First pick
Forêt domaniale de Saint-Laurent-Médoc_Picard
Wood or forest · 320 m outside the commune
228 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
14 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Carcans · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Carcans lies inside Médoc Regional Nature Park
100% of Carcans’ land lies in protected areas. 70% of Carcans is mapped woodland. Footpaths add up to 88 km across Carcans (0.4 km per km²). 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
70%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
88 km
0.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
20 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
4
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt domaniale de Saint-Laurent-Médoc_Picard
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 10 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 Carcans?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Médoc Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune70% mapped woodland, more than in 98% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 10 km from its center.Few mapped footpaths0.4 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Carcans apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Carcans 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
97out of 100
Woodland70%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
98out of 100
Footpaths0.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
30out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Carcans has the 14th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,415 to 2,582 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From École-Valentin (3.9 km per km²) to Bouligny (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | École-Valentin Doubs | 3.9 | 16% | 0% | 405 km |
| 2 | Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Gironde | 3.7 | 0% | 8.7% | 66 km |
| 3 | Mers-les-Bains Somme | 3.5 | 10% | 100% | On it |
| 4 | Villejust Essonne | 2.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 160 km |
| 5 | Sainte-Feyre Creuse | 2.1 | 30% | 0% | 222 km |
| 6 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 7 | Sain-Bel Rhône | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 253 km |
| 8 | La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur Calvados | 1.8 | 14% | 29% | On it |
| 9 | Fareins Ain | 1.8 | 8.8% | 0.1% | 279 km |
| 10 | Entzheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 449 km |
| 11 | Mornas Vaucluse | 1.5 | 35% | 5% | 84 km |
| 12 | Watten Nord | 1.4 | 24% | 100% | 18 km |
| 13 | Rantigny Oise | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 109 km |
| 14 | Beautor Aisne | 1.3 | 3.6% | 40% | 133 km |
| 15 | Conques-sur-Orbiel Aude | 1.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 60 km |
| 16 | Barcelonnette Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.3 | 46% | 100% | 91 km |
| 17 | Granges-Aumontzey Vosges | 1.1 | 70% | 90% | 436 km |
| 18 | Cattenom Moselle | 1.1 | 37% | 0% | 308 km |
| 19 | Prayssac Lot | 1 | 42% | 0% | 151 km |
| 20 | Chatte Isère | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 190 km |
| 21 | Arelaune-en-Seine Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 69% | 100% | 29 km |
| 22 | La Croix-en-Touraine Indre-et-Loire | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 199 km |
| 23 | Criel-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 4.9% | 7% | On it |
| 24 | Lusignan Vienne | 0.7 | 17% | 0% | 97 km |
| 25 | Avelin Nord | 0.6 | 6.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 26 | Civray Vienne | 0.5 | 19% | 0% | 101 km |
| 27 | Le Cailar Gard | 0.4 | 2% | 68% | 17 km |
| 28 | Carcans Gironde | 0.4 | 70% | 100% | On it |
| 29 | Vervins Aisne | 0.4 | 1.1% | 0% | 164 km |
| 30 | Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt Dordogne | 0.4 | 13% | 2.1% | 65 km |
| 31 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 32 | Toucy Yonne | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 288 km |
| 33 | Auxi-le-Château Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 25% | 1% | 31 km |
| 34 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 35 | Nogent-sur-Vernisson Loiret | 0.2 | 46% | 0.3% | 249 km |
| 36 | Eymet Dordogne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 0.4% | 86 km |
| 37 | Athies-sous-Laon Aisne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 0% | 159 km |
| 38 | Val-de-Scie Seine-Maritime | 0.1 | 18% | 0% | 23 km |
| 39 | Noyen-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.1 | 28% | 0% | 126 km |
| 40 | Chalamont Ain | 0.1 | 20% | 69% | 284 km |
| 41 | Bouligny Meuse | 0.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 293 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 Carcans
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt domaniale de Saint-Laurent-Médoc_Picard leads, at 228 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt domaniale de Saint-Laurent Médoc - Saint-Queyran
Wood or forest · 30 m outside the commune
206 ha2.8 km of path
40 minto walk all 2.8 km of path
15 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt domaniale de Saint-Laurent Médoc_Picard
Wood or forest · 0 m outside the commune
211 ha
13 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Camping Huttopia Lac de Carcans
Wood or forest
18 ha0.3 km of path
6.9 km westfrom 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 Carcans
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Médoc Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Zones humides de l’arrière dune du littoral girondin
16% of the commune2.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Côte médocaine : dunes boisées et dépression humides
2.5% of the commune2.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Dunes du littoral girondin de la Pointe de Grave au Cap Ferret
2% of the commune9.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Boisements à chênes verts des dunes du littoral girondin
0.8% of the commune6.3 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site19%
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 Carcans’ land is protected, more than in 97% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gironde has 7.7%. 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
88 km of footpaths and 20 km of hiking routes cross Carcans
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
88 km
0.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
20 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
70%
about 140.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CarcansGironde medianFrance median
Footpaths0.4
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CarcansGironde medianFrance median
Woodland70%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 88% 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 Carcans is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
SLR Soulac-sur-Mer - Longarisse15 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Carcans: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Salaunes, 24 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 104 | 81 | 72 | 78 | 75 | 72 | 48 | 59 | 79 | 90 | 127 | 123 |
July is the driest month (48 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 127 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Carcans →
Neighbors
Next to Carcans
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
LacanauHourtinSainte-HélèneSaint-Laurent-MédocListrac-MédocCastelnau-de-MédocCarcans
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carcans | 100% | 70% | 0.4 | On it |
| Lacanau 5,739 · 11 km | 100% | 79% | 0.8 | On it |
| Hourtin 4,045 · 12 km | 100% | 66% | 0.3 | On it |
| Sainte-Hélène 3,091 · 18 km | 100% | 91% | 0 | 20 km |
| Saint-Laurent-Médoc 4,914 · 20 km | 100% | 61% | 0.1 | 7.6 km |
| Listrac-Médoc 2,807 · 21 km | 100% | 72% | 0 | 8.3 km |
| Castelnau-de-Médoc 4,907 · 21 km | 100% | 82% | 0.2 | 10 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 Carcans
Is Carcans in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Carcans lies in Médoc Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Carcans?
OpenStreetMap maps 88 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); 20 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Carcans is woodland?
70% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Carcans near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 10 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Carcans?
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 8, 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.