First pick
Le Bois des Dames
Wood or forest · 360 m outside the commune
114 ha3.5 km of path
45 minto walk all 3.5 km of path
1.9 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: rosier · CC BY-SA 3.03.2%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Michel · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Saint-Michel is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 6 km across Saint-Michel (2.3 km per km²). 3.2% of Saint-Michel’s land lies in protected areas. 12% of Saint-Michel is mapped woodland. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
3.2%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
12%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
5.8 km
2.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 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: Le Bois des Dames
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.
Against French towns
How Saint-Michel 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 areas3.2%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
62out of 100
Woodland12%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
47out of 100
Footpaths2.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
64out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Michel has the 5th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,175 to 3,215 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Fonbeauzard (4.4 km per km²) to Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fonbeauzard Haute-Garonne | 4.4 | 10% | 0% | 151 km |
| 2 | Saint-Michel Aisne | 3.4 | 55% | 62% | 170 km |
| 3 | Gagnac-sur-Garonne Haute-Garonne | 3 | 15% | 38% | 156 km |
| 4 | Ville-di-Pietrabugno Haute-Corse | 2.7 | 25% | 0% | On it |
| 5 | Saint-Michel Charente | 2.3 | 12% | 3.2% | 71 km |
| 6 | Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt Loir-et-Cher | 2.2 | 63% | 0% | 220 km |
| 7 | Lissieu Rhône | 2 | 19% | 0% | 260 km |
| 8 | Dolus-d'Oléron Charente-Maritime | 1.9 | 31% | 40% | On it |
| 9 | Knutange Moselle | 1.9 | 64% | 0% | 303 km |
| 10 | Fretin Nord | 1.8 | 3.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 11 | Proville Nord | 1.6 | 15% | 9.5% | 109 km |
| 12 | Salomé Nord | 1.6 | 3% | 0% | 65 km |
| 13 | Lozanne Rhône | 1.6 | 17% | 0% | 259 km |
| 14 | Châteaugay Puy-de-Dôme | 1.6 | 4.7% | 5.2% | 265 km |
| 15 | Nay Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.6 | 14% | 8.5% | 109 km |
| 16 | Fontoy Moselle | 1.5 | 48% | 0% | 300 km |
| 17 | Toussieu Rhône | 1.5 | 6.8% | 0% | 243 km |
| 18 | La Machine Nièvre | 1.5 | 65% | 58% | 357 km |
| 19 | Marsac-sur-l'Isle Dordogne | 1.2 | 33% | 0% | 99 km |
| 20 | Davézieux Ardèche | 1.2 | 4.3% | 0% | 195 km |
| 21 | Saint-Paul-de-Vence Alpes-Maritimes | 1.1 | 32% | 0% | 5 km |
| 22 | Saône Doubs | 1.1 | 43% | 28% | 397 km |
| 23 | Druelle Balsac Aveyron | 1.1 | 22% | 0% | 140 km |
| 24 | Veynes Hautes-Alpes | 1.1 | 51% | 63% | 137 km |
| 25 | Breuil-le-Vert Oise | 1 | 31% | 0% | 105 km |
| 26 | Sallèles-d'Aude Aude | 1 | 7.8% | 1.7% | 21 km |
| 27 | La Loupe Eure-et-Loir | 1 | 9.5% | 100% | 118 km |
| 28 | Souillac Lot | 1 | 67% | 6.9% | 163 km |
| 29 | Ploemel Morbihan | 0.9 | 18% | 0% | 3.3 km |
| 30 | Camblanes-et-Meynac Gironde | 0.9 | 12% | 2.8% | 28 km |
| 31 | Creuzier-le-Vieux Allier | 0.8 | 10% | 3% | 293 km |
| 32 | Saint-Sauveur-Villages Manche | 0.8 | 2% | 35% | 13 km |
| 33 | Meschers-sur-Gironde Charente-Maritime | 0.6 | 7.4% | 60% | On it |
| 34 | Seltz Bas-Rhin | 0.6 | 36% | 57% | 447 km |
| 35 | Imphy Nièvre | 0.6 | 32% | 46% | 343 km |
| 36 | Crêches-sur-Saône Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 5.5% | 16% | 303 km |
| 37 | Mayet Sarthe | 0.5 | 38% | 40% | 155 km |
| 38 | Saint-Siméon-de-Bressieux Isère | 0.3 | 15% | 0% | 211 km |
| 39 | Montsûrs Mayenne | 0.3 | 15% | 19% | 80 km |
| 40 | Illiers-Combray Eure-et-Loir | 0.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 142 km |
| 41 | Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde Gironde | 0.1 | 0.8% | 55% | On it |
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 Saint-Michel
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Le Bois des Dames leads, at 114 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
3.2% of Saint-Michel 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 entre Angoulème et Cognac et ses principaux affluents (SOLOIRE, BOEME, ECHELLE)
3.2% of the commune0.5 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area3.2%
Natura 2000 site3.2%
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.
3.2% of Saint-Michel’s land is protected, more than in 62% 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
6 km of footpaths cross Saint-Michel
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
5.8 km
2.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
12%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-MichelCharente medianFrance median
Footpaths2.3
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-MichelCharente medianFrance median
Woodland12%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 64% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 53% 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 Saint-Michel is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Michel: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at La Couronne, 1.7 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 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 77 | 59 | 60 | 69 | 69 | 70 | 55 | 56 | 69 | 78 | 93 | 91 |
July is the driest month (55 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 93 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Michel →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Michel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
FléacLa CouronneAngoulêmeSaint-Yrieix-sur-CharenteGond-PontouvreSoyauxSaint-Michel
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Michel | 3.2% | 12% | 2.3 |
| Fléac 3,861 · 3.5 km | 3.7% | 12% | 1.4 |
| La Couronne 7,765 · 3.5 km | 21% | 29% | 1.7 |
| Angoulême 41,908 · 3.8 km | 3.6% | 14% | 4.1 |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente 7,539 · 4.1 km | 8.7% | 20% | 2.5 |
| Gond-Pontouvre 5,862 · 5.8 km | 16% | 15% | 1.4 |
| Soyaux 10,087 · 6.4 km | 9% | 35% | 3.3 |
La Couronne and Gond-Pontouvre have at least twice as much protected land. La Couronne, Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente and Soyaux are 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 Saint-Michel
Is Saint-Michel in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 3.2% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Michel?
OpenStreetMap maps 6 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Saint-Michel is woodland?
12% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Michel near the sea?
No: the coast is 71 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Michel?
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.