First pick
Parc de la Cité de la Jeunesse
Park or garden
0.6 ha
Centralin the middle of Auriol
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Fr.Latreille · CC BY-SA 4.075%of the land protected
Outdoors in Auriol · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Auriol lies inside Sainte-Baume Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 75% of Auriol’s land. 49% of Auriol is mapped woodland. Auriol has 44 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
75%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
49%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
77 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
44 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 la Cité de la Jeunesse
The sea
19 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Bouches-du-Rhône 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 Auriol?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Sainte-Baume Regional Nature Park75% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune49% mapped woodland, more than in 91% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes44 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Auriol apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Auriol 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 areas75%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
90out of 100
Woodland49%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
91out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
51out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
83out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Auriol has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (12,720 to 13,354 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-André-lez-Lille (8.6 km per km²) to Graulhet (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-André-lez-Lille Nord | 8.6 | 2.7% | 0% | 59 km |
| 2 | Anzin Nord | 5.4 | 3.1% | 0.5% | 103 km |
| 3 | Nemours Seine-et-Marne | 4.3 | 49% | 2.7% | 215 km |
| 4 | Freyming-Merlebach Moselle | 4.1 | 19% | 0% | 358 km |
| 5 | Saint-Jean-de-Védas Hérault | 3.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 9 km |
| 6 | Chambray-lès-Tours Indre-et-Loire | 3.5 | 24% | 0% | 181 km |
| 7 | Pornichet Loire-Atlantique | 3.3 | 12% | 0.1% | On it |
| 8 | Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Gard | 3.1 | 13% | 22% | 58 km |
| 9 | Val-de-Reuil Eure | 3.1 | 16% | 24% | 64 km |
| 10 | Les Ponts-de-Cé Maine-et-Loire | 2.8 | 6.5% | 33% | 120 km |
| 11 | Lourdes Hautes-Pyrénées | 2.8 | 52% | 6.8% | 129 km |
| 12 | Mayenne Mayenne | 2.8 | 2.5% | 0% | 66 km |
| 13 | Kingersheim Haut-Rhin | 2.7 | 13% | 0% | 445 km |
| 14 | Canet-en-Roussillon Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.6 | 1.1% | 50% | On it |
| 15 | Outreau Pas-de-Calais | 2.6 | 4.8% | 0% | 1.7 km |
| 16 | Betton Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.5 | 3.3% | 0.2% | 43 km |
| 17 | Guéret Creuse | 2.5 | 39% | 0.1% | 220 km |
| 18 | Saint-André-les-Vergers Aube | 2.5 | 4.4% | 0% | 273 km |
| 19 | Aubergenville Yvelines | 2.4 | 9.1% | 0% | 121 km |
| 20 | Berck Pas-de-Calais | 2.3 | 19% | 29% | On it |
| 21 | Claye-Souilly Seine-et-Marne | 2.3 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 22 | Tarnos Landes | 2.3 | 41% | 21% | On it |
| 23 | Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez Vendée | 2.3 | 12% | 48% | On it |
| 24 | Moret-Loing-et-Orvanne Seine-et-Marne | 2 | 26% | 8.9% | 213 km |
| 25 | Bonneville Haute-Savoie | 1.8 | 47% | 5.2% | 269 km |
| 26 | Seclin Nord | 1.8 | 3.3% | 0% | 69 km |
| 27 | Auriol Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 49% | 75% | 19 km |
| 28 | Noyon Oise | 1.6 | 19% | 18% | 116 km |
| 29 | Cuers Var | 1.5 | 32% | 0% | 16 km |
| 30 | Amboise Indre-et-Loire | 1.4 | 58% | 5% | 203 km |
| 31 | Fonsorbes Haute-Garonne | 1.4 | 8.5% | 1.7% | 160 km |
| 32 | Autun Saône-et-Loire | 1.3 | 43% | 100% | 377 km |
| 33 | Yzeure Allier | 1.3 | 25% | 0% | 338 km |
| 34 | Tergnier Aisne | 1.2 | 9% | 4.8% | 130 km |
| 35 | Comines Nord | 0.9 | 2.3% | 0% | 48 km |
| 36 | Cusset Allier | 0.9 | 18% | 1.4% | 290 km |
| 37 | Châteaudun Eure-et-Loir | 0.8 | 9.7% | 2.7% | 168 km |
| 38 | Monteux Vaucluse | 0.7 | 2.6% | 26% | 65 km |
| 39 | Petite-Île Réunion | 0.6 | 22% | 4.9% | On it |
| 40 | Bras-Panon Réunion | 0.6 | 69% | 83% | On it |
| 41 | Graulhet Tarn | 0.3 | 9.2% | 0% | 116 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 Auriol
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de la Cité de la Jeunesse leads, at 0.6 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc du Château Saint-Pierre
Park or garden
0.6 ha
Centralin the middle of Auriol
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Auriol
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Sainte-Baume Regional Nature Park
75% of the commune0.3 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Massif de la Sainte-Baume
40% of the commune1.2 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Sainte-Baume occidentale
39% of the commune1.2 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area75%
Regional nature park75%
Natura 2000 site40%
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.
75% of Auriol’s land is protected, more than in 90% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Bouches-du-Rhône has 27%. 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
77 km of footpaths and 44 km of hiking routes cross Auriol
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
77 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
44 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
49%
about 22 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AuriolBouches-du-Rhône medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AuriolBouches-du-Rhône medianFrance median
Woodland49%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 51% 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 Auriol is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
10 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 981.1 km
GR Pays 201323 km
Circuit des Encanaux de 15 Km13 km
Entre Aurélien et Regagnas9.4 km
De Auriol à La Destrousse5 km
Du poteau RE 24 à Auriol4.7 km
Le Regagnas2.5 km
La Destrousse - Mont du Marseillais1.8 km
De La Destrousse à Peypin1.6 km
Saint-Pons - Col de Brest1 km
GR 98 passes within 2 km of Auriol.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Auriol: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Aubagne, 7.8 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 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | 13 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 29 | 31 | 31 | 27 | 22 | 16 | 13 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 39 | 37 | 59 | 45 | 30 | 11 | 25 | 78 | 94 | 95 | 66 |
July is the driest month (11 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 95 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 36 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Auriol →
Neighbors
Next to Auriol
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
La DestrousseRoquevaireLa BouilladisseSaint-ZachariePeypinPlan-d'Aups-Sainte-BaumeAuriol
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auriol | 75% | 49% | 1.7 | 19 km |
| La Destrousse 4,133 · 3.8 km | 6.2% | 11% | 0.9 | 19 km |
| Roquevaire 8,915 · 4.7 km | 66% | 11% | 2.1 | 15 km |
| La Bouilladisse 6,547 · 4.8 km | 0% | 40% | 2.4 | 21 km |
| Saint-Zacharie 5,879 · 5.2 km | 100% | 42% | 2.7 | 22 km |
| Peypin 5,771 · 6.2 km | 8.5% | 34% | 2.9 | 18 km |
| Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume 2,527 · 7.4 km | 100% | 43% | 3.7 | 17 km |
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 Auriol
Is Auriol in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Auriol lies in Sainte-Baume Regional Nature Park (75% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Auriol?
OpenStreetMap maps 77 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 44 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Auriol is woodland?
49% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Auriol near the sea?
No: the coast is 19 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Auriol?
April to June: 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 9, 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.