First pick
Forêt de Dourdan
Wood or forest
1,687 ha55.8 km of path
12 h 25 minto walk all 55.8 km of path
4.1 km north-westfrom the center
Route de MarcoussisRoute du NordRoute du Guineveau+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: GFreihalter · CC BY-SA 4.058%woodland
Outdoors in Dourdan · protected areas, woods and footpaths
58% of Dourdan is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Dourdan has 47 km of waymarked hiking routes. Footpaths add up to 85 km across Dourdan (2.8 km per km²). No protected area reaches Dourdan; the nearest, Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, is 3 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: Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 3 km
Woodland
58%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
85 km
2.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
47 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
6
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Dourdan
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 Dourdan?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune58% mapped woodland, more than in 95% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes47 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyHaute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park is 3 km from the town center.
What sets Dourdan apart: its woods, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Dourdan 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
47out of 100
Woodland58%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
95out of 100
Footpaths2.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
71out of 100
Hiking routes1.5 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
92out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Dourdan has the 16th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (11,208 to 11,632 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Épinay-sous-Sénart (10.3 km per km²) to Pia (0.5 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Épinay-sous-Sénart Essonne | 10.3 | 54% | 0% | 171 km |
| 2 | Cesson Seine-et-Marne | 6.8 | 26% | 0% | 186 km |
| 3 | Enghien-les-Bains Val-d'Oise | 5.4 | 0% | 0% | 137 km |
| 4 | Guilherand-Granges Ardèche | 5 | 1.9% | 17% | 164 km |
| 5 | Guebwiller Haut-Rhin | 4.5 | 47% | 100% | 459 km |
| 6 | Briançon Hautes-Alpes | 4.4 | 62% | 0% | 142 km |
| 7 | Saint-Jean Haute-Garonne | 4 | 10% | 0% | 145 km |
| 8 | Gravelines Nord | 3.9 | 7.7% | 0% | On it |
| 9 | Gaillard Haute-Savoie | 3.9 | 14% | 8% | 286 km |
| 10 | Chassieu Rhône | 3.3 | 0.5% | 0% | 252 km |
| 11 | Maizières-lès-Metz Moselle | 3.2 | 8.6% | 0% | 319 km |
| 12 | Plan-de-Cuques Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.2 | 0.6% | 59% | 8.8 km |
| 13 | Le Haillan Gironde | 3.2 | 18% | 3.4% | 16 km |
| 14 | Yvetot Seine-Maritime | 3 | 3.5% | 100% | 28 km |
| 15 | Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon Essonne | 3 | 16% | 0% | 167 km |
| 16 | Dourdan Essonne | 2.8 | 58% | 0% | 157 km |
| 17 | Saint-Estève Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.8 | 2.8% | 0.5% | 16 km |
| 18 | Panazol Haute-Vienne | 2.7 | 21% | 0% | 167 km |
| 19 | Tournon-sur-Rhône Ardèche | 2.5 | 41% | 12% | 177 km |
| 20 | Ploufragan Côtes-d'Armor | 2.5 | 13% | 0.2% | 5.7 km |
| 21 | Corbas Rhône | 2.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 243 km |
| 22 | Saverne Bas-Rhin | 2.5 | 65% | 0% | 418 km |
| 23 | Nœux-les-Mines Pas-de-Calais | 2.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 66 km |
| 24 | Vaux-le-Pénil Seine-et-Marne | 2.4 | 27% | 0% | 194 km |
| 25 | Ancenis-Saint-Géréon Loire-Atlantique | 2.4 | 10% | 27% | 71 km |
| 26 | Castelginest Haute-Garonne | 2.4 | 1.3% | 0% | 151 km |
| 27 | Montlouis-sur-Loire Indre-et-Loire | 2.1 | 15% | 7.6% | 192 km |
| 28 | La Roche-sur-Foron Haute-Savoie | 2.1 | 21% | 0% | 270 km |
| 29 | Méricourt Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 4.3% | 0% | 79 km |
| 30 | Les Avirons Réunion | 1.7 | 47% | 78% | On it |
| 31 | Fourmies Nord | 1.6 | 48% | 100% | 157 km |
| 32 | Provins Seine-et-Marne | 1.6 | 6.6% | 0% | 215 km |
| 33 | Bolbec Seine-Maritime | 1.5 | 7.1% | 0% | 17 km |
| 34 | Chauny Aisne | 1.2 | 5.7% | 10% | 127 km |
| 35 | Villefranche-de-Rouergue Aveyron | 1.2 | 30% | 0.5% | 159 km |
| 36 | Biganos Gironde | 1.1 | 71% | 100% | On it |
