First pick
Forêt Communale de Montlebon
Wood or forest · 70 m outside the commune
276 ha2.7 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.7 km of path
2.7 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Wikipedro · CC BY-SA 4.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Morteau · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Morteau lies inside Doubs Horloger Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Morteau’s land. 28% of Morteau is mapped woodland. 17 km of footpaths cross Morteau (1.2 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
28%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
17 km
1.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.7 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: Forêt Communale de Montlebon
Throughout this page, the Doubs 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 Morteau 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
99out of 100
Woodland28%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
73out of 100
Footpaths1.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
38out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
32out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Morteau has the 17th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (6,873 to 7,031 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Jacou (10.3 km per km²) to Cadaujac (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacou Hérault | 10.3 | 16% | 0% | 13 km |
| 2 | Sathonay-Camp Rhône | 8.3 | 17% | 0% | 259 km |
| 3 | Sainte-Adresse Seine-Maritime | 6.5 | 8.4% | 7.6% | On it |
| 4 | Bailly-Romainvilliers Seine-et-Marne | 4.6 | 10% | 0% | 169 km |
| 5 | Lésigny Seine-et-Marne | 4.2 | 42% | 0% | 171 km |
| 6 | Trévoux Ain | 3.9 | 8.3% | 0% | 270 km |
| 7 | Cognin Savoie | 3.6 | 16% | 44% | 234 km |
| 8 | Castries Hérault | 3.6 | 9.3% | 0.1% | 14 km |
| 9 | Luisant Eure-et-Loir | 3.4 | 11% | 6.4% | 139 km |
| 10 | Carnoux-en-Provence Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.4 | 31% | 0% | 5 km |
| 11 | Fontaines-sur-Saône Rhône | 3 | 14% | 0% | 259 km |
| 12 | Étréchy Essonne | 2.8 | 29% | 0% | 170 km |
| 13 | Escalquens Haute-Garonne | 2.5 | 1.9% | 0% | 134 km |
| 14 | Soultz-Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin | 2.4 | 60% | 100% | 456 km |
| 15 | Uckange Moselle | 2.3 | 3.2% | 0% | 312 km |
| 16 | Saint-Rambert-d'Albon Drôme | 1.8 | 6.2% | 1.6% | 201 km |
| 17 | Houdain Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 7% | 0% | 60 km |
| 18 | Saint-André-des-Eaux Loire-Atlantique | 1.5 | 7.8% | 100% | 6.4 km |
| 19 | Changé Sarthe | 1.5 | 33% | 0% | 142 km |
| 20 | Acigné Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.4 | 11% | 0% | 52 km |
| 21 | Bourbourg Nord | 1.4 | 0.3% | 0% | 6.1 km |
| 22 | Castelnau-d'Estrétefonds Haute-Garonne | 1.4 | 16% | 2.6% | 161 km |
| 23 | Saint-Pol-de-Léon Finistère | 1.2 | 2% | 4% | On it |
| 24 | Saint-Maurice-l'Exil Isère | 1.2 | 11% | 5.4% | 211 km |
| 25 | Morteau Doubs | 1.2 | 28% | 100% | 371 km |
| 26 | Trans-en-Provence Var | 1.1 | 26% | 0% | 23 km |
| 27 | Épône Yvelines | 1.1 | 16% | 0% | 119 km |
| 28 | Plédran Côtes-d'Armor | 1.1 | 8.8% | 0% | 6.7 km |
| 29 | Surgères Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 5% | 0% | 24 km |
| 30 | Bétheny Marne | 0.7 | 0% | 0% | 198 km |
| 31 | Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure Rhône | 0.7 | 4.8% | 0% | 249 km |
| 32 | Sénas Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.6 | 2.8% | 100% | 36 km |
| 33 | Marsillargues Hérault | 0.6 | 0.5% | 32% | 13 km |
| 34 | Valognes Manche | 0.5 | 4.7% | 0% | 12 km |
| 35 | Nérac Lot-et-Garonne | 0.5 | 6.7% | 0.5% | 122 km |
| 36 | Montluel Ain | 0.5 | 27% | 35% | 267 km |
| 37 | La Plaine-des-Palmistes Réunion | 0.5 | 64% | 100% | 14 km |
| 38 | Lucciana Haute-Corse | 0.4 | 4.8% | 3% | On it |
| 39 | Chauvigny Vienne | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 140 km |
| 40 | Beaufort-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 12% | 100% | 141 km |
| 41 | Cadaujac Gironde | 0.2 | 14% | 45% | 29 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 Morteau
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt Communale de Montlebon leads, at 276 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Bois Robert
Wood or forest
177 ha7.8 km of path
1 h 45 minto walk all 7.8 km of path
1.9 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois des Suchaux
Wood or forest · 350 m outside the commune
102 ha4.5 km of path
1 hto walk all 4.5 km of path
2.6 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois du Fol
Wood or forest
58 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.4 km north-westfrom the center
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 Morteau
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Doubs Horloger Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
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.
100% of Morteau’s land is protected, more than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Doubs has 0%. 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
17 km of footpaths cross Morteau
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
17 km
1.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.7 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
28%
about 3.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MorteauDoubs medianFrance median
Footpaths1.2
Hiking routes0.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MorteauDoubs medianFrance median
Woodland28%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 62% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 73% 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 Morteau is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
Via Cluny Variante Morteau Etape 14.3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Morteau: June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Epenoy, 19 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 4 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 100 | 87 | 94 | 100 | 141 | 120 | 114 | 130 | 111 | 127 | 115 | 125 |
February is the driest month (87 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 141 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 85 nights a year. The climate in Morteau →
Neighbors
Next to Morteau
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Les FinsVillers-le-LacLe RusseyValdahonCharquemontDoubsMorteau
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morteau | 100% | 28% | 1.2 |
| Les Fins 3,048 · 2.5 km | 100% | 30% | 1 |
| Villers-le-Lac 5,292 · 5.6 km | 100% | 45% | 2 |
| Le Russey 2,599 · 15 km | 100% | 26% | 0.7 |
| Valdahon 5,705 · 22 km | 0% | 28% | 0.3 |
| Charquemont 2,900 · 24 km | 100% | 39% | 1.5 |
| Doubs 3,335 · 24 km | 0% | 37% | 2 |
Villers-le-Lac 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 Morteau
Is Morteau in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Morteau lies in Doubs Horloger Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Morteau?
OpenStreetMap maps 17 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); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Morteau is woodland?
28% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Morteau near the sea?
No: the coast is 371 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Morteau?
June 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.