Photo: Bfauvergue · CC BY-SA 4.092% of Ornans’ land is protected for nature
Mapped woodland covers 66% of Ornans. Ornans has 65 km of waymarked hiking routes. Footpaths add up to 64 km across Ornans (1.8 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
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.
What kind of outdoors place is Ornans?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
What sets Ornans apart: its protected countryside, then its woods.
How Ornans 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Ornans has the 12th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,376 to 4,456 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Labège (3.9 km per km²) to Bastelicaccia (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Labège Haute-Garonne | 3.9 | 6.5% | 0% | 137 km |
| 2 | Valras-Plage Hérault | 3.8 | 0% | 26% | On it |
| 3 | Maurecourt Yvelines | 3.2 | 15% | 0% | 125 km |
| 4 | Château-Renault Indre-et-Loire | 2.9 | 7.9% | 0% | 203 km |
| 5 | Haisnes Pas-de-Calais | 2.7 | 3.2% | 0% | 67 km |
| 6 | Le Tréport Seine-Maritime | 2.6 | 4.9% | 3.1% | On it |
| 7 | Provin Nord | 2.4 | 4.7% | 0% | 69 km |
| 8 | Carignan-de-Bordeaux Gironde | 2.3 | 14% | 3.4% | 23 km |
| 9 | Aime-la-Plagne Savoie | 2.2 | 33% | 2.4% | 209 km |
| 10 | Serres-Castet Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.9 | 8.9% | 0% | 92 km |
| 11 | Pins-Justaret Haute-Garonne | 1.8 | 3% | 2.1% | 145 km |
| 12 | Ornans Doubs | 1.8 | 66% | 92% | 384 km |
| 13 | Rousson Gard | 1.8 | 28% | 0% | 70 km |
| 14 | Capdenac-Gare Aveyron | 1.7 | 28% | 0% | 177 km |
| 15 | Saclay Essonne | 1.6 | 7.5% | 0% | 153 km |
| 16 | Kaysersberg Vignoble Haut-Rhin | 1.5 | 69% | 100% | 464 km |
| 17 | La Tour-d'Aigues Vaucluse | 1.5 | 24% | 100% | 45 km |
| 18 | Ormes Loiret | 1.4 | 12% | 0% | 198 km |
| 19 | Chazay-d'Azergues Rhône | 1.3 | 11% | 0% | 262 km |
| 20 | Craon Mayenne | 1.1 | 1.4% | 0% | 92 km |
| 21 | La Brède Gironde | 1.1 | 46% | 6.5% | 37 km |
| 22 | Vinay Isère | 1.1 | 26% | 0% | 200 km |
| 23 | Ardres Pas-de-Calais | 1 | 1.9% | 5.1% | 13 km |
| 24 | Morigny-Champigny Essonne | 0.9 | 22% | 0.4% | 173 km |
| 25 | Ham Somme | 0.9 | 6.1% | 0% | 111 km |
| 26 | Sierentz Haut-Rhin | 0.9 | 39% | 36% | 430 km |
| 27 | Guignes Seine-et-Marne | 0.9 | 36% | 0% | 189 km |
| 28 | Villemoustaussou Aude | 0.8 | 4.8% | 0% | 63 km |
| 29 | Truchtersheim Bas-Rhin | 0.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 438 km |
| 30 | Marckolsheim Bas-Rhin | 0.8 | 37% | 47% | 475 km |
| 31 | Riec-sur-Bélon Finistère | 0.7 | 13% | 0% | On it |
| 32 | Ghisonaccia Haute-Corse | 0.6 | 11% | 15% | On it |
| 33 | Carnoules Var | 0.6 | 43% | 21% | 21 km |
| 34 | Saint-Georges-lès-Baillargeaux Vienne | 0.5 | 35% | 34% | 125 km |
| 35 | Millas Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.5 | 3.2% | 0.1% | 28 km |
| 36 | Montbeton Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 8% | 0% | 180 km |
| 37 | Torigny-les-Villes Manche | 0.3 | 5.4% | 0% | 38 km |
| 38 | Angerville Essonne | 0.3 | 3.4% | 0% | 174 km |
| 39 | Miniac-Morvan Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.2 | 16% | 100% | 3.2 km |
| 40 | Mesnil-en-Ouche Eure | 0.2 | 13% | 0.4% | 55 km |
| 41 | Bastelicaccia Corse-du-Sud | 0 | 15% | 0.2% | 4.2 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Protected land in and around Ornans
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Vallées de la Loue et du Lison
Vallées de la Loue et du Lison
Share of the commune’s land
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.
92% of Ornans’ land is protected, more than in 91% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Doubs has 0%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
64 km of footpaths and 65 km of hiking routes cross Ornans
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is more than in 53% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 97% 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 Ornans is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
5 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR 145 passes within 2 km of Ornans.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Ornans: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Besancon, 20 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) | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 90 | 81 | 85 | 87 | 108 | 98 | 89 | 96 | 101 | 112 | 107 | 105 |
February is the driest month (81 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 112 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 58 nights a year. The climate in Ornans →
Next to Ornans
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ornans | 92% | 66% | 1.8 |
| Saône 3,195 · 13 km | 28% | 43% | 1.1 |
| Valdahon 5,705 · 16 km | 0% | 28% | 0.3 |
| Besançon 118,489 · 18 km | 0.6% | 37% | 5.3 |
| Thise 2,994 · 20 km | 0% | 49% | 2.7 |
| École-Valentin 2,579 · 22 km | 0% | 16% | 3.9 |
| Miserey-Salines 2,661 · 24 km | 0% | 37% | 2.7 |
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 Ornans
Is Ornans in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 92% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Ornans?
OpenStreetMap maps 64 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 65 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Ornans is woodland?
66% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Ornans near the sea?
No: the coast is 384 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Ornans?
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.