| 37 | La Hague Manche | 1 | 5.5% | 14% | On it |
| 38 | Saint-Junien Haute-Vienne | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 139 km |
| 39 | Pontchâteau Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 9.4% | 24% | 16 km |
| 40 | Le Luc Var | 0.5 | 19% | 10% | 25 km |
| 41 | Pia Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.5 | 0.2% | 0% | 10 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 Dourdan
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Dourdan leads, at 1,687 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt de Saint-Arnoult
Wood or forest
964 ha30 km of path
6 h 40 minto walk all 30 km of path
4.1 km north-westfrom the center
Route de MarcoussisRoute du NordRoute du Guineveau+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt de l'Ouye
Wood or forest
722 ha25.8 km of path
5 h 45 minto walk all 25.8 km of path
3.2 km south-westfrom the center
Route de l'ÉluChemin de Sainte-Mesme aux Granges-le-RoiRoute du Président+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt domaniale du Bréau
Wood or forest
203 ha13.5 km of path
3 hto walk all 13.5 km of path
7 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Le Parterre - Parc François Mitterand
Park or garden
4.5 ha1.7 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.7 km of path
Centralin the middle of Dourdan
Allée Grivault
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Lejars-Rouillon
Park or garden
3.7 ha1.8 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Dourdan
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, 3 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
3 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.
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
85 km of footpaths and 47 km of hiking routes cross Dourdan
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
85 km
2.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
47 km
waymarked: 1.5 km per km²
Woodland
58%
about 17.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
DourdanEssonne medianFrance median
Footpaths2.8
Hiking routes1.5
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
DourdanEssonne medianFrance median
Woodland58%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 71% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 95% 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 Dourdan is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
17 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR655 OT4.7 km
PR 1115 km
PR 774.6 km
PR 201.5 km
PR 210.8 km
Du Val d'Yerres à l'Étampois13 km
De la forêt de Dourdan à l'Orge13 km
PR249.4 km
Promenade des Fontenettes7.8 km
Promenade de Nemours4.5 km
Balade des 3 villages2.5 km
Sentier de découverte du Beau Rouvre2.5 km
+5 more
GR655 OT passes within 2 km of Dourdan.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Dourdan: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Dourdan, 1.5 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 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 48 | 50 | 44 | 69 | 54 | 52 | 57 | 48 | 55 | 61 | 66 |
April is the driest month (44 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 69 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 51 nights a year. The climate in Dourdan →
Neighbors
Next to Dourdan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Arnoult-en-YvelinesSaint-ChéronForges-les-BainsAblisBreuilletÉtréchyDourdan
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dourdan | 0% | 58% | 2.8 |
| Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines 5,875 · 7.3 km | 0.1% | 50% | 3.7 |
| Saint-Chéron 5,132 · 8.5 km | 0% | 49% | 2.2 |
| Forges-les-Bains 4,241 · 12 km | 100% | 36% | 1.6 |
| Ablis 3,913 · 13 km | 0% | 8.6% | 0.5 |
| Breuillet 9,157 · 13 km | 0% | 33% | 2.8 |
| Étréchy 6,986 · 14 km | 0% | 29% | 2.8 |
Forges-les-Bains has at least twice as much protected land.
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 Dourdan
Is Dourdan in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 3 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Dourdan?
OpenStreetMap maps 85 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 47 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Dourdan is woodland?
58% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Dourdan 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 Dourdan?
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.