Photo: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Parks, woods and footpaths in Benfeld
Benfeld has 10 km of waymarked hiking routes. 20% of Benfeld’s land lies in protected areas. Mapped woodland covers 24% of Benfeld. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Bas-Rhin median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
How Benfeld 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.
Benfeld has the 14th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,906 to 6,046 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 | Tain-l'Hermitage Drôme | 3.1 | 0.9% | 0% | 179 km |
| 9 | Roost-Warendin Nord | 2.9 | 22% | 7.5% | 85 km |
| 10 | Quiévrechain Nord | 2.5 | 13% | 97% | 107 km |
| 11 | Trith-Saint-Léger Nord | 2.1 | 6.9% | 0% | 106 km |
| 12 | Lavelanet Ariège | 2 | 40% | 0% | 97 km |
| 13 | Marnaz Haute-Savoie | 2 | 51% | 9.8% | 265 km |
| 14 | Benfeld Bas-Rhin | 2 | 24% | 20% | 460 km |
| 15 | Hombourg-Haut Moselle | 1.9 | 48% | 0% | 357 km |
| 16 | Ciboure Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.8 | 30% | 16% | On it |
| 17 | Sains-en-Gohelle Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 18 | Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 26% | 5.4% | 34 km |
| 19 | Saint-Girons Ariège | 1.5 | 36% | 100% | 155 km |
| 20 | Fontenilles Haute-Garonne | 1.4 | 13% | 0% | 163 km |
| 21 | Jouars-Pontchartrain Yvelines | 1.4 | 20% | 100% | 133 km |
| 22 | Loon-Plage Nord | 1.3 | 2.6% | 0.2% | On it |
| 23 | Le Castellet Var | 1.3 | 18% | 81% | 7.5 km |
| 24 | Vias Hérault | 1.3 | 5.5% | 44% | On it |
| 25 | Donzère Drôme | 1.2 | 22% | 8.5% | 110 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 |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
9 in 10 residents of Benfeld live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
About 800 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
20% of Benfeld lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Secteur Alluvial Rhin-Ried-Bruch, Bas-Rhin
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.
20% of Benfeld’s land is protected, more than in 78% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Bas-Rhin has 0.1%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
16 km of footpaths and 10 km of hiking routes cross Benfeld
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 more than in 57% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 69% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Benfeld: April, August and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Selestat Sa, 14 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 36 | 34 | 36 | 43 | 78 | 67 | 70 | 64 | 51 | 58 | 44 | 42 |
February is the driest month (34 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 78 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 63 nights a year. The climate in Benfeld →
Next to Benfeld
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benfeld | 20% | 24% | 2 |
| Huttenheim 2,735 · 1.4 km | 35% | 32% | 0.3 |
| Erstein 10,790 · 7.9 km | 38% | 32% | 0.9 |
| Gerstheim 3,490 · 8.2 km | 37% | 20% | 1.3 |
| Hilsenheim 2,604 · 9.6 km | 18% | 28% | 0 |
| Rhinau 2,723 · 10 km | 62% | 31% | 1 |
| Barr 7,057 · 11 km | 0% | 77% | 3.8 |
Rhinau has at least twice as much protected land. Barr is 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 Benfeld
Is Benfeld in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 20% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Benfeld?
OpenStreetMap maps 16 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 10 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Benfeld is woodland?
24% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Benfeld near the sea?
No: the coast is 460 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Benfeld?
April, August 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.