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26%of the land protected
Outdoors in Thil · protected areas, woods and footpaths

26% of Thil’s land is protected for nature

10 km of footpaths cross Thil (1.9 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 2 km in Thil. Mapped woodland covers 12% of Thil. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.

Protected areas
26%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
12%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
9.9 km
1.9 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.2 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²

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.

Against French towns

How Thil 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 areas26%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
NoneMedian 0.1%100
81out of 100
Woodland12%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
Median 13%0100
45out of 100
Footpaths1.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
Median 1.7 km per km²08+
56out of 100
Hiking routes0.4 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
NoneMedian 0.3 km per km²3+
57out of 100

Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.

Towns its size

Thil has the 7th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size

The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (1,261 to 2,582 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.

Thil 1.9
École-ValentinBouligny
02.55 km per km²

From École-Valentin (3.9 km per km²) to Bouligny (0.1 km per km²).

Every town in the comparison
TownPaths (km/km²)WoodlandProtectedCoast
1École-Valentin Doubs3.916%0%405 km
2Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Gironde3.70%8.7%66 km
3Mers-les-Bains Somme3.510%100%On it
4Villejust Essonne2.44.4%0%160 km
5Sainte-Feyre Creuse2.130%0%222 km
6Camiers Pas-de-Calais230%32%On it
7Thil Ain1.912%26%261 km
8Sain-Bel Rhône1.912%0%253 km
9La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur Calvados1.814%29%On it
10Fareins Ain1.88.8%0.1%279 km
11Entzheim Bas-Rhin1.71.5%0%449 km
12Mornas Vaucluse1.535%5%84 km
13Watten Nord1.424%100%18 km
14Rantigny Oise1.418%0%109 km
15Beautor Aisne1.33.6%40%133 km
16Conques-sur-Orbiel Aude1.38.1%0%60 km
17Barcelonnette Alpes-de-Haute-Provence1.346%100%91 km
18Granges-Aumontzey Vosges1.170%90%436 km
19Cattenom Moselle1.137%0%308 km
20Prayssac Lot142%0%151 km
21Chatte Isère0.724%0%190 km
22Arelaune-en-Seine Seine-Maritime0.769%100%29 km
23La Croix-en-Touraine Indre-et-Loire0.724%0%199 km
24Criel-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime0.74.9%7%On it
25Lusignan Vienne0.717%0%97 km
26Avelin Nord0.66.1%0%72 km
27Civray Vienne0.519%0%101 km
28Le Cailar Gard0.42%68%17 km
29Vervins Aisne0.41.1%0%164 km
30Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt Dordogne0.413%2.1%65 km
31Frans Ain0.44%0%275 km
32Toucy Yonne0.424%0%288 km
33Auxi-le-Château Pas-de-Calais0.325%1%31 km
34Vivy Maine-et-Loire0.315%100%140 km
35Nogent-sur-Vernisson Loiret0.246%0.3%249 km
36Eymet Dordogne0.28.6%0.4%86 km
37Athies-sous-Laon Aisne0.28.9%0%159 km
38Val-de-Scie Seine-Maritime0.118%0%23 km
39Noyen-sur-Sarthe Sarthe0.128%0%126 km
40Chalamont Ain0.120%69%284 km
41Bouligny Meuse0.18.4%0%293 km
The map

Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside

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
Protected areas

Protected land in and around Thil

The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.

Natura 2000 site

Pelouses, milieux alluviaux et aquatiques de l’île de Miribel-Jonage

26% of the commune0.5 km from the center

Share of the commune’s land

Any protected area26%
Natura 2000 site26%

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.

26% of Thil’s land is protected, more than in 81% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Ain has 1.2%.

Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.

Footpaths and woods

10 km of footpaths cross Thil

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
9.9 km
1.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.2 km
waymarked: 0.4 km per km²
Woodland
12%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods

Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap

ThilAin medianFrance median
Footpaths1.9
Hiking routes0.4
01.53 km per km²

Share of the land · mapped woods and forest

ThilAin medianFrance median
Woodland12%
0%50%100%

That is more than in 56% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 55% 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 Thil is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.

4 named hiking routes within 2 km

GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 4224.8 km
Tour de Lyon, du Fort de Vancia au Fort de Bron7.9 km
Via Lugdunum, Geneva to Lyon3.6 km
Le sentier des Allivoz2 km

GR 422 passes within 2 km of Thil.

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).

When to get out

The best walking months in Thil: April and June to August

Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Lyon-Bron, 12 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.010.311.813.514.915.715.414.112.510.89.48.7
High (°C)791417222628282318118
Rain (mm)5042496981746766831008754

February is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 100 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Thil →

Neighbors

Next to Thil

The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.

BeynostJonageLa BoisseSaint-Maurice-de-BeynostMeyzieuMontluelThil
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
TownProtectedWoodlandPaths (km/km²)
Thil26%12%1.9
Beynost
5,198 · 2.9 km
4.9%10%2.2
Jonage
6,144 · 3 km
33%16%3.6
La Boisse
3,449 · 3.2 km
0%16%1.7
Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost
4,332 · 3.7 km
17%21%4
Meyzieu
36,687 · 5.1 km
26%13%4.2
Montluel
6,895 · 5.3 km
35%27%0.5

Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost and Montluel are 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 Thil

Is Thil in a national or regional nature park?

No, but 26% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.

Are there good walks in Thil?

OpenStreetMap maps 10 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.

How much of Thil is woodland?

12% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.

Is Thil near the sea?

No: the coast is 261 km from the town center, as the crow flies.

When is the best time for walking in Thil?

April and June to August: 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 October 30, 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.