Photo: Marianne Casamance · CC BY-SA 4.0Almost every home in Bellegarde is within 800 m of a park or wood
33 km of footpaths cross Bellegarde (0.7 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 5.7% of Bellegarde. Protected areas cover 13% of Bellegarde’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Gard median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
How Bellegarde 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.
Bellegarde has the 6th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (7,921 to 8,144 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Seyssins (7.1 km per km²) to Le Malesherbois (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seyssins Isère | 7.1 | 44% | 45% | 201 km |
| 2 | Boussy-Saint-Antoine Essonne | 6.6 | 28% | 0% | 172 km |
| 3 | Jouy-en-Josas Yvelines | 5.9 | 42% | 0% | 151 km |
| 4 | Coulaines Sarthe | 5.4 | 5.5% | 0% | 134 km |
| 5 | Libercourt Pas-de-Calais | 4.5 | 23% | 0% | 75 km |
| 6 | Langueux Côtes-d'Armor | 3.7 | 8% | 8.6% | On it |
| 7 | Billy-Montigny Pas-de-Calais | 3.6 | 8.6% | 0% | 79 km |
| 8 | Louveciennes Yvelines | 3.3 | 31% | 0% | 140 km |
| 9 | La Ricamarie Loire | 2.8 | 20% | 3.2% | 206 km |
| 10 | Wintzenheim Haut-Rhin | 2.8 | 51% | 100% | 471 km |
| 11 | Guénange Moselle | 2.7 | 24% | 0% | 315 km |
| 12 | Rochefort-du-Gard Gard | 2.6 | 40% | 0% | 59 km |
| 13 | Linas Essonne | 2.5 | 32% | 0% | 166 km |
| 14 | Isle Haute-Vienne | 2.2 | 16% | 0% | 159 km |
| 15 | Le Soler Pyrénées-Orientales | 2 | 4.9% | 0% | 20 km |
| 16 | Cavalaire-sur-Mer Var | 1.8 | 45% | 0.1% | On it |
| 17 | Aureilhan Hautes-Pyrénées | 1.8 | 12% | 0.7% | 133 km |
| 18 | Sorbiers Loire | 1.8 | 14% | 0% | 217 km |
| 19 | Verrières-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 1.8 | 7.4% | 0% | 127 km |
| 20 | Saint-Vincent-de-Tyrosse Landes | 1.8 | 51% | 0% | 11 km |
| 21 | Val de Briey Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.7 | 55% | 0% | 305 km |
| 22 | Champagnole Jura | 1.7 | 48% | 0% | 352 km |
| 23 | Vaujours Seine-Saint-Denis | 1.7 | 26% | 0.9% | 152 km |
| 24 | Talange Moselle | 1.6 | 2.5% | 0% | 318 km |
| 25 | Houplines Nord | 1.4 | 1.4% | 0% | 51 km |
| 26 | Beaugency Loiret | 1.4 | 6.8% | 24% | 206 km |
| 27 | Tignieu-Jameyzieu Isère | 1.4 | 11% | 0% | 255 km |
| 28 | Vineuil Loir-et-Cher | 1.3 | 27% | 3.4% | 219 km |
| 29 | La Tour-du-Pin Isère | 1.2 | 4.7% | 0% | 240 km |
| 30 | Aussonne Haute-Garonne | 1.2 | 4.8% | 0% | 159 km |
| 31 | Saint-Affrique Aveyron | 1.2 | 37% | 100% | 85 km |
| 32 | Les Arcs Var | 1.1 | 35% | 12% | 21 km |
| 33 | Gleizé Rhône | 1.1 | 7.7% | 0% | 275 km |
| 34 | Martignas-sur-Jalle Gironde | 1.1 | 48% | 2.8% | 23 km |
| 35 | Chinon Indre-et-Loire | 1 | 15% | 100% | 142 km |
| 36 | Bellegarde Gard | 0.7 | 5.7% | 13% | 33 km |
| 37 | Jarny Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.7 | 12% | 48% | 311 km |
| 38 | Questembert Morbihan | 0.6 | 19% | 0% | 16 km |
| 39 | Languidic Morbihan | 0.6 | 24% | 0% | 9 km |
| 40 | Monts Indre-et-Loire | 0.5 | 28% | 0% | 173 km |
| 41 | Le Malesherbois Loiret | 0.3 | 11% | 3.6% | 196 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
13% of Bellegarde lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Costières nîmoises
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.
13% of Bellegarde’s land is protected, more than in 74% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gard has 13%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
33 km of footpaths and 18 km of hiking routes cross Bellegarde
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 less than in 77% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 74% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 97% of Bellegarde’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Bellegarde: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Nimes-Garons, 8.2 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 28 | 31 | 30 | 26 | 20 | 15 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 37 | 45 | 65 | 48 | 35 | 24 | 35 | 102 | 92 | 93 | 51 |
July is the driest month (24 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 102 mm of rain falls in September, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 16 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bellegarde →
Next to Bellegarde
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellegarde | 13% | 5.7% | 0.7 | 33 km |
| Garons 5,381 · 6.7 km | 0% | 0.1% | 0.5 | 35 km |
| Manduel 7,044 · 7.5 km | 63% | 0.5% | 0.5 | 40 km |
| Bouillargues 6,070 · 8.2 km | 29% | 0.8% | 0.5 | 37 km |
| Redessan 4,211 · 8.6 km | 66% | 0% | 0.2 | 41 km |
| Jonquières-Saint-Vincent 3,875 · 9.1 km | 29% | 0.1% | 0.3 | 41 km |
| Fourques 2,680 · 9.6 km | 4.6% | 1.7% | 0.9 | 28 km |
Manduel, Bouillargues and Redessan have at least twice as much protected land.
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 Bellegarde
Is Bellegarde in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 13% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Bellegarde?
OpenStreetMap maps 33 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 18 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Bellegarde is woodland?
5.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Bellegarde near the sea?
No: the coast is 33 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Bellegarde?
April to June: 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.