First pick
Île aux Enfants
Park or garden
8.2 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.5 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Hourtin · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Hourtin lies inside Médoc Regional Nature Park
100% of Hourtin’s land lies in protected areas. Mapped woodland covers 66% of Hourtin. 65 km of footpaths cross Hourtin (0.3 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
66%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
65 km
0.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
25 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Île aux Enfants
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 8.7 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 Hourtin?
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 commune66% mapped woodland, more than in 97% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 8.7 km from its center.Few mapped footpaths0.3 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Hourtin apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Hourtin 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
Footpaths0.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
6out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
31out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Hourtin has the 3rd fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,017 to 4,074 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Croisic (6.7 km per km²) to Bâgé-Dommartin (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Croisic Loire-Atlantique | 6.7 | 3.3% | 3.3% | On it |
| 2 | Montsoult Val-d'Oise | 4.5 | 42% | 0.9% | 129 km |
| 3 | Seignosse Landes | 4.4 | 70% | 9.7% | On it |
| 4 | Montmélian Savoie | 4.3 | 47% | 100% | 222 km |
| 5 | Saint-Vallier Drôme | 3.8 | 32% | 0% | 189 km |
| 6 | La Châtre Indre | 3.7 | 6.5% | 0% | 239 km |
| 7 | Saint-Georges-d'Oléron Charente-Maritime | 3.4 | 25% | 40% | On it |
| 8 | Port-Vendres Pyrénées-Orientales | 3.2 | 0.8% | 18% | On it |
| 9 | Presles Val-d'Oise | 3.1 | 47% | 100% | 124 km |
| 10 | Le Coudray Eure-et-Loir | 3 | 2.6% | 0% | 140 km |
| 11 | Offemont Territoire de Belfort | 2.9 | 39% | 0% | 433 km |
| 12 | Juziers Yvelines | 2.6 | 38% | 66% | 117 km |
| 13 | Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 70% | 100% | 18 km |
| 14 | Verson Calvados | 2 | 0.7% | 0% | 19 km |
| 15 | Issou Yvelines | 1.6 | 21% | 0% | 116 km |
| 16 | Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre Eure-et-Loir | 1.6 | 26% | 0.8% | 99 km |
| 17 | La Rochefoucauld-en-Angoumois Charente | 1.6 | 39% | 16% | 95 km |
| 18 | Pont-Scorff Morbihan | 1.5 | 23% | 3.8% | On it |
| 19 | Staffelfelden Haut-Rhin | 1.5 | 34% | 0% | 449 km |
| 20 | Avermes Allier | 1.2 | 4.2% | 13% | 338 km |
| 21 | Le Cellier Loire-Atlantique | 1.2 | 29% | 12% | 57 km |
| 22 | Salernes Var | 1.2 | 68% | 26% | 42 km |
| 23 | Nogent-le-Roi Eure-et-Loir | 1.1 | 10% | 0.1% | 123 km |
| 24 | Pleslin-Trigavou Côtes-d'Armor | 0.9 | 15% | 100% | 5.1 km |
| 25 | Bresles Oise | 0.8 | 19% | 0% | 95 km |
| 26 | Générac Gard | 0.8 | 4.5% | 19% | 27 km |
| 27 | Bourg-Achard Eure | 0.7 | 5.5% | 0% | 34 km |
| 28 | Savigné-l'Évêque Sarthe | 0.7 | 10% | 0% | 137 km |
| 29 | La Haye Manche | 0.7 | 3.6% | 51% | On it |
| 30 | Hochfelden Bas-Rhin | 0.7 | 6.8% | 0% | 428 km |
| 31 | Val-Couesnon Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.7 | 7.2% | 1.5% | 19 km |
| 32 | Fay-de-Bretagne Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 9.9% | 0% | 31 km |
| 33 | La Chapelle-de-Guinchay Saône-et-Loire | 0.5 | 5.5% | 5.6% | 300 km |
| 34 | Paulhan Hérault | 0.5 | 1% | 0% | 23 km |
| 35 | Trouy Cher | 0.4 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 280 km |
| 36 | Campbon Loire-Atlantique | 0.4 | 6.8% | 1.6% | 21 km |
| 37 | Bressols Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 3% | 0.6% | 173 km |
| 38 | Beauvoir-sur-Mer Vendée | 0.3 | 0.3% | 83% | On it |
| 39 | Hourtin Gironde | 0.3 | 66% | 100% | On it |
| 40 | Sévérac d'Aveyron Aveyron | 0.2 | 24% | 100% | 114 km |
| 41 | Bâgé-Dommartin Ain | 0.1 | 13% | 0% | 315 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 Hourtin
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Île aux Enfants leads, at 8.2 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 Hourtin
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
Nature reserve
Dunes et Marais d’Hourtin nature reserve
9.1% of the commune4.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Zones humides de l’arrière dune du littoral girondin
19% of the commune1.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Boisements à chênes verts des dunes du littoral girondin
4.5% of the commune5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Marais du Nord Médoc
3% of the commune3.1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Dunes du littoral girondin de la Pointe de Grave au Cap Ferret
2.9% of the commune8.2 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Nature reserve9.1%
Natura 2000 site27%
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 Hourtin’s land is protected, more than in 99% 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.
All 7 protected areas
Marais du Bas MédocNatura 2000 site · 6.2 km
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
65 km of footpaths and 25 km of hiking routes cross Hourtin
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
65 km
0.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
25 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
66%
about 146.8 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
HourtinGironde medianFrance median
Footpaths0.3
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
HourtinGironde medianFrance median
Woodland66%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 94% 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. 99% of Hourtin’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
SLR Soulac-sur-Mer - Longarisse24 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Hourtin: April to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Vendays-Montalive, 22 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 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 56 | 54 | 63 | 58 | 58 | 40 | 48 | 70 | 87 | 113 | 97 |
July is the driest month (40 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 113 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 36 nights a year. The climate in Hourtin →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Hourtin
Named gardens in the commune.
Ferme forestière de LouleyIn Hourtin
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Hourtin
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Lesparre-MédocSaint-Laurent-MédocVendays-MontalivetLacanauListrac-MédocPauillacHourtin
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourtin | 100% | 66% | 0.3 | On it |
| Lesparre-Médoc 5,872 · 17 km | 100% | 58% | 0.1 | 11 km |
| Saint-Laurent-Médoc 4,914 · 19 km | 100% | 61% | 0.1 | 7.6 km |
| Vendays-Montalivet 2,838 · 20 km | 100% | 74% | 0.3 | On it |
| Lacanau 5,739 · 22 km | 100% | 79% | 0.8 | On it |
| Listrac-Médoc 2,807 · 24 km | 100% | 72% | 0 | 8.3 km |
| Pauillac 5,190 · 24 km | 99% | 7.2% | 0.2 | On it |
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 Hourtin
Is Hourtin in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Hourtin lies in Médoc Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Hourtin?
OpenStreetMap maps 65 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 25 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Hourtin is woodland?
66% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Hourtin near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 8.7 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Hourtin?
April to August: 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.