First pick
Parc Jacques Frizon
Park or garden
1.9 ha0.2 km of path
2.3 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Georgestib · CC0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Bessèges · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Bessèges lies in the outer area of Cévennes National Park
100% of Bessèges’ land lies in protected areas. 66% of Bessèges is mapped woodland. Bessèges has 15 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
66%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
14 km
1.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 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: Parc Jacques Frizon
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.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is Bessèges?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
In the outer area of Cévennes National Park100% of the commune is in the park’s outer area, whose communes signed its charter.A wooded commune66% mapped woodland, more than in 97% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes15 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Bessèges apart: the national park next door, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Bessèges 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
99out of 100
Woodland66%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
97out of 100
Footpaths1.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
41out 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
Bessèges has the 16th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,582 to 2,630 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or (7.2 km per km²) to Hilsenheim (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 7.2 | 42% | 0% | 261 km |
| 2 | Josselin Morbihan | 3.7 | 15% | 0% | 36 km |
| 3 | Gometz-le-Châtel Essonne | 2.5 | 24% | 0.2% | 155 km |
| 4 | Champlan Essonne | 2.2 | 14% | 0% | 161 km |
| 5 | Tourville-la-Rivière Seine-Maritime | 2 | 15% | 15% | 55 km |
| 6 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 7 | Wahagnies Nord | 1.9 | 30% | 0% | 76 km |
| 8 | Le Bourg-d'Oisans Isère | 1.7 | 33% | 100% | 180 km |
| 9 | Damparis Jura | 1.6 | 35% | 0% | 401 km |
| 10 | Hardricourt Yvelines | 1.6 | 15% | 0.4% | 118 km |
| 11 | Longueil-Annel Oise | 1.5 | 21% | 0% | 116 km |
| 12 | Bourguébus Calvados | 1.5 | 1.1% | 0% | 18 km |
| 13 | Le Palais Morbihan | 1.5 | 5% | 26% | On it |
| 14 | Saint-Jean-du-Gard Gard | 1.4 | 84% | 100% | 62 km |
| 15 | Longeville-sur-Mer Vendée | 1.3 | 18% | 100% | On it |
| 16 | Bessèges Gard | 1.3 | 66% | 100% | 81 km |
| 17 | Villenauxe-la-Grande Aube | 1.3 | 13% | 0% | 223 km |
| 18 | Foug Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.3 | 73% | 1.2% | 342 km |
| 19 | La Broque Bas-Rhin | 1.1 | 79% | 8% | 432 km |
| 20 | Vendres Hérault | 1 | 1.9% | 60% | On it |
| 21 | Pîtres Eure | 0.9 | 47% | 0.2% | 64 km |
| 22 | Ivry-la-Bataille Eure | 0.8 | 2.6% | 3.2% | 101 km |
| 23 | Villeneuve-Saint-Germain Aisne | 0.8 | 11% | 0% | 150 km |
| 24 | Grâces Côtes-d'Armor | 0.8 | 12% | 0% | 17 km |
| 25 | Villages du Lac de Paladru Isère | 0.8 | 21% | 0% | 230 km |
| 26 | La Calmette Gard | 0.7 | 29% | 0% | 43 km |
| 27 | Frelinghien Nord | 0.7 | 1% | 0% | 51 km |
| 28 | La Châtaigneraie Vendée | 0.6 | 4.5% | 0% | 48 km |
| 29 | Trélon Nord | 0.6 | 78% | 100% | 156 km |
| 30 | Xertigny Vosges | 0.4 | 42% | 0% | 417 km |
| 31 | Beychac-et-Caillau Gironde | 0.4 | 16% | 4.7% | 22 km |
| 32 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 33 | Baldersheim Haut-Rhin | 0.4 | 63% | 60% | 446 km |
| 34 | Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac Gironde | 0.3 | 13% | 3% | 19 km |
| 35 | Charly-sur-Marne Aisne | 0.3 | 21% | 0% | 177 km |
| 36 | Clairac Lot-et-Garonne | 0.3 | 7.7% | 0% | 105 km |
| 37 | Semussac Charente-Maritime | 0.3 | 3.8% | 6.9% | 5.1 km |
| 38 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 39 | Haspres Nord | 0.2 | 1.8% | 0% | 111 km |
| 40 | Cauchy-à-la-Tour Pas-de-Calais | 0.1 | 0.4% | 0% | 54 km |
| 41 | Hilsenheim Bas-Rhin | 0 | 28% | 18% | 465 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 Bessèges
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Jacques Frizon leads, at 1.9 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Aire de la Canalette
Park or garden · 150 m outside the commune
0.3 ha
2.4 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Bessèges
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
National park, outer area
Cévennes National Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Hautes vallées de la Cèze et du Luech
15% of the commune0.2 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Forêt de pins de Salzmann de Bessèges
1.5 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
National park, outer area100%
Natura 2000 site15%
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.
100% of Bessèges’ land is protected, more than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gard has 13%. A national park’s outer area (aire d’adhésion) is made of the communes that signed the park’s charter: it guides how they grow, but it isn’t strict protection like the core.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
14 km of footpaths and 15 km of hiking routes cross Bessèges
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
14 km
1.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 km
waymarked: 1.5 km per km²
Woodland
66%
about 6.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BessègesGard medianFrance median
Footpaths1.3
Hiking routes1.5
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BessègesGard medianFrance median
Woodland66%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 59% 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 Bessèges is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
10 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR 44B19 km
PR 58.5 km
PR 41.7 km
Col des 4 chemins10 km
La chapelle Lachamp8.3 km
La mine au bois dormant8.2 km
Le Chambonnet6.8 km
Les dolmens de l’Ismaël6.3 km
La tour de Castillon4.2 km
Le Montgrillet2 km
GR 44B passes within 2 km of Bessèges.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Bessèges: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Salindres, 14 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 28 | 31 | 31 | 26 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 56 | 72 | 85 | 86 | 55 | 45 | 54 | 166 | 158 | 142 | 89 |
July is the driest month (45 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 166 mm of rain falls in September, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bessèges →
Neighbors
Next to Bessèges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-AmbroixLa Grand-CombeRoussonLes VansSaint-Julien-les-RosiersSalindresBessèges
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessèges | 100% | 66% | 1.3 |
| Saint-Ambroix 3,445 · 8.7 km | 100% | 30% | 1 |
| La Grand-Combe 4,783 · 10 km | 0% | 71% | 1.7 |
| Rousson 4,456 · 13 km | 0% | 28% | 1.8 |
| Les Vans 2,662 · 13 km | 78% | 46% | 1.8 |
| Saint-Julien-les-Rosiers 3,533 · 13 km | 0% | 55% | 1.8 |
| Salindres 3,648 · 14 km | 0% | 4.3% | 0.8 |
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 Bessèges
Is Bessèges in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Bessèges lies in Cévennes National Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Bessèges?
OpenStreetMap maps 14 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 15 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Bessèges is woodland?
66% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Bessèges near the sea?
No: the coast is 81 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Bessèges?
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.