First pick
Parc de la Fontaine Mary-Rose
Park or garden
6.4 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
1.6 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: User:Malost · CC BY-SA 3.043%of the land protected
Outdoors in Grans · protected areas, woods and footpaths
43% of Grans’ land is protected for nature
Footpaths add up to 33 km across Grans (1.2 km per km²). Grans has 8 km of waymarked hiking routes. Mapped woodland covers 13% of Grans. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
43%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
13%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
33 km
1.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.4 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc de la Fontaine Mary-Rose
The sea
22 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 Grans?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside43% of the land lies in protected areas.A nature reservePoitevine-Regarde-Venir nature reserve covers 8.1% of the commune.
What sets Grans apart: its protected countryside, then its nature reserve.
Against French towns
How Grans 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 areas43%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland13%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
49out of 100
Footpaths1.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
37out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
46out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Grans has the 19th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,433 to 5,548 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Marsannay-la-Côte (6 km per km²) to Noyant-Villages (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marsannay-la-Côte Côte-d'Or | 6 | 47% | 49% | 405 km |
| 2 | Crégy-lès-Meaux Seine-et-Marne | 3.5 | 10% | 0% | 159 km |
| 3 | Nouzonville Ardennes | 3 | 67% | 100% | 203 km |
| 4 | Chevreuse Yvelines | 2.9 | 50% | 100% | 147 km |
| 5 | Lardy Essonne | 2.7 | 46% | 0.1% | 173 km |
| 6 | Coublevie Isère | 2.7 | 18% | 73% | 220 km |
| 7 | Saint-Genis-les-Ollières Rhône | 2.5 | 14% | 0% | 250 km |
| 8 | Penmarch Finistère | 2.5 | 0% | 18% | On it |
| 9 | Roques Haute-Garonne | 2.4 | 4.3% | 40% | 148 km |
| 10 | La Roque-d'Anthéron Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.3 | 36% | 51% | 39 km |
| 11 | Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent Eure | 2.2 | 35% | 0% | 71 km |
| 12 | Aussillon Tarn | 2 | 41% | 100% | 75 km |
| 13 | Le Boulou Pyrénées-Orientales | 2 | 19% | 7.4% | 18 km |
| 14 | Guînes Pas-de-Calais | 1.8 | 34% | 100% | 10 km |
| 15 | Baisieux Nord | 1.8 | 2.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 16 | Ollainville Essonne | 1.7 | 37% | 0% | 165 km |
| 17 | Rosheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 57% | 0% | 443 km |
| 18 | Arnage Sarthe | 1.6 | 11% | 0% | 138 km |
| 19 | Nogent-sur-Seine Aube | 1.6 | 18% | 2.5% | 230 km |
| 20 | Foulayronnes Lot-et-Garonne | 1.4 | 9.9% | 0% | 130 km |
| 21 | Pollestres Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.3 | 0.9% | 0% | 14 km |
| 22 | Coulogne Pas-de-Calais | 1.2 | 1.1% | 0% | 4.7 km |
| 23 | Grans Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.2 | 13% | 43% | 22 km |
| 24 | Quincy-Voisins Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 30% | 0% | 166 km |
| 25 | Neuville-de-Poitou Vienne | 1 | 0.3% | 26% | 114 km |
| 26 | Fenain Nord | 1 | 10% | 99% | 97 km |
| 27 | Les Achards Vendée | 0.9 | 4.6% | 0% | 15 km |
| 28 | Drap Alpes-Maritimes | 0.8 | 33% | 0% | 4.8 km |
| 29 | Saint-Memmie Marne | 0.7 | 4.7% | 0% | 239 km |
| 30 | La Ferrière Vendée | 0.7 | 9.6% | 0% | 38 km |
| 31 | Boulay-Moselle Moselle | 0.7 | 11% | 0% | 339 km |
| 32 | Chazelles-sur-Lyon Loire | 0.6 | 13% | 0% | 232 km |
| 33 | Étoile-sur-Rhône Drôme | 0.5 | 8.7% | 1.6% | 154 km |
| 34 | Châtillon-sur-Seine Côte-d'Or | 0.4 | 12% | 100% | 334 km |
| 35 | Roquemaure Gard | 0.3 | 12% | 13% | 66 km |
| 36 | Ernée Mayenne | 0.3 | 1.4% | 0.1% | 48 km |
| 37 | Servian Hérault | 0.3 | 7.4% | 0% | 17 km |
| 38 | Aubigny-sur-Nère Cher | 0.3 | 25% | 24% | 265 km |
| 39 | La Garnache Vendée | 0.2 | 9.8% | 0% | 18 km |
| 40 | Nueil-les-Aubiers Deux-Sèvres | 0.2 | 4.2% | 0% | 83 km |
| 41 | Noyant-Villages Maine-et-Loire | 0.1 | 23% | 13% | 164 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 Grans
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de la Fontaine Mary-Rose leads, at 6.4 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de la Gallière
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.3 km of path
1.2 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin du Foirail
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Grans
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 Grans
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Poitevine-Regarde-Venir nature reserve
8.1% of the commune3 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Crau centrale - Crau sèche
42% of the commune0.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Crau
23% of the commune2.4 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area43%
Nature reserve8.1%
Natura 2000 site43%
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.
43% of Grans’ land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Bouches-du-Rhône has 27%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
33 km of footpaths and 8 km of hiking routes cross Grans
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
33 km
1.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.4 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
13%
about 3.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
GransBouches-du-Rhône medianFrance median
Footpaths1.2
Hiking routes0.3
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
GransBouches-du-Rhône medianFrance median
Woodland13%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 63% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 51% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 97% of Grans’ residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
GR Pays 201314 km
Circuit des bories8.6 km
Via Aurelia, Aix - Salon de Provence3.3 km
Via Aurelia, Salon de Provence - Maussane0.9 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Grans: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Salon de Provence, 3.5 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 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 12 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 26 | 21 | 15 | 12 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 34 | 37 | 56 | 44 | 31 | 14 | 31 | 79 | 86 | 84 | 45 |
July is the driest month (14 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 86 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Grans →
Neighbors
Next to Grans
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Salon-de-ProvenceMiramasLançon-ProvenceSaint-ChamasPélissanneEyguièresGrans
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grans | 43% | 13% | 1.2 | 22 km |
| Salon-de-Provence 44,194 · 4.3 km | 59% | 4.8% | 1.4 | 26 km |
| Miramas 26,203 · 5.5 km | 5.7% | 9.2% | 4 | 18 km |
| Lançon-Provence 9,915 · 6.7 km | 80% | 2.7% | 0.7 | 23 km |
| Saint-Chamas 8,676 · 7.2 km | 50% | 8.1% | 1 | 15 km |
| Pélissanne 11,085 · 7.5 km | 57% | 4.7% | 1.1 | 27 km |
| Eyguières 7,119 · 9.5 km | 100% | 13% | 1.4 | 30 km |
Eyguières 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 Grans
Is Grans in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 43% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Grans?
OpenStreetMap maps 33 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); 8 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Grans is woodland?
13% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Grans near the sea?
No: the coast is 22 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Grans?
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.