First pick
Bois des Pesses
Wood or forest
17 ha1.8 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Valserhône
Chemin du Bois des Pesses
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 3.019%of the land protected
Outdoors in Valserhône · protected areas, woods and footpaths
59% of Valserhône is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Protected areas cover 19% of Valserhône’s land. Valserhône has 40 km of waymarked hiking routes. 105 km of footpaths cross Valserhône (1.7 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
19%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
59%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
105 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
40 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
3
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois des Pesses
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 Valserhône?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune59% mapped woodland, more than in 95% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.A nature reserveHaute Chaîne du Jura nature reserve covers 6.3% of the commune.
What sets Valserhône apart: its woods, then its nature reserve.
Against French towns
How Valserhône 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 areas19%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
78out of 100
Woodland59%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
95out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
50out of 100
Hiking routes0.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
69out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Valserhône has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (16,123 to 17,319 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Viroflay (9.5 km per km²) to Gaillac (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viroflay Yvelines | 9.5 | 42% | 0% | 148 km |
| 2 | Saint-Leu-la-Forêt Val-d'Oise | 8.5 | 36% | 0.5% | 131 km |
| 3 | Marly-le-Roi Yvelines | 7.6 | 37% | 0% | 138 km |
| 4 | Bois-d'Arcy Yvelines | 7.4 | 38% | 0% | 140 km |
| 5 | Orsay Essonne | 7.3 | 27% | 0% | 157 km |
| 6 | Les Clayes-sous-Bois Yvelines | 6.3 | 35% | 0% | 137 km |
| 7 | Le Pré-Saint-Gervais Seine-Saint-Denis | 5.8 | 0% | 0% | 149 km |
| 8 | Verneuil-sur-Seine Yvelines | 5.4 | 24% | 0% | 123 km |
| 9 | Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire Indre-et-Loire | 5 | 9.4% | 1.9% | 184 km |
| 10 | Lons-le-Saunier Jura | 4.9 | 8.8% | 1.8% | 356 km |
| 11 | Sainte-Luce-sur-Loire Loire-Atlantique | 4.7 | 12% | 11% | 45 km |
| 12 | Landerneau Finistère | 4.4 | 18% | 1.2% | On it |
| 13 | Trélazé Maine-et-Loire | 3.9 | 13% | 0% | 122 km |
| 14 | Saran Loiret | 3.9 | 24% | 0% | 200 km |
| 15 | Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle Loiret | 3.5 | 4.9% | 3% | 203 km |
| 16 | Mennecy Essonne | 3.3 | 19% | 8.2% | 180 km |
| 17 | Saint-Julien-en-Genevois Haute-Savoie | 3.2 | 13% | 0% | 286 km |
| 18 | Firminy Loire | 3 | 25% | 0% | 204 km |
| 19 | Rumilly Haute-Savoie | 2.3 | 18% | 0.7% | 262 km |
| 20 | Annonay Ardèche | 2.3 | 30% | 0.2% | 193 km |
| 21 | Fécamp Seine-Maritime | 2.2 | 25% | 2.9% | On it |
| 22 | Coulommiers Seine-et-Marne | 2 | 16% | 0% | 183 km |
| 23 | Sedan Ardennes | 2 | 17% | 0% | 222 km |
| 24 | Sallanches Haute-Savoie | 2 | 32% | 35% | 250 km |
| 25 | Montceau-les-Mines Saône-et-Loire | 1.8 | 6.6% | 0% | 347 km |
| 26 | La Baule-Escoublac Loire-Atlantique | 1.7 | 9.6% | 37% | 0.8 km |
| 27 | Valserhône Ain | 1.7 | 59% | 19% | 292 km |
| 28 | Blanquefort Gironde | 1.7 | 15% | 7.6% | 11 km |
| 29 | Guérande Loire-Atlantique | 1.5 | 7.1% | 76% | On it |
| 30 | Verdun Meuse | 1.4 | 21% | 3.6% | 290 km |
| 31 | Montbrison Loire | 1.3 | 5.7% | 4.8% | 227 km |
| 32 | Les Herbiers Vendée | 1.1 | 6.5% | 0% | 62 km |
| 33 | Cestas Gironde | 1 | 58% | 0% | 28 km |
| 34 | Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne Mayenne | 0.9 | 3.1% | 0% | 102 km |
| 35 | Châteaurenard Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.8 | 2.1% | 8.3% | 47 km |
| 36 | Mauguio Hérault | 0.8 | 1.4% | 49% | On it |
| 37 | Lamballe-Armor Côtes-d'Armor | 0.8 | 5% | 2% | On it |
| 38 | Pamiers Ariège | 0.6 | 16% | 1.1% | 118 km |
| 39 | Orée d'Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.5 | 11% | 12% | 66 km |
| 40 | Loire-Authion Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 10% | 100% | 130 km |
| 41 | Gaillac Tarn | 0.2 | 4.9% | 0% | 132 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 Valserhône
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois des Pesses leads, at 17 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de la Papeterie
Park or garden
1.6 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
1.4 km south-eastfrom the center
sentier des berges du Rhône
Directionsto a point inside
Place de la Crétaz
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.1 km of path
3.4 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
19% of Valserhône lies in protected areas
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
19% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Nature reserve
Haute Chaîne du Jura nature reserve
6.3% of the commune3.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Crêts du haut-Jura
6.2% of the commune3.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Crêts du Haut-Jura
6.2% of the commune3.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Plateau du Retord et chaîne du Grand Colombier
6.5 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area19%
Regional nature park19%
Nature reserve6.3%
Natura 2000 site6.2%
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.
19% of Valserhône’s land is protected, more than in 78% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Ain has 1.2%. 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
105 km of footpaths and 40 km of hiking routes cross Valserhône
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
105 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
40 km
waymarked: 0.6 km per km²
Woodland
59%
about 37.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ValserhôneAin medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes0.6
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ValserhôneAin medianFrance median
Woodland59%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 50% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 95% 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 Valserhône is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Via Lugdunum, Geneva to Lyon24 km
Le Tour de Retord1.3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Valserhône: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Bellegarde, 3 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 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 116 | 93 | 89 | 82 | 94 | 86 | 87 | 91 | 87 | 109 | 119 | 132 |
April is the driest month (82 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 132 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 83 nights a year. The climate in Valserhône →
Neighbors
Next to Valserhône
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ValleiryPéronNantuaViryThoiryMontréal-la-CluseValserhône
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
Péron and Thoiry have 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 Valserhône
Is Valserhône in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Valserhône lies in Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park (19% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Valserhône?
OpenStreetMap maps 105 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 40 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Valserhône is woodland?
59% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Valserhône near the sea?
No: the coast is 292 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Valserhône?
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 4, 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.