First pick
Parc des Alliaires
Park or garden
2.6 ha
0.8 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Kärjens Slædebjørg · CC BY-SA 3.06.7%woodland
Outdoors in Sochaux · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Sochaux has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
13 km of footpaths cross Sochaux (5.8 km per km²). Sochaux has 4 km of waymarked hiking routes. No protected area reaches Sochaux; the nearest, Basse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve, is 1.8 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Basse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve, 1.8 km
Woodland
6.7%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
13 km
5.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
4.1 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
4
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc des Alliaires
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 place
What kind of outdoors place is Sochaux?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths5.8 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyBasse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve is 1.8 km from the town center.
What sets Sochaux apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Sochaux 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 areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland6.7%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
29out of 100
Footpaths5.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
93out of 100
Hiking routes1.9 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
95out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Sochaux has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,691 to 3,751 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Sochaux (5.8 km per km²) to Montastruc-la-Conseillère (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sochaux Doubs | 5.8 | 6.7% | 0% | 418 km |
| 2 | Bailly Yvelines | 5.5 | 31% | 0% | 140 km |
| 3 | Cabourg Calvados | 4.3 | 0.4% | 0% | 0.8 km |
| 4 | Doussard Haute-Savoie | 2.7 | 53% | 100% | 244 km |
| 5 | Pélussin Loire | 2.7 | 50% | 100% | 212 km |
| 6 | Bohars Finistère | 2.6 | 11% | 0% | 3.3 km |
| 7 | Lourches Nord | 2.5 | 5.6% | 0% | 103 km |
| 8 | Blanzat Puy-de-Dôme | 2.5 | 24% | 0.1% | 263 km |
| 9 | La Ferté-Alais Essonne | 2.3 | 26% | 100% | 181 km |
| 10 | Les Rousses Jura | 2.3 | 52% | 100% | 321 km |
| 11 | Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort Gard | 2.2 | 38% | 58% | 47 km |
| 12 | Audierne Finistère | 2.2 | 16% | 12% | On it |
| 13 | Ganges Hérault | 2 | 30% | 65% | 48 km |
| 14 | Meurchin Pas-de-Calais | 1.9 | 7.8% | 0% | 70 km |
| 15 | Latresne Gironde | 1.7 | 8.9% | 21% | 25 km |
| 16 | Veyre-Monton Puy-de-Dôme | 1.5 | 6.6% | 1.6% | 245 km |
| 17 | Isneauville Seine-Maritime | 1.5 | 6.7% | 0% | 47 km |
| 18 | La Rivière-de-Corps Aube | 1.3 | 4.3% | 0% | 271 km |
| 19 | Varennes-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 1.7% | 38% | 218 km |
| 20 | Rœulx Nord | 1.2 | 0.4% | 0% | 103 km |
| 21 | Moncé-en-Belin Sarthe | 1.1 | 34% | 0% | 141 km |
| 22 | Plobannalec-Lesconil Finistère | 1.1 | 3.3% | 0% | On it |
| 23 | Saïx Tarn | 0.9 | 12% | 3.3% | 93 km |
| 24 | Houdan Yvelines | 0.9 | 1.9% | 0% | 115 km |
| 25 | Morschwiller-le-Bas Haut-Rhin | 0.9 | 9.4% | 13% | 439 km |
| 26 | Bouzonville Moselle | 0.8 | 27% | 2.8% | 332 km |
| 27 | Flassans-sur-Issole Var | 0.7 | 58% | 0.8% | 28 km |
| 28 | Objat Corrèze | 0.7 | 8.2% | 0% | 160 km |
| 29 | Pleyben Finistère | 0.7 | 13% | 100% | 9.4 km |
| 30 | Créhange Moselle | 0.7 | 5.5% | 0% | 353 km |
| 31 | Pannes Loiret | 0.7 | 8.9% | 0% | 233 km |
| 32 | Peyrehorade Landes | 0.6 | 36% | 0% | 29 km |
| 33 | Bonnétable Sarthe | 0.6 | 34% | 0% | 130 km |
| 34 | Vouillé Vienne | 0.5 | 21% | 0% | 107 km |
| 35 | Montamisé Vienne | 0.5 | 37% | 38% | 124 km |
| 36 | Sartène Corse-du-Sud | 0.4 | 17% | 39% | On it |
| 37 | Labastide-Saint-Pierre Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 3.4% | 1.5% | 169 km |
| 38 | Ribérac Dordogne | 0.3 | 9% | 12% | 77 km |
| 39 | Ardentes Indre | 0.3 | 24% | 0% | 231 km |
| 40 | Montreuil-Bellay Maine-et-Loire | 0.2 | 8.5% | 100% | 119 km |
| 41 | Montastruc-la-Conseillère Haute-Garonne | 0.2 | 8.4% | 0% | 142 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 Sochaux
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Alliaires leads, at 2.6 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc des Serres
Park or garden
1.3 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
Centralin the middle of Sochaux
Directionsto a point inside
Esplanade de l'industrie
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.1 km of path
1.2 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Basse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 1.8 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Basse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve
1.8 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Sochaux
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
13 km
5.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
4.1 km
waymarked: 1.9 km per km²
Woodland
6.7%
about 0.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
SochauxDoubs medianFrance median
Footpaths5.8
Hiking routes1.9
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
SochauxDoubs medianFrance median
Woodland6.7%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 93% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 71% 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 Sochaux is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)GR de Pays
GR 5 Vosges, Ballon d'Alsace - Fesches-le-Châtel2.3 km
GRP BF14 km
GR 5 Vosges, Ballon d'Alsace - Fesches-le-Châtel passes within 2 km of Sochaux.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Sochaux: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Joncherey, 13 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 102 | 93 | 84 | 98 | 83 | 101 | 98 | 109 |
February is the driest month (78 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 109 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 95 nights a year. The climate in Sochaux →
Neighbors
Next to Sochaux
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Vieux-CharmontGrand-CharmontExincourtÉtupesMontbéliardBethoncourtSochaux
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sochaux | 0% | 6.7% | 5.8 |
| Vieux-Charmont 2,786 · 1.1 km | 0.1% | 15% | 1.8 |
| Grand-Charmont 5,873 · 1.8 km | 0% | 39% | 5.8 |
| Exincourt 3,277 · 2 km | 0% | 4% | 3.3 |
| Étupes 3,689 · 2.5 km | 0% | 54% | 3.5 |
| Montbéliard 24,672 · 2.9 km | 0% | 22% | 4.9 |
| Bethoncourt 5,308 · 3.1 km | 0% | 38% | 4.4 |
Grand-Charmont, Étupes and Montbéliard 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 Sochaux
Is Sochaux in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Basse Vallée de la Savoureuse nature reserve, 1.8 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Sochaux?
OpenStreetMap maps 13 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 5.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 4 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Sochaux is woodland?
6.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Sochaux near the sea?
No: the coast is 418 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Sochaux?
April and 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.