First pick
Bois de Croulard
Wood or forest
15 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
0.9 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Tykayn · CC BY-SA 4.022%woodland
Outdoors in Briis-sous-Forges · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Briis-sous-Forges has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 39 km across Briis-sous-Forges (3.5 km per km²). Briis-sous-Forges has 12 km of waymarked hiking routes. 22% of Briis-sous-Forges is mapped woodland. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.1%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 0.6 km
Woodland
22%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
39 km
3.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois de Croulard
Throughout this page, the Essonne 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 Briis-sous-Forges?
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 routes12 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyHaute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park is 0.6 km from the town center.
What sets Briis-sous-Forges apart: its footpaths, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Briis-sous-Forges 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 areas0.1%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
51out of 100
Woodland22%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
66out of 100
Footpaths3.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
80out of 100
Hiking routes1.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
86out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Briis-sous-Forges has the 5th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,311 to 3,371 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Collégien (5.9 km per km²) to La Ville-Dieu-du-Temple (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collégien Seine-et-Marne | 5.9 | 29% | 0% | 165 km |
| 2 | Frépillon Val-d'Oise | 4.3 | 19% | 0.2% | 126 km |
| 3 | Champ-sur-Drac Isère | 3.9 | 51% | 24% | 193 km |
| 4 | Bernin Isère | 3.7 | 28% | 14% | 207 km |
| 5 | Briis-sous-Forges Essonne | 3.5 | 22% | 0.1% | 157 km |
| 6 | Renage Isère | 3.1 | 31% | 0% | 215 km |
| 7 | Saint-Maximin Oise | 3 | 54% | 88% | 120 km |
| 8 | Roscoff Finistère | 3 | 0% | 0.4% | On it |
| 9 | Seilh Haute-Garonne | 3 | 15% | 12% | 156 km |
| 10 | Houplin-Ancoisne Nord | 3 | 4.4% | 0% | 66 km |
| 11 | Buchelay Yvelines | 2.8 | 7.5% | 0% | 108 km |
| 12 | Cocheren Moselle | 2.6 | 36% | 0% | 360 km |
| 13 | Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon Loire-Atlantique | 2.2 | 18% | 31% | 29 km |
| 14 | Ceyzériat Ain | 2 | 41% | 0.6% | 305 km |
| 15 | Doubs Doubs | 2 | 37% | 0% | 361 km |
| 16 | Le Folgoët Finistère | 1.9 | 3.7% | 0% | 8.1 km |
| 17 | Vourles Rhône | 1.8 | 6.6% | 0% | 240 km |
| 18 | Salles-d'Aude Aude | 1.7 | 12% | 19% | 9 km |
| 19 | Saint-Cast-le-Guildo Côtes-d'Armor | 1.7 | 12% | 100% | On it |
| 20 | Merlimont Pas-de-Calais | 1.6 | 28% | 63% | On it |
| 21 | Aigues-Vives Gard | 1.3 | 4.2% | 13% | 21 km |
| 22 | Hulluch Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 7.9% | 0% | 69 km |
| 23 | Mareuil-lès-Meaux Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 18% | 0.6% | 163 km |
| 24 | Boissy-le-Châtel Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 20% | 0% | 184 km |
| 25 | Bonifacio Corse-du-Sud | 1.1 | 11% | 18% | On it |
| 26 | Précy-sur-Oise Oise | 1 | 14% | 100% | 119 km |
| 27 | Villelongue-de-la-Salanque Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.8 | 0.1% | 0% | 4.5 km |
| 28 | Wizernes Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 6.8% | 100% | 32 km |
| 29 | Louvigné-du-Désert Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.6 | 4.2% | 0% | 24 km |
| 30 | Veuzain-sur-Loire Loir-et-Cher | 0.5 | 24% | 6.2% | 220 km |
| 31 | Saint-Andiol Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.5 | 0% | 0% | 43 km |
| 32 | Chaumont-en-Vexin Oise | 0.5 | 18% | 0% | 93 km |
| 33 | Saint-André-de-Corcy Ain | 0.3 | 20% | 49% | 272 km |
| 34 | Évry-Grégy-sur-Yerre Seine-et-Marne | 0.3 | 13% | 0% | 180 km |
| 35 | Palau-del-Vidre Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.2 | 1% | 2.8% | 7.1 km |
| 36 | Descartes Indre-et-Loire | 0.2 | 15% | 0% | 158 km |
| 37 | Val-au-Perche Orne | 0.2 | 21% | 100% | 128 km |
| 38 | Cérans-Foulletourte Sarthe | 0.2 | 34% | 0% | 139 km |
| 39 | Castillon-la-Bataille Gironde | 0.1 | 12% | 1.5% | 47 km |
| 40 | Ambès Gironde | 0.1 | 5.4% | 58% | 4.6 km |
| 41 | La Ville-Dieu-du-Temple Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.1 | 9% | 0% | 180 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 Briis-sous-Forges
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de Croulard leads, at 15 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc animalier de Janvry
Wood or forest · 350 m outside the commune
6.8 ha1.7 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.7 km of path
2.9 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 0.6 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park
0.6 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.1%
Regional nature park0.1%
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.
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
Footpaths and woods in Briis-sous-Forges
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
39 km
3.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked: 1.1 km per km²
Woodland
22%
about 2.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Briis-sous-ForgesEssonne medianFrance median
Footpaths3.5
Hiking routes1.1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Briis-sous-ForgesEssonne medianFrance median
Woodland22%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 80% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 66% 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 Briis-sous-Forges is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Grand Tour de Paris, Franchard - Villiers-Saint-Frédéric9.4 km
De la Bièvre à l'Orge7.8 km
Du Val d'Yerres à l'Étampois4.4 km
PR150.8 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Briis-sous-Forges: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Fontenay-Les-B., 3.2 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 49 | 50 | 48 | 69 | 58 | 61 | 63 | 51 | 61 | 61 | 71 |
April is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 71 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 53 nights a year. The climate in Briis-sous-Forges →
Neighbors
Next to Briis-sous-Forges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Forges-les-BainsLimoursBruyères-le-ChâtelGometz-le-ChâtelBreuilletLes UlisBriis-sous-Forges
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Briis-sous-Forges | 0.1% | 22% | 3.5 |
| Forges-les-Bains 4,241 · 3.1 km | 100% | 36% | 1.6 |
| Limours 6,517 · 4.3 km | 0.1% | 22% | 3.1 |
| Bruyères-le-Châtel 3,788 · 5.8 km | 0.1% | 64% | 4.2 |
| Gometz-le-Châtel 2,630 · 6.1 km | 0.2% | 24% | 2.5 |
| Breuillet 9,157 · 7.1 km | 0% | 33% | 2.8 |
| Les Ulis 25,886 · 7.1 km | 0.2% | 13% | 10.9 |
Forges-les-Bains has at least twice as much protected land. Forges-les-Bains and Bruyères-le-Châtel 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 Briis-sous-Forges
Is Briis-sous-Forges in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 0.6 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Briis-sous-Forges?
OpenStreetMap maps 39 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); 12 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Briis-sous-Forges is woodland?
22% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Briis-sous-Forges near the sea?
No: the coast is 157 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Briis-sous-Forges?
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 9, 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.