First pick
Bois de la crique Morthium
Wood or forest
12 ha0.2 km of path
0.9 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.014%of the land protected
Outdoors in Matoury · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Matoury is on the coast
Mapped woodland covers 54% of Matoury. 35 km of footpaths cross Matoury (0.2 km per km²). 14% of Matoury’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
14%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
54%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
35 km
0.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
9.3 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: Bois de la crique Morthium
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 4.3 km from its center
Throughout this page, the French Guiana 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 Matoury?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 4.3 km from its center.A wooded commune54% mapped woodland, more than in 93% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.A nature reserveMont Grand Matoury nature reserve covers 14% of the commune.Few mapped footpaths0.2 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Matoury apart: the sea, then its woods. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Matoury 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 areas14%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
75out of 100
Woodland54%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
93out of 100
Footpaths0.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
4out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
28out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Matoury has the fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (34,689 to 38,423 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Martin-d'Hères (10.1 km per km²) to Matoury (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Martin-d'Hères Isère | 10.1 | 14% | 0% | 203 km |
| 2 | Échirolles Isère | 9.9 | 11% | 0% | 200 km |
| 3 | Schiltigheim Bas-Rhin | 9 | 7.7% | 0.2% | 449 km |
| 4 | Annemasse Haute-Savoie | 8.3 | 2.4% | 0% | 286 km |
| 5 | Châtenay-Malabry Hauts-de-Seine | 8.2 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 6 | Franconville Val-d'Oise | 8.2 | 27% | 0% | 132 km |
| 7 | Lyon 4e Rhône | 7.8 | 6.8% | 0% | 253 km |
| 8 | