First pick
Bois du Roc de Marty
Wood or forest
3,740 ha82 km of path
18 h 15 minto walk all 82 km of path
6.7 km westfrom the center
Route Forestière de la GarrigueChemin du Col d'IjouChemin de Stables+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Ji-Elle · Public domain1.5%of the land protected
Outdoors in Tarascon-sur-Ariège · protected areas, woods and footpaths
48% of Tarascon-sur-Ariège is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 26 km across Tarascon-sur-Ariège (3 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 4 km in Tarascon-sur-Ariège. 1.5% of Tarascon-sur-Ariège’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
1.5%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
48%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
26 km
3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.7 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois du Roc de Marty
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.
Against French towns
How Tarascon-sur-Ariège 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 areas1.5%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
58out of 100
Woodland48%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
91out of 100
Footpaths3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
73out of 100
Hiking routes0.4 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
56out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Tarascon-sur-Ariège has the 6th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,057 to 3,114 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Albigny-sur-Saône (4.8 km per km²) to Bérat (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albigny-sur-Saône Rhône | 4.8 | 25% | 0% | 263 km |
| 2 | Coupvray Seine-et-Marne | 4.3 | 19% | 0% | 164 km |
| 3 | Étiolles Essonne | 3.7 | 72% | 0% | 175 km |
| 4 | Buhl Haut-Rhin | 3.7 | 74% | 100% | 461 km |
| 5 | Villers-Bocage Calvados | 3.1 | 7.7% | 0% | 29 km |
| 6 | Tarascon-sur-Ariège Ariège | 3 | 48% | 1.5% | 118 km |
| 7 | La Chapelle-en-Serval Oise | 2.9 | 45% | 100% | 132 km |
| 8 | Pont-à-Vendin Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 13% | 0% | 72 km |
| 9 | Chéreng Nord | 2.5 | 11% | 0% | 69 km |
| 10 | Beaumont Haute-Savoie | 2.2 | 40% | 48% | 280 km |
| 11 | Chapareillan Isère | 2.2 | 57% | 98% | 221 km |
| 12 | Béthisy-Saint-Pierre Oise | 2.1 | 37% | 21% | 127 km |
| 13 | Custines Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2 | 38% | 0% | 355 km |
| 14 | Fumay Ardennes | 2 | 92% | 100% | 185 km |
| 15 | Chens-sur-Léman Haute-Savoie | 1.9 | 41% | 5% | 299 km |
| 16 | La Sentinelle Nord | 1.9 | 3.3% | 0.5% | 104 km |
| 17 | Damelevières Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.6 | 46% | 0% | 386 km |
| 18 | Arbois Jura | 1.4 | 51% | 12% | 373 km |
| 19 | Plancoët Côtes-d'Armor | 1.4 | 13% | 100% | 3.9 km |
| 20 | La Motte Var | 1.3 | 34% | 25% | 18 km |
| 21 | Gréoux-les-Bains Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.2 | 62% | 20% | 63 km |
| 22 | Saint-Genix-les-Villages Savoie | 1.2 | 33% | 4.4% | 247 km |
| 23 | Guichainville Eure | 1.1 | 15% | 0% | 78 km |
| 24 | Gasny Eure | 0.8 | 35% | 9.7% | 98 km |
| 25 | Anor Nord | 0.8 | 37% | 100% | 162 km |
| 26 | Nontron Dordogne | 0.7 | 37% | 100% | 110 km |
| 27 | Colayrac-Saint-Cirq Lot-et-Garonne | 0.7 | 14% | 3.8% | 126 km |
| 28 | Port-Saint-Père Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 9.5% | 16% | 20 km |
| 29 | Soulac-sur-Mer Gironde | 0.7 | 23% | 100% | On it |
| 30 | Breuillet Charente-Maritime | 0.7 | 20% | 13% | On it |
| 31 | Noé Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 7.6% | 5.6% | 150 km |
| 32 | Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel Loiret | 0.4 | 38% | 4% | 217 km |
| 33 | Le Grand-Lemps Isère | 0.4 | 24% | 10% | 220 km |
| 34 | Châtillon-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.4 | 15% | 9.3% | 271 km |
| 35 | Blancs-Coteaux Marne | 0.2 | 35% | 2.1% | 220 km |
| 36 | Dissay Vienne | 0.2 | 34% | 24% | 127 km |
| 37 | Miramont-de-Guyenne Lot-et-Garonne | 0.2 | 11% | 0% | 88 km |
| 38 | Lailly-en-Val Loiret | 0.1 | 52% | 60% | 210 km |
| 39 | Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure Charente | 0.1 | 23% | 0% | 103 km |
| 40 | La Roche-Chalais Dordogne | 0.1 | 56% | 6.7% | 50 km |
| 41 | Bérat Haute-Garonne | 0 | 11% | 0% | 159 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 Tarascon-sur-Ariège
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois du Roc de Marty leads, at 3,740 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
1.5% of Tarascon-sur-Ariège 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
Pyrénées Ariégeoises Regional Nature Park
0.4 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste
1.3% of the commune0.2 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Quiès calcaires de Tarascon-sur-Ariège et grotte de la Petite Caougno
1.1 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Quiès calcaires de Tarascon-sur-Ariège et grotte de la Petite Caougno
1.1 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area1.5%
Regional nature park0.2%
Natura 2000 site1.3%
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.
1.5% of Tarascon-sur-Ariège’s land is protected, more than in 58% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Ariège has 1.5%. 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
26 km of footpaths cross Tarascon-sur-Ariège
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
3 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.7 km
waymarked: 0.4 km per km²
Woodland
48%
about 4.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Tarascon-sur-AriègeAriège medianFrance median
Footpaths3
Hiking routes0.4
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Tarascon-sur-AriègeAriège medianFrance median
Woodland48%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 73% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 91% 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 Tarascon-sur-Ariège 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
Chemin de Génat5.4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Tarascon-sur-Ariège: June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Les Cascades, 18 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) | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 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 Tarascon-sur-Ariège →
Neighbors
Next to Tarascon-sur-Ariège
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
FoixLavelanetVarilhesSaint-Jean-du-FalgaTarascon-sur-Ariège
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège | 1.5% | 48% | 3 |
| Foix 9,934 · 13 km | 21% | 28% | 2.2 |
| Lavelanet 5,987 · 22 km | 0% | 40% | 2 |
| Varilhes 3,487 · 23 km | 2.6% | 17% | 0.6 |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 27 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 Tarascon-sur-Ariège
Is Tarascon-sur-Ariège in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 1.5% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Tarascon-sur-Ariège?
OpenStreetMap maps 26 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 4 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Tarascon-sur-Ariège is woodland?
48% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Tarascon-sur-Ariège near the sea?
No: the coast is 118 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Tarascon-sur-Ariège?
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.