First pick
Parc François Ier
Wood or forest
47 ha8.6 km of path
1 h 55 minto walk all 8.6 km of path
1.5 km north-eastfrom the center
Allée des RenardsAllée des CharettesAllée du Centre+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jack ma · CC BY-SA 3.017%of the land protected
Outdoors in Cognac · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Cognac has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 53 km across Cognac (3.5 km per km²). Cognac has 14 km of waymarked hiking routes. Protected areas cover 17% of Cognac’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
17%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
13%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
53 km
3.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
6
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc François Ier
The sea
43 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Charente 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 Cognac?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths3.5 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.On waymarked routes14 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Cognac apart: its footpaths, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Cognac 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 areas17%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
76out of 100
Woodland13%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
50out of 100
Footpaths3.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
80out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
82out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Cognac has the 15th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (17,850 to 19,285 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Jouy-le-Moutier (10.3 km per km²) to Mauges-sur-Loire (0.5 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jouy-le-Moutier Val-d'Oise | 10.3 | 23% | 0% | 123 km |
| 2 | Meylan Isère | 9.2 | 18% | 12% | 205 km |
| 3 | Moulins Allier | 6.1 | 3.3% | 11% | 338 km |
| 4 | Saint-Égrève Isère | 5.8 | 22% | 30% | 208 km |
| 5 | Bonneuil-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 5.8 | 3.6% | 0% | 163 km |
| 6 | Chennevières-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 5.4 | 6.2% | 0% | 163 km |
| 7 | Floirac Gironde | 5.1 | 16% | 2.6% | 19 km |
| 8 | Bischheim Bas-Rhin | 5.1 | 3.6% | 0.6% | 449 km |
| 9 | Faches-Thumesnil Nord | 4.4 | 0.2% | 0% | 66 km |
| 10 | Éragny-sur-Oise Val-d'Oise | 4.1 | 15% | 0% | 124 km |
| 11 | Cesson-Sévigné Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.9 | 5.2% | 0% | 50 km |
| 12 | Moissy-Cramayel Seine-et-Marne | 3.9 | 4.7% | 0% | 180 km |
| 13 | Écully Rhône | 3.8 | 14% | 0% | 253 km |
| 14 | Bry-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 3.6 | 7% | 0% | 158 km |
| 15 | Cognac Charente | 3.5 | 13% | 17% | 43 km |
| 16 | Hendaye Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.4 | 8% | 26% | On it |
| 17 | Ploemeur Morbihan | 3.3 | 15% | 4.9% | On it |
| 18 | Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Vosges | 3.2 | 58% | 1.9% | 436 km |
| 19 | Osny Val-d'Oise | 3.2 | 14% | 0.1% | 119 km |
| 20 | Hem Nord | 3 | 5.1% | 0% | 64 km |
| 21 | Le Puy-en-Velay Haute-Loire | 2.9 | 12% | 0% | 165 km |
| 22 | Le Pontet Vaucluse | 2.9 | 2.8% | 3.4% | 56 km |
| 23 | Louviers Eure | 2.8 | 55% | 0.1% | 64 km |
| 24 | Soisy-sous-Montmorency Val-d'Oise | 2.6 | 5% | 0% | 135 km |
| 25 | Carvin Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 5.3% | 0% | 73 km |
| 26 | Digne-les-Bains Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 2.5 | 50% | 4% | 85 km |
| 27 | Pontarlier Doubs | 2.4 | 48% | 0% | 359 km |
| 28 | Saint-Fons Rhône | 2.3 | 4.1% | 0% | 246 km |
| 29 | Sanary-sur-Mer Var | 2.2 | 16% | 0% | On it |
| 30 | Lunéville Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.1 | 9% | 0.1% | 389 km |
| 31 | Limay Yvelines | 2.1 | 16% | 6.1% | 112 km |
| 32 | Châteauneuf-les-Martigues Bouches-du-Rhône | 2 | 17% | 27% | 6 km |
| 33 | Sorgues Vaucluse | 1.7 | 9.7% | 22% | 62 km |
| 34 | Bagnols-sur-Cèze Gard | 1.6 | 27% | 8.2% | 79 km |
| 35 | Brie-Comte-Robert Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 4.7% | 0% | 176 km |
| 36 | Riom Puy-de-Dôme | 1.1 | 2.4% | 1.3% | 269 km |
| 37 | Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume Var | 1 | 41% | 34% | 33 km |
| 38 | Pornic Loire-Atlantique | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | On it |
| 39 | Brignoles Var | 0.9 | 48% | 17% | 34 km |
| 40 | Romorantin-Lanthenay Loir-et-Cher | 0.8 | 30% | 100% | 249 km |
| 41 | Mauges-sur-Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.5 | 4.7% | 11% | 88 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 Cognac
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc François Ier leads, at 47 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin Public
Park or garden
7.1 ha4.1 km of path
55 minto walk all 4.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cognac
Directionsto a point inside
Bois du Portail
Wood or forest
18 ha3.3 km of path
45 minto walk all 3.3 km of path
1.5 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Île David
Wood or forest
7.1 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
2 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parcours de Santé
Park or garden · 0 m outside the commune
2.3 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
2 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Esplanade Georges Clemenceau
Park or garden
1 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
0.8 km northfrom the center
Esplanade Georges ClemenceauPlace des Anciens Combattants
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
17% of Cognac lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de la Charente moyenne et Seugnes
7.8% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Moyenne vallée de la Charente et Seugnes et Coran
7.8% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de la Charente entre Angoulème et Cognac et ses principaux affluents (SOLOIRE, BOEME, ECHELLE)
5.7% of the commune0.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de l’Antenne
3.3% of the commune2 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area17%
Natura 2000 site17%
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.
17% of Cognac’s land is protected, more than in 76% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Charente has 7.4%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Cognac
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
53 km
3.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
13%
about 2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CognacCharente medianFrance median
Footpaths3.5
Hiking routes1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CognacCharente medianFrance median
Woodland13%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 80% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 50% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 97% of Cognac’s 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
Via Sancti Martini - Camino de Zaragoza / Chemin de Saragosse11 km
Parcours du Roy2.1 km
Parcours Santé1.2 km
Parours Belle Époque0.9 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Cognac: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Cognac, 3.3 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 72 | 51 | 53 | 65 | 62 | 60 | 45 | 53 | 63 | 76 | 88 | 84 |
July is the driest month (45 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 88 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 29 nights a year. The climate in Cognac →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Cognac
Named gardens in the commune.
Jardin public de CognacIn Cognac
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Cognac
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ChâteaubernardVal-de-CognacJarnacChaniersPonsRouillacCognac
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognac | 17% | 13% | 3.5 | 43 km |
| Châteaubernard 3,878 · 1.7 km | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1.5 | 44 km |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 6.4 km | 8.1% | 23% | 0.7 | 45 km |
| Jarnac 4,486 · 12 km | 23% | 6.2% | 0.5 | 53 km |
| Chaniers 3,651 · 18 km | 11% | 19% | 0.4 | 31 km |
| Pons 4,343 · 21 km | 13% | 10% | 0.8 | 22 km |
| Rouillac 2,919 · 23 km | 7% | 11% | 0.2 | 66 km |
Val-de-Cognac is more wooded.
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 Cognac
Is Cognac in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 17% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Cognac?
OpenStreetMap maps 53 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 14 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Cognac is woodland?
13% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Cognac near the sea?
No: the coast is 43 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Cognac?
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.