First pick
Parc mauresque
Park or garden
4.2 ha2.2 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Arcachon
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: User Mtu33260 on fr.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.06.4%of the land protected
Outdoors in Arcachon · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Arcachon is on the coast
31 km of footpaths cross Arcachon (4 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 22% of Arcachon. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 2 km in Arcachon. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
6.4%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
22%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
31 km
4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.9 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc mauresque
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 0.9 km from its center
Throughout this page, the Gironde 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 Arcachon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 0.9 km from its center.A place of footpaths4 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Arcachon apart: the sea, then its footpaths.
Against French towns
How Arcachon 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 areas6.4%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
67out of 100
Woodland22%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
66out of 100
Footpaths4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
84out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
42out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Arcachon has the 13th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (10,875 to 11,315 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Vitry-le-François (9.3 km per km²) to Lavaur (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitry-le-François Marne | 9.3 | 10% | 0% | 266 km |
| 2 | Cesson Seine-et-Marne | 6.8 | 26% | 0% | 186 km |
| 3 | Villeneuve-Tolosane Haute-Garonne | 5.1 | 0.7% | 1.1% | 151 km |
| 4 | Guilherand-Granges Ardèche | 5 | 1.9% | 17% | 164 km |
| 5 | Ormesson-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 5 | 6.8% | 0% | 164 km |
| 6 | Vétraz-Monthoux Haute-Savoie | 4.8 | 18% | 0% | 284 km |
| 7 | Mouans-Sartoux Alpes-Maritimes | 4.6 | 22% | 0% | 8 km |
| 8 | Le Pradet Var | 4.6 | 11% | 43% | On it |
| 9 | Guebwiller Haut-Rhin | 4.5 | 47% | 100% | 459 km |
| 10 | Le Pont-de-Claix Isère | 4.3 | 15% | 2.9% | 198 km |
| 11 | Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur Côte-d'Or | 4.2 | 27% | 0% | 408 km |
| 12 | Saint-Jean Haute-Garonne | 4 | 10% | 0% | 145 km |
| 13 | Arcachon Gironde | 4 | 22% | 6.4% | On it |
| 14 | Maromme Seine-Maritime | 3.4 | 39% | 0% | 48 km |
| 15 | Chassieu Rhône | 3.3 | 0.5% | 0% | 252 km |
| 16 | Croissy-sur-Seine Yvelines | 3.3 | 2.5% | 0% | 139 km |
| 17 | Thouaré-sur-Loire Loire-Atlantique | 2.9 | 9.4% | 25% | 49 km |
| 18 | Stiring-Wendel Moselle | 2.8 | 3.4% | 0% | 360 km |
| 19 | Tournon-sur-Rhône Ardèche | 2.5 | 41% | 12% | 177 km |
| 20 | Corbas Rhône | 2.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 243 km |
| 21 | Castelginest Haute-Garonne | 2.4 | 1.3% | 0% | 151 km |
| 22 | Amnéville Moselle | 2.3 | 12% | 0% | 315 km |
| 23 | Le Taillan-Médoc Gironde | 2.3 | 34% | 13% | 13 km |
| 24 | La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin Loiret | 2 | 6.2% | 11% | 203 km |
| 25 | Wambrechies Nord | 1.9 | 2.9% | 0% | 57 km |
| 26 | Saint-Martin-Boulogne Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 8.3% | 0.1% | 2.1 km |
| 27 | Trets Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 18% | 34% | 28 km |
| 28 | Riorges Loire | 1.5 | 3% | 0% | 276 km |
| 29 | Villefranche-de-Rouergue Aveyron | 1.2 | 30% | 0.5% | 159 km |
| 30 | Fondettes Indre-et-Loire | 1.1 | 15% | 5.3% | 180 km |
| 31 | Saint-Saulve Nord | 1.1 | 8.2% | 0.3% | 105 km |
| 32 | Tarare Rhône | 1.1 | 41% | 0% | 261 km |
| 33 | Pélissanne Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.1 | 4.7% | 57% | 27 km |
| 34 | Orthez Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.9 | 21% | 25% | 57 km |
| 35 | Porto-Vecchio Corse-du-Sud | 0.8 | 26% | 38% | On it |
| 36 | Pont-Saint-Esprit Gard | 0.8 | 5.3% | 14% | 89 km |
| 37 | Issoudun Indre | 0.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 250 km |
| 38 | Le Luc Var | 0.5 | 19% | 10% | 25 km |
| 39 | Brissac Loire Aubance Maine-et-Loire | 0.5 | 13% | 39% | 124 km |
| 40 | Doué-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 9.6% | 100% | 118 km |
| 41 | Lavaur Tarn | 0.3 | 9.6% | 0.8% | 125 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 Arcachon
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc mauresque leads, at 4.2 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Lycée général et technologique Grand Air
Wood or forest
11 ha
Centralin the middle of Arcachon
Directionsto a point inside
Place Lucien de Gracia
Park or garden
0.2 ha
Centralin the middle of Arcachon
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
6.4% of Arcachon lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Forêts dunaires de la Teste-de-Buch
4.9% of the commune0.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Bassin d’Arcachon et banc d’Arguin
1.5% of the commune0.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Bassin d’Arcachon et Cap Ferret
1.5% of the commune0.8 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area6.4%
Natura 2000 site6.4%
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.
6.4% of Arcachon’s land is protected, more than in 67% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gironde has 7.7%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
31 km of footpaths cross Arcachon
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
31 km
4 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.9 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
22%
about 1.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ArcachonGironde medianFrance median
Footpaths4
Hiking routes0.3
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ArcachonGironde medianFrance median
Woodland22%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 84% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 66% 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 Arcachon is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Arcachon: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Cazaux, 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 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 12 |
| Rain (mm) | 99 | 74 | 67 | 73 | 63 | 66 | 44 | 61 | 76 | 88 | 128 | 109 |
July is the driest month (44 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 128 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Arcachon →
Neighbors
Next to Arcachon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
La Teste-de-BuchGujan-MestrasLège-Cap-FerretLe TeichLantonAndernos-les-BainsArcachon
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcachon | 6.4% | 22% | 4 | On it |
| La Teste-de-Buch 27,566 · 4.9 km | 46% | 56% | 1.1 | On it |
| Gujan-Mestras 22,153 · 7.6 km | 0.3% | 48% | 1.4 | On it |
| Lège-Cap-Ferret 7,909 · 10 km | 21% | 73% | 1.6 | On it |
| Le Teich 9,180 · 12 km | 100% | 81% | 0.6 | On it |
| Lanton 7,337 · 12 km | 100% | 83% | 0.2 | On it |
| Andernos-les-Bains 12,710 · 12 km | 3.4% | 46% | 2.6 | On it |
La Teste-de-Buch, Lège-Cap-Ferret and Le Teich have at least twice as much protected land. La Teste-de-Buch, Gujan-Mestras and Lège-Cap-Ferret are more wooded.
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 Arcachon
Is Arcachon in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 6.4% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Arcachon?
OpenStreetMap maps 31 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Arcachon is woodland?
22% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Arcachon near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 0.9 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Arcachon?
April 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 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.