First pick
Parc du Millénaire
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
0.8 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jojovichy · CC BY-SA 3.01.4%of the land protected
Outdoors in Cusset · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Cusset is within 800 m of a park or wood
29 km of footpaths cross Cusset (0.9 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 18% of Cusset. Protected areas cover 1.4% of Cusset’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
1.4%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
18%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
29 km
0.9 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
6
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc du Millénaire
Throughout this page, the Allier 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 Cusset 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 areas1.4%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
57out of 100
Woodland18%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
59out of 100
Footpaths0.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
29out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Cusset has the 6th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (12,955 to 13,680 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-André-lez-Lille (8.6 km per km²) to Gien (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-André-lez-Lille Nord | 8.6 | 2.7% | 0% | 59 km |
| 2 | Avon Seine-et-Marne | 6.4 | 30% | 27% | 206 km |
| 3 | Anzin Nord | 5.4 | 3.1% | 0.5% | 103 km |
| 4 | Gex Ain | 4.2 | 63% | 72% | 306 km |
| 5 | Lons Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 4.2 | 7.7% | 9% | 92 km |
| 6 | Freyming-Merlebach Moselle | 4.1 | 19% | 0% | 358 km |
| 7 | Saint-Jean-de-Védas Hérault | 3.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 9 km |
| 8 | Fontenay-le-Fleury Yvelines | 3.3 | 8% | 0% | 141 km |
| 9 | Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Gard | 3.1 | 13% | 22% | 58 km |
| 10 | Val-de-Reuil Eure | 3.1 | 16% | 24% | 64 km |
| 11 | Mouvaux Nord | 3 | 3.2% | 0% | 58 km |
| 12 | Les Ponts-de-Cé Maine-et-Loire | 2.8 | 6.5% | 33% | 120 km |
| 13 | Lourdes Hautes-Pyrénées | 2.8 | 52% | 6.8% | 129 km |
| 14 | Kingersheim Haut-Rhin | 2.7 | 13% | 0% | 445 km |
| 15 | Plougastel-Daoulas Finistère | 2.6 | 28% | 6.5% | On it |
| 16 | Canet-en-Roussillon Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.6 | 1.1% | 50% | On it |
| 17 | Outreau Pas-de-Calais | 2.6 | 4.8% | 0% | 1.7 km |
| 18 | Betton Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.5 | 3.3% | 0.2% | 43 km |
| 19 | Guéret Creuse | 2.5 | 39% | 0.1% | 220 km |
| 20 | Claye-Souilly Seine-et-Marne | 2.3 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 21 | Tarnos Landes | 2.3 | 41% | 21% | On it |
| 22 | Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez Vendée | 2.3 | 12% | 48% | On it |
| 23 | Plouzané Finistère | 2.2 | 8% | 0% | On it |
| 24 | Bonneville Haute-Savoie | 1.8 | 47% | 5.2% | 269 km |
| 25 | Seclin Nord | 1.8 | 3.3% | 0% | 69 km |
| 26 | Auriol Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 49% | 75% | 19 km |
| 27 | Argentan Orne | 1.7 | 2.2% | 11% | 62 km |
| 28 | Noyon Oise | 1.6 | 19% | 18% | 116 km |
| 29 | Cuers Var | 1.5 | 32% | 0% | 16 km |
| 30 | Autun Saône-et-Loire | 1.3 | 43% | 100% | 377 km |
| 31 | Genas Rhône | 1.3 | 2.3% | 0% | 252 km |
| 32 | Tergnier Aisne | 1.2 | 9% | 4.8% | 130 km |
| 33 | Amilly Loiret | 1.2 | 33% | 0% | 240 km |
| 34 | Moissac Tarn-et-Garonne | 1 | 27% | 2.5% | 167 km |
| 35 | Tulle Corrèze | 1 | 34% | 0% | 187 km |
| 36 | Cusset Allier | 0.9 | 18% | 1.4% | 290 km |
| 37 | Monteux Vaucluse | 0.7 | 2.6% | 26% | 65 km |
| 38 | Petite-Île Réunion | 0.6 | 22% | 4.9% | On it |
| 39 | Bras-Panon Réunion | 0.6 | 69% | 83% | On it |
| 40 | Graulhet Tarn | 0.3 | 9.2% | 0% | 116 km |
| 41 | Gien Loiret | 0.3 | 35% | 1.8% | 256 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 Cusset
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc du Millénaire leads, at 2.1 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Andreau
Park or garden
1 ha0.4 km of path
0.8 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Barbereau
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cusset
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Paul Baudecroux
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.2 km of path
0.7 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square Louis Neillot
Park or garden · 150 m outside the commune
0.3 ha0.1 km of path
2.1 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Verger de Maraude
Park or garden · 150 m outside the commune
0.3 ha
2.2 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
1.4% of Cusset lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Gîtes à chauves-souris, "Contreforts et Montagne Bourbonnaise"
1.4% of the commune5.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de l’Allier sud
2.6 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area1.4%
Natura 2000 site1.4%
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.
1.4% of Cusset’s land is protected, more than in 57% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Allier has 3%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
29 km of footpaths cross Cusset
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
29 km
0.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
18%
about 5.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CussetAllier medianFrance median
Footpaths0.9
Hiking routes0
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CussetAllier medianFrance median
Woodland18%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 71% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 59% 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 Cusset is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
De Néris-les-Bains à Chabanne12 km
PR469.2 km
Chemin de Szombathely, Roanne - Vichy0.5 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Cusset: April, June, July and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Vichy-Ville, 2.3 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) | 8 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 43 | 45 | 68 | 84 | 76 | 73 | 84 | 70 | 76 | 74 | 55 |
February is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 84 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Cusset →
Neighbors
Next to Cusset
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
VichyCreuzier-le-VieuxAbrestBellerive-sur-AllierSaint-YorreSaint-Germain-des-FossésCusset
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cusset | 1.4% | 18% | 0.9 |
| Vichy 25,115 · 2.3 km | 12% | 1.3% | 8.8 |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 2.9 km | 3% | 10% | 0.8 |
| Abrest 2,915 · 4.3 km | 14% | 19% | 1.4 |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier 8,943 · 4.6 km | 2.2% | 23% | 2.7 |
| Saint-Yorre 2,641 · 7.6 km | 15% | 23% | 1.4 |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 7.6 km | 25% | 11% | 1.4 |
Vichy, Abrest and Saint-Yorre 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 Cusset
Is Cusset in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 1.4% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Cusset?
OpenStreetMap maps 29 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Cusset is woodland?
18% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Cusset near the sea?
No: the coast is 290 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Cusset?
April, June, July and 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.