First pick
Parc de l'Hotel de Ville
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.4 km of path
0.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jean-Louis Venet · CC BY-SA 3.040%woodland
Outdoors in Lavelanet · protected areas, woods and footpaths
40% of Lavelanet is woodland, more than in 8 in 10 French towns
No protected area reaches Lavelanet; the nearest, Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste (Natura 2000), is 4.1 km from the town center. Footpaths add up to 26 km across Lavelanet (2 km per km²). Lavelanet has 8 km of waymarked hiking routes. 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: Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste, 4.1 km
Woodland
40%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
26 km
2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.4 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: Parc de l'Hotel de Ville
Throughout this page, the Ariège 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 Lavelanet?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune40% mapped woodland, more than in 85% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyGaronne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste (Natura 2000) is 4.1 km from the town center.
What sets Lavelanet apart: its woods, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Lavelanet 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
Woodland40%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
85out of 100
Footpaths2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
58out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
70out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Lavelanet has the 11th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,917 to 6,058 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Clapiers (9.8 km per km²) to Saint-Denis-de-Pile (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clapiers Hérault | 9.8 | 42% | 3.1% | 14 km |
| 2 | Ablon-sur-Seine Val-de-Marne | 5.8 | 6.2% | 0% | 165 km |
| 3 | La Verrière Yvelines | 5.3 | 14% | 1.3% | 139 km |
| 4 | Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer Var | 3.9 | 35% | 0% | On it |
| 5 | Villennes-sur-Seine Yvelines | 3.7 | 17% | 0% | 128 km |
| 6 | Fleury-sur-Orne Calvados | 3.6 | 3.3% | 0% | 17 km |
| 7 | Noyelles-Godault Pas-de-Calais | 3.5 | 6.9% | 0.2% | 81 km |
| 8 | Roost-Warendin Nord | 2.9 | 22% | 7.5% | 85 km |
| 9 | Quiévrechain Nord | 2.5 | 13% | 97% | 107 km |
| 10 | Trith-Saint-Léger Nord | 2.1 | 6.9% | 0% | 106 km |
| 11 | Lavelanet Ariège | 2 | 40% | 0% | 97 km |
| 12 | Marnaz Haute-Savoie | 2 | 51% | 9.8% | 265 km |
| 13 | Benfeld Bas-Rhin | 2 | 24% | 20% | 460 km |
| 14 | Hombourg-Haut Moselle | 1.9 | 48% | 0% | 357 km |
| 15 | Ciboure Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.8 | 30% | 16% | On it |
| 16 | Sains-en-Gohelle Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 17 | Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 26% | 5.4% | 34 km |
| 18 | Saint-Girons Ariège | 1.5 | 36% | 100% | 155 km |
| 19 | Jouars-Pontchartrain Yvelines | 1.4 | 20% | 100% | 133 km |
| 20 | Loon-Plage Nord | 1.3 | 2.6% | 0.2% | On it |
| 21 | Le Castellet Var | 1.3 | 18% | 81% | 7.5 km |
| 22 | Mortagne-sur-Sèvre Vendée | 1.3 | 7.8% | 0% | 77 km |
| 23 | Vias Hérault | 1.3 | 5.5% | 44% | On it |
| 24 | Donzère Drôme | 1.2 | 22% | 8.5% | 110 km |
| 25 | Vaison-la-Romaine Vaucluse | 1.2 | 29% | 100% | 90 km |
| 26 | Naintré Vienne | 1.1 | 33% | 0% | 134 km |
| 27 | Pavilly Seine-Maritime | 1 | 21% | 0% | 36 km |
| 28 | Grand-Champ Morbihan | 0.9 | 17% | 0% | 11 km |
| 29 | Marly-la-Ville Val-d'Oise | 0.9 | 5.5% | 0% | 135 km |
| 30 | Montdidier Somme | 0.8 | 5.3% | 0% | 87 km |
| 31 | Blanzy Saône-et-Loire | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 349 km |
| 32 | Luc-la-Primaube Aveyron | 0.8 | 7.6% | 0% | 131 km |
| 33 | Condé-en-Normandie Calvados | 0.7 | 8.1% | 18% | 52 km |
| 34 | Corbie Somme | 0.6 | 16% | 4.5% | 66 km |
| 35 | Commentry Allier | 0.5 | 13% | 0% | 288 km |
| 36 | Fontenay-Trésigny Seine-et-Marne | 0.5 | 25% | 0% | 185 km |
| 37 | Aubignan Vaucluse | 0.5 | 3.8% | 42% | 73 km |
| 38 | Bellevigne-en-Layon Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 14% | 0.1% | 113 km |
| 39 | Vexin-sur-Epte Eure | 0.3 | 16% | 2.2% | 91 km |
| 40 | Nègrepelisse Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.2 | 13% | 1% | 167 km |
| 41 | Saint-Denis-de-Pile Gironde | 0.2 | 11% | 14% | 31 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 Lavelanet
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de l'Hotel de Ville leads, at 0.7 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin Public Suzanne Noël
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Lavelanet
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste is the nearest protected area, 4.1 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
Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste
4.1 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
26 km of footpaths and 8 km of hiking routes cross Lavelanet
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
26 km
2 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.4 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
40%
about 5.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
LavelanetAriège medianFrance median
Footpaths2
Hiking routes0.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
LavelanetAriège medianFrance median
Woodland40%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 58% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 85% 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 Lavelanet 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
Tour du Pays d'Olmes12 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Lavelanet: June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Les Cascades, 8.9 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) | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 13 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 108 | 90 | 89 | 107 | 110 | 78 | 68 | 70 | 75 | 87 | 122 | 98 |
July is the driest month (68 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 122 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 36 nights a year. The climate in Lavelanet →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Lavelanet
Named gardens in the commune.
Potager Urbain de LamartineIn Lavelanet
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Lavelanet
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
MirepoixFoixVarilhesTarascon-sur-AriègeLa Tour-du-CrieuSaint-Jean-du-FalgaLavelanet
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lavelanet | 0% | 40% | 2 |
| Mirepoix 3,172 · 18 km | 5.4% | 34% | 0.2 |
| Foix 9,934 · 20 km | 21% | 28% | 2.2 |
| Varilhes 3,487 · 22 km | 2.6% | 17% | 0.6 |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège 3,085 · 22 km | 1.5% | 48% | 3 |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 25 km | 0% | 0% | 0.4 |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 25 km | 2.2% | 3.1% | 1.2 |
Foix 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 Lavelanet
Is Lavelanet in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste, 4.1 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Lavelanet?
OpenStreetMap maps 26 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 8 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Lavelanet is woodland?
40% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Lavelanet near the sea?
No: the coast is 97 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Lavelanet?
June 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.