First pick
Square Paul Plagnard
Park or garden
1.3 ha0.5 km of path
Centralin the middle of Espalion
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domain3.6%of the land protected
Outdoors in Espalion · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Espalion is within 800 m of a park or wood
30% of Espalion is mapped woodland. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 28 km in Espalion. 45 km of footpaths cross Espalion (1.2 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
3.6%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
30%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
45 km
1.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
28 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: Square Paul Plagnard
Throughout this page, the Aveyron 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 Espalion?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune30% mapped woodland, more than in 76% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes28 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Espalion apart: its woods, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Espalion 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 areas3.6%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
63out of 100
Woodland30%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
76out of 100
Footpaths1.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
39out of 100
Hiking routes0.8 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
75out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Espalion has the 19th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,562 to 4,647 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From La Frette-sur-Seine (4.6 km per km²) to Vayres (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Frette-sur-Seine Val-d'Oise | 4.6 | 6.9% | 0% | 131 km |
| 2 | Bizanos Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.8 | 12% | 9.4% | 98 km |
| 3 | Ars-sur-Moselle Moselle | 3.7 | 59% | 100% | 327 km |
| 4 | Leucate Aude | 3.4 | 2.1% | 79% | On it |
| 5 | Mandeure Doubs | 3 | 59% | 11% | 410 km |
| 6 | Évin-Malmaison Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 19% | 0% | 80 km |
| 7 | Guesnain Nord | 2.3 | 3% | 0% | 93 km |
| 8 | Auchy-les-Mines Pas-de-Calais | 2.2 | 2.3% | 0% | 66 km |
| 9 | Annay Pas-de-Calais | 2.1 | 5.8% | 0% | 73 km |
| 10 | Angres Pas-de-Calais | 2.1 | 14% | 0% | 75 km |
| 11 | Auberchicourt Nord | 1.9 | 2% | 0.3% | 97 km |
| 12 | Plouha Côtes-d'Armor | 1.9 | 15% | 0.1% | On it |
| 13 | Saint-Leu-d'Esserent Oise | 1.8 | 22% | 0.3% | 119 km |
| 14 | Trouville-sur-Mer Calvados | 1.8 | 7.9% | 0.5% | On it |
| 15 | Grimaud Var | 1.7 | 41% | 4.5% | On it |
| 16 | La Fouillouse Loire | 1.3 | 26% | 0% | 217 km |
| 17 | Biache-Saint-Vaast Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 9.2% | 0% | 90 km |
| 18 | Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu Rhône | 1.2 | 14% | 0% | 243 km |
| 19 | Espalion Aveyron | 1.2 | 30% | 3.6% | 144 km |
| 20 | Jargeau Loiret | 1 | 7.3% | 20% | 218 km |
| 21 | Montville Seine-Maritime | 1 | 39% | 0% | 41 km |
| 22 | Bouloc Haute-Garonne | 1 | 22% | 0% | 158 km |
| 23 | Véretz Indre-et-Loire | 1 | 13% | 0% | 188 km |
| 24 | Salaise-sur-Sanne Isère | 0.9 | 13% | 9.2% | 207 km |
| 25 | Bas-en-Basset Haute-Loire | 0.9 | 54% | 97% | 194 km |
| 26 | Puget-Ville Var | 0.9 | 23% | 19% | 20 km |
| 27 | Dieulouard Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.8 | 24% | 100% | 348 km |
| 28 | Lescure-d'Albigeois Tarn | 0.6 | 16% | 0% | 119 km |
| 29 | Montbard Côte-d'Or | 0.6 | 74% | 0% | 344 km |
| 30 | Retiers Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 79 km |
| 31 | Macau Gironde | 0.5 | 13% | 100% | On it |
| 32 | Hagetmau Landes | 0.4 | 15% | 0% | 68 km |
| 33 | Pluméliau-Bieuzy Morbihan | 0.4 | 16% | 0% | 26 km |
| 34 | Dompierre-sur-Yon Vendée | 0.4 | 8.7% | 0% | 39 km |
| 35 | Sézanne Marne | 0.4 | 22% | 1.7% | 220 km |
| 36 | Arnas Rhône | 0.4 | 8.7% | 2.2% | 277 km |
| 37 | Hœrdt Bas-Rhin | 0.4 | 3% | 0% | 444 km |
| 38 | Tiercé Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 12% | 16% | 131 km |
| 39 | Villers-Bretonneux Somme | 0.3 | 8.8% | 0% | 69 km |
| 40 | Cabannes Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.3 | 1.5% | 14% | 46 km |
| 41 | Vayres Gironde | 0.2 | 2.2% | 11% | 24 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 Espalion
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Square Paul Plagnard leads, at 1.3 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
3.6% of Espalion 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
Aubrac Regional Nature Park
1.6 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Haute vallée du Lot entre Espalion et Saint-Laurent-d’Olt et gorges de la Truyère, basse vallée du Lot et le Goul
3.6% of the commune0.1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area3.6%
Regional nature park0.1%
Natura 2000 site3.6%
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.
3.6% of Espalion’s land is protected, more than in 63% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Aveyron has 0.3%. 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
45 km of footpaths and 28 km of hiking routes cross Espalion
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
45 km
1.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
28 km
waymarked: 0.8 km per km²
Woodland
30%
about 11.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
EspalionAveyron medianFrance median
Footpaths1.2
Hiking routes0.8
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
EspalionAveyron medianFrance median
Woodland30%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 61% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 76% 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 Espalion is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 6208.4 km
Sentier Aubrac - Abbaye de Bonneval - Espalion11 km
La Voie du Rail10 km
La Boralde de Flaujac5.5 km
GR 620 passes within 2 km of Espalion.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Espalion: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Entraygues sur, 20 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 99 | 82 | 80 | 104 | 104 | 80 | 62 | 77 | 98 | 100 | 116 | 114 |
July is the driest month (62 mm) and the warmest (highs of 29 °C). 116 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 49 nights a year. The climate in Espalion →
Neighbors
Next to Espalion
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BozoulsSébazac-ConcourèsOnet-le-ChâteauRodezOlempsDruelle BalsacEspalion
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Espalion | 3.6% | 30% | 1.2 |
| Bozouls 3,001 · 6.9 km | 6.4% | 11% | 0.7 |
| Sébazac-Concourès 3,234 · 18 km | 16% | 11% | 0.9 |
| Onet-le-Château 12,080 · 22 km | 1.4% | 2.3% | 1.7 |
| Rodez 23,981 · 24 km | 0% | 5.5% | 5.9 |
| Olemps 3,559 · 26 km | 0% | 17% | 1.8 |
| Druelle Balsac 3,187 · 28 km | 0% | 22% | 1.1 |
Sébazac-Concourès 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 Espalion
Is Espalion in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 3.6% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Espalion?
OpenStreetMap maps 45 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 28 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Espalion is woodland?
30% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Espalion near the sea?
No: the coast is 144 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Espalion?
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.