Dax Landes | 1.6 | 62% | 5.3% | 29 km |
| 36 | Saint-Omer Pas-de-Calais | 1.6 | 2.8% | 100% | 28 km |
| 37 | Le Raincy Seine-Saint-Denis | 0.8 | 0% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 38 | Bailleul Nord | 0.7 | 0.9% | 0% | 42 km |
| 39 | Saint-Martin-de-Crau Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.4 | 3.6% | 91% | 21 km |
| 40 | Saint-Gilles Gard | 0.4 | 2.5% | 18% | 25 km |
| 41 | Castelsarrasin Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.3 | 5.6% | 6.8% | 173 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 Saint-Genis-Pouilly
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois Perriod leads, at 302 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Grands Bois
Wood or forest · 0 m outside the commune
92 ha3.6 km of path
45 minto walk all 3.6 km of path
3.1 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois de Serves
Wood or forest
60 ha2.5 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.5 km of path
1.4 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Saint-Genis-Pouilly
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 0.7 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park
0.7 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.3%
Regional nature park0.3%
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.
A regional nature park is a charter between communes to look after a landscape: farming, building and hunting go on inside it.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Saint-Genis-Pouilly
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
44 km
4.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.3 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
17%
about 1.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-Genis-PouillyAin medianFrance median
Footpaths4.5
Hiking routes0.2
036 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-Genis-PouillyAin medianFrance median
Woodland17%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 88% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 56% 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 Saint-Genis-Pouilly is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
Parcours de santé de Bois de Serve2.3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Genis-Pouilly: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Gaillard, 16 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 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 54 | 63 | 76 | 89 | 87 | 83 | 88 | 96 | 98 | 88 | 82 |
February is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 98 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 79 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Genis-Pouilly →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Genis-Pouilly
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ThoiryPrévessin-MoënsOrnexSégnyFerney-VoltaireCessySaint-Genis-Pouilly
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Genis-Pouilly | 0.3% | 17% | 4.5 |
| Thoiry 6,569 · 4 km | 63% | 44% | 2.4 |
| Prévessin-Moëns 9,153 · 4 km | 0% | 17% | 2.9 |
| Ornex 5,082 · 5.9 km | 0% | 22% | 3.2 |
| Ségny 2,941 · 6.3 km | 0.5% | 17% | 1.8 |
| Ferney-Voltaire 12,094 · 6.4 km | 0% | 20% | 5.2 |
| Cessy 5,832 · 8.5 km | 0.2% | 5.4% | 1.5 |
Thoiry has at least twice as much protected land. Thoiry is more wooded.
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 Saint-Genis-Pouilly
Is Saint-Genis-Pouilly in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park, 0.7 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Saint-Genis-Pouilly?
OpenStreetMap maps 44 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 4.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Genis-Pouilly is woodland?
17% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Genis-Pouilly near the sea?
No: the coast is 298 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Genis-Pouilly?
April 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.