Photo: User:Ville de Varilhes · CC BY-SA 4.0Almost every home in Varilhes is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 7 km across Varilhes (0.6 km per km²). 17% of Varilhes is mapped woodland. Varilhes has 3 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
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.
How Varilhes 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Varilhes has the 10th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,457 to 3,518 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Sainte-Catherine (3.3 km per km²) to Crèvecœur-le-Grand (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sainte-Catherine Pas-de-Calais | 3.3 | 6.1% | 0% | 78 km |
| 2 | Moûtiers Savoie | 3.1 | 52% | 0% | 204 km |
| 3 | Lapugnoy Pas-de-Calais | 3 | 42% | 0% | 60 km |
| 4 | Barbazan-Debat Hautes-Pyrénées | 2.6 | 47% | 0% | 136 km |
| 5 | Hérimoncourt Doubs | 2.5 | 57% | 0% | 409 km |
| 6 | La Buisse Isère | 2.4 | 35% | 61% | 218 km |
| 7 | La Forêt-Fouesnant Finistère | 2.3 | 7.6% | 0% | On it |
| 8 | Haucourt-Moulaine Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2 | 34% | 0% | 278 km |
| 9 | Vals-les-Bains Ardèche | 2 | 73% | 100% | 125 km |
| 10 | Montalieu-Vercieu Isère | 1.9 | 25% | 4.2% | 266 km |
| 11 | Taninges Haute-Savoie | 1.8 | 57% | 28% | 268 km |
| 12 | Sorède Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.6 | 68% | 43% | 7.9 km |
| 13 | La Chapelle-Heulin Loire-Atlantique | 1.6 | 15% | 17% | 51 km |
| 14 | Lampertheim Bas-Rhin | 1.6 | 1.2% | 0% | 443 km |
| 15 | Les Belleville Savoie | 1.4 | 15% | 71% | 194 km |
| 16 | Saint-Jeoire Haute-Savoie | 1.3 | 64% | 0% | 275 km |
| 17 | Langeac Haute-Loire | 1.1 | 48% | 100% | 176 km |
| 18 | Issenheim Haut-Rhin | 1 | 14% | 0.2% | 458 km |
| 19 | Artix Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.9 | 15% | 38% | 76 km |
| 20 | Bourcefranc-le-Chapus Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 7.9% | 46% | On it |
| 21 | Ruaudin Sarthe | 0.9 | 34% | 0% | 142 km |
| 22 | Bréhal Manche | 0.8 | 3.9% | 1.8% | 2.8 km |
| 23 | Mirande Gers | 0.8 | 20% | 0% | 150 km |
| 24 | Marssac-sur-Tarn Tarn | 0.8 | 4.6% | 0% | 124 km |
| 25 | Saint-Cyr-en-Val Loiret | 0.7 | 33% | 36% | 214 km |
| 26 | Rieumes Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 22% | 0% | 164 km |
| 27 | Val-de-Cognac Charente | 0.7 | 23% | 8.1% | 45 km |
| 28 | Vrigne aux Bois Ardennes | 0.7 | 60% | 46% | 215 km |
| 29 | Savigneux Loire | 0.6 | 3% | 66% | 228 km |
| 30 | Chaumes-en-Brie Seine-et-Marne | 0.6 | 29% | 0.1% | 188 km |
| 31 | Chanceaux-sur-Choisille Indre-et-Loire | 0.6 | 17% | 0% | 190 km |
| 32 | Varilhes Ariège | 0.6 | 17% | 2.6% | 116 km |
| 33 | Capestang Hérault | 0.5 | 0.9% | 18% | 20 km |
| 34 | Saint-Éloy-les-Mines Puy-de-Dôme | 0.5 | 23% | 0% | 290 km |
| 35 | Gramat Lot | 0.4 | 39% | 100% | 185 km |
| 36 | Le Porge Gironde | 0.3 | 89% | 100% | On it |
| 37 | Le Mérévillois Essonne | 0.3 | 8.2% | 0% | 178 km |
| 38 | Sainte-Geneviève Oise | 0.3 | 17% | 0% | 104 km |
| 39 | Hornaing Nord | 0.3 | 8.8% | 99% | 98 km |
| 40 | Weyersheim Bas-Rhin | 0.2 | 14% | 0% | 444 km |
| 41 | Crèvecœur-le-Grand Oise | 0.1 | 4.3% | 0% | 70 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
2.6% of Varilhes lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Garonne, Ariège, Hers, Salat, Pique et Neste
Share of the commune’s land
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.
2.6% of Varilhes’ land is protected, more than in 60% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Ariège has 1.5%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
7 km of footpaths cross Varilhes
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is less than in 83% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 58% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 96% of Varilhes’ residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Varilhes: June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St-Ybars, 28 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 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 53 | 58 | 85 | 91 | 72 | 56 | 50 | 59 | 65 | 75 | 66 |
August is the driest month (50 mm) and the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 91 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 25 nights a year. The climate in Varilhes →
Next to Varilhes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varilhes | 2.6% | 17% | 0.6 |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga 2,851 · 4.2 km | 2.2% | 3.1% | 1.2 |
| La Tour-du-Crieu 3,230 · 6.6 km | 0% | 0% | 0.4 |
| Pamiers 16,473 · 7.8 km | 1.1% | 16% | 0.6 |
| Foix 9,934 · 9.7 km | 21% | 28% | 2.2 |
| Mirepoix 3,172 · 20 km | 5.4% | 34% | 0.2 |
| Saverdun 4,808 · 21 km | 0.7% | 13% | 0.2 |
Foix has at least twice as much protected land. Foix and Mirepoix are more wooded.
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 Varilhes
Is Varilhes in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 2.6% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Varilhes?
OpenStreetMap maps 7 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Varilhes is woodland?
17% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Varilhes near the sea?
No: the coast is 116 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Varilhes?
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.