First pick
Parc des Châtaigniers
Park or garden
2.6 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Le Vigan
Allée de la Côte d'AulasParc des Châtaigniers
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Grand-Pierre Le Vigan · CC BY-SA 4.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Le Vigan · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Le Vigan lies in the outer area of Cévennes National Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Le Vigan’s land. Mapped woodland covers 68% of Le Vigan. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 18 km in Le Vigan. 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
68%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
29 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 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 des Châtaigniers
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 Le Vigan?
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 commune68% mapped woodland, more than in 98% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes18 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Le Vigan apart: the national park next door, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Le Vigan 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
95out of 100
Woodland68%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
98out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
50out of 100
Hiking routes1.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
85out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Le Vigan has the 13th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,834 to 3,893 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Palais-sur-Mer (5.1 km per km²) to Pipriac (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Palais-sur-Mer Charente-Maritime | 5.1 | 58% | 55% | On it |
| 2 | Beaulieu-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes | 4.2 | 0.2% | 0.9% | On it |
| 3 | Réhon Meurthe-et-Moselle | 3.8 | 42% | 0% | 277 km |
| 4 | La Bresse Vosges | 3.5 | 58% | 100% | 450 km |
| 5 | Fraisses Loire | 2.7 | 33% | 0% | 203 km |
| 6 | La Plagne Tarentaise Savoie | 2.7 | 30% | 2.5% | 208 km |
| 7 | Pringy Seine-et-Marne | 2.6 | 24% | 100% | 189 km |
| 8 | Pleumeur-Bodou Côtes-d'Armor | 2.2 | 26% | 17% | On it |
| 9 | Bénodet Finistère | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | On it |
| 10 | Vagney Vosges | 1.9 | 59% | 100% | 440 km |
| 11 | Meyrargues Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.8 | 57% | 46% | 35 km |
| 12 | Saint-Valery-en-Caux Seine-Maritime | 1.8 | 4.3% | 3.2% | On it |
| 13 | Le Vigan Gard | 1.7 | 68% | 100% | 57 km |
| 14 | Saint-Cergues Haute-Savoie | 1.6 | 42% | 19% | 288 km |
| 15 | Sargé-lès-le-Mans Sarthe | 1.6 | 11% | 0% | 136 km |
| 16 | Châteaubernard Charente | 1.5 | 1.2% | 1.6% | 44 km |
| 17 | Fléac Charente | 1.4 | 12% | 3.7% | 71 km |
| 18 | Genilac Loire | 1.3 | 14% | 0% | 223 km |
| 19 | La Croix-Valmer Var | 1.3 | 40% | 95% | On it |
| 20 | Ribécourt-Dreslincourt Oise | 1.2 | 37% | 1.5% | 116 km |
| 21 | Boissy-sous-Saint-Yon Essonne | 1.1 | 28% | 0% | 167 km |
| 22 | Wimille Pas-de-Calais | 1.1 | 5.1% | 100% | 1.8 km |
| 23 | Saint-Léger-de-Linières Maine-et-Loire | 1 | 27% | 0% | 109 km |
| 24 | Tavaux Jura | 0.9 | 10% | 0% | 398 km |
| 25 | Violaines Pas-de-Calais | 0.8 | 4.8% | 0% | 63 km |
| 26 | Hasnon Nord | 0.8 | 47% | 100% | 94 km |
| 27 | Le Val-d'Ajol Vosges | 0.8 | 53% | 100% | 431 km |
| 28 | Blainville-sur-l'Eau Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.6 | 46% | 0% | 388 km |
| 29 | Lapalud Vaucluse | 0.6 | 5% | 6.7% | 96 km |
| 30 | Prunelli-di-Fiumorbo Haute-Corse | 0.5 | 36% | 100% | On it |
| 31 | Villieu-Loyes-Mollon Ain | 0.4 | 24% | 17% | 276 km |
| 32 | Saint-Georges-sur-Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 7.3% | 7.3% | 101 km |
| 33 | Ferrières-en-Gâtinais Loiret | 0.4 | 19% | 0% | 233 km |
| 34 | Lherm Haute-Garonne | 0.3 | 6.9% | 0% | 156 km |
| 35 | Mazères Ariège | 0.3 | 2% | 0.5% | 116 km |
| 36 | Jonquières-Saint-Vincent Gard | 0.3 | 0.1% | 29% | 41 km |
| 37 | Saint-Gildas-des-Bois Loire-Atlantique | 0.3 | 12% | 3.5% | 25 km |
| 38 | Gundershoffen Bas-Rhin | 0.3 | 23% | 0.1% | 422 km |
| 39 | Terranjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.2 | 8.6% | 0% | 118 km |
| 40 | Bosroumois Eure | 0.2 | 1.5% | 0% | 44 km |
| 41 | Pipriac Ille-et-Vilaine | 0 | 3.5% | 0% | 48 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 Le Vigan
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Châtaigniers leads, at 2.6 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Le Vigan
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
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
National park, outer area100%
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 Le Vigan’s land is protected, more than in 95% 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
29 km of footpaths and 18 km of hiking routes cross Le Vigan
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
29 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 km
waymarked: 1.1 km per km²
Woodland
68%
about 11.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Le ViganGard medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes1.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Le ViganGard medianFrance median
Woodland68%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 50% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 98% 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 Le Vigan is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
18 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR 712 km
GR 606.2 km
GR 60A6.1 km
PR 203.3 km
Sentier du Col des Mourèzes11 km
Tour du pays Viganais9.6 km
Le chemin du Salet7 km
Le chemin de Frayssinet6.6 km
Le chemin de la vallée de l'Arboux6.5 km
Tour d'Aulas6.3 km
Le chemin des Mourèzes5.7 km
Chapelle de la Clastre5.3 km
+6 more
3 GR routes pass within 2 km of Le Vigan: GR 7, GR 60 and GR 60A.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Le Vigan: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Le Vigan, 0.1 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 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 139 | 90 | 101 | 120 | 106 | 72 | 40 | 53 | 170 | 227 | 222 | 155 |
July is the driest month (40 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 227 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Le Vigan →
Neighbors
Next to Le Vigan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
GangesSaint-Hippolyte-du-FortSaint-Martin-de-LondresSaint-Jean-du-GardLe Vigan
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Vigan | 100% | 68% | 1.7 | 57 km |
| Ganges 3,724 · 10 km | 65% | 30% | 2 | 48 km |
| Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort 3,737 · 20 km | 58% | 38% | 2.2 | 47 km |
| Saint-Martin-de-Londres 2,696 · 24 km | 100% | 17% | 1.6 | 33 km |
| Saint-Jean-du-Gard 2,586 · 26 km | 100% | 84% | 1.4 | 62 km |
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 Le Vigan
Is Le Vigan in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Le Vigan lies in Cévennes National Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Le Vigan?
OpenStreetMap maps 29 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 18 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Le Vigan is woodland?
68% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Le Vigan near the sea?
No: the coast is 57 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Le Vigan?
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 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.