First pick
Domaine départemental du Château d’Avignon
Park or garden · 70 m outside the commune
22 ha2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
14 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.018%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Gilles · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Parks, woods and footpaths in Saint-Gilles
55 km of footpaths cross Saint-Gilles (0.4 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 2.5% of Saint-Gilles. Protected areas cover 18% of Saint-Gilles’ land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
18%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
2.5%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
55 km
0.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
38 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
84%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
25 km
from the town center to the coast
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.
Against French towns
How Saint-Gilles 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 areas18%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
77out of 100
Woodland2.5%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
13out of 100
Footpaths0.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
9out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
42out of 100
Green space nearby84%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
5out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Gilles has the fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (14,380 to 15,097 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Lognes (9.3 km per km²) to Saint-Gilles (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lognes Seine-et-Marne | 9.3 | 14% | 0% | 164 km |
| 2 | Saint-Maurice Val-de-Marne | 8.8 | 9.4% | 0% | 157 km |
| 3 | Valenton Val-de-Marne | 8.7 | 6.6% | 0% | 164 km |
| 4 | Verrières-le-Buisson Essonne | 8.5 | 52% | 3.9% | 156 km |
| 5 | Villers-lès-Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 8.4 | 48% | 0% | 365 km |
| 6 | Laxou Meurthe-et-Moselle | 6.9 | 74% | 0% | 364 km |
| 7 | Billère Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 6.7 | 4.2% | 9.2% | 93 km |
| 8 | Haubourdin Nord | 6.6 | 10% | 0% | 62 km |
| 9 | Montargis Loiret | 4.8 | 5.7% | 0% | 237 km |
| 10 | Dinan Côtes-d'Armor | 4.7 | 17% | 100% | 5.6 km |
| 11 | Montesson Yvelines | 4.7 | 2.3% | 0% | 136 km |
| 12 | Saint-Genis-Pouilly Ain | 4.5 | 17% | 0.3% | 298 km |
| 13 | Saint-Avertin Indre-et-Loire | 4.3 | 14% | 0% | 184 km |
| 14 | Canteleu Seine-Maritime | 3.7 | 64% | 100% | 49 km |
| 15 | Bar-le-Duc Meuse | 3.7 | 55% | 0% | 297 km |
| 16 | Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt Val-d'Oise | 3.3 | 24% | 0% | 137 km |
| 17 | Saint-Orens-de-Gameville Haute-Garonne | 3.2 | 6.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 18 | Vesoul Haute-Saône | 3.1 | 3.3% | 3.6% | 434 km |
| 19 | Woippy Moselle | 3.1 | 12% | 0% | 325 km |
| 20 | Bois-Guillaume Seine-Maritime | 3 | 3.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 21 | Ollioules Var | 2.9 | 23% | 14% | On it |
| 22 | Plérin Côtes-d'Armor | 2.9 | 14% | 1.8% | On it |
| 23 | Rixheim Haut-Rhin | 2.8 | 41% | 23% | 441 km |
| 24 | Pontivy Morbihan | 2.8 | 14% | 0% | 36 km |
| 25 | L'Étang-Salé Réunion | 2.6 | 52% | 39% | On it |
| 26 | Saint-Avold Moselle | 2.5 | 53% | 2.9% | 356 km |
| 27 | Saint-Jean-de-Luz Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2.4 | 28% | 7.6% | On it |
| 28 | Carrières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.2 | 5% | 0% | 138 km |
| 29 | Fameck Moselle | 2.2 | 32% | 0% | 309 km |
| 30 | Château-Thierry Aisne | 1.9 | 18% | 0% | 176 km |
| 31 | Illzach Haut-Rhin | 1.9 | 2.6% | 0% | 443 km |
| 32 | Flers Orne | 1.6 | 2.5% | 0% | 59 km |
| 33 | Saint-Brevin-les-Pins Loire-Atlantique | 1.6 | 7.3% | 25% | On it |
| 34 | Saint-Paul-lès-Dax Landes | 1.6 | 62% | 5.3% | 29 km |
| 35 | Saint-Omer Pas-de-Calais | 1.6 | 2.8% | 100% | 28 km |
| 36 | Arnouville Val-d'Oise | 1.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 141 km |
| 37 | La Flèche Sarthe | 1.3 | 34% | 11% | 140 km |
| 38 | Le Raincy Seine-Saint-Denis | 0.8 | 0% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 39 | Romilly-sur-Seine Aube | 0.8 | 35% | 4.2% | 237 km |
| 40 | Bailleul Nord | 0.7 | 0.9% | 0% | 42 km |
| 41 | Saint-Gilles Gard | 0.4 | 2.5% | 18% | 25 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 Saint-Gilles
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Domaine départemental du Château d’Avignon leads, at 22 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin d'Élodie
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.3 km of path
0.8 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
8 in 10 residents of Saint-Gilles live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
84% within 800 m16% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
Saint-GillesGard medianFrance median
Within 800 m84%
0%50%100%
About 2,300 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
Protected areas
18% of Saint-Gilles lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Camargue Regional Nature Park
2.6 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Petite Camargue
16% of the commune3.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Camargue gardoise fluvio-lacustre
9.3% of the commune5.3 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Le Petit Rhône
1.5% of the commune2.5 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area18%
Natura 2000 site18%
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.
18% of Saint-Gilles’ land is protected, more than in 77% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gard has 13%. 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
55 km of footpaths and 38 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Gilles
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
55 km
0.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
38 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
2.5%
about 3.8 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-GillesGard medianFrance median
Footpaths0.4
Hiking routes0.3
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-GillesGard medianFrance median
Woodland2.5%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 91% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 87% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
6 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR 4225 km
PR 516.1 km
Chemin de Régordane, Nîmes - Saint--Gilles15 km
Boucle entre les deux bras du Rhône14 km
La digue du Petit-Rhône12 km
Le Puech du Moulin à vent3.6 km
GR 42 passes within 2 km of Saint-Gilles.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Gilles: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Nimes-Garons, 10 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 Saint-Gilles →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Gilles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
GénéracBeauvoisinGaronsBellegardeVauvertCaissarguesSaint-Gilles
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Gilles | 18% | 2.5% | 0.4 | 25 km |
| Générac 4,046 · 8.3 km | 19% | 4.5% | 0.8 | 27 km |
| Beauvoisin 6,066 · 9.4 km | 46% | 7.3% | 0.4 | 25 km |
| Garons 5,381 · 9.9 km | 0% | 0.1% | 0.5 | 35 km |
| Bellegarde 8,035 · 10 km | 13% | 5.7% | 0.7 | 33 km |
| Vauvert 11,671 · 12 km | 71% | 3.1% | 0.4 | 20 km |
| Caissargues 4,079 · 13 km | 1.7% | 10% | 0.9 | 34 km |
Beauvoisin and Vauvert have 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 Saint-Gilles
Is Saint-Gilles in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 18% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Gilles?
OpenStreetMap maps 55 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 38 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Gilles is woodland?
2.5% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Gilles near the sea?
No: the coast is 25 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Gilles?
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.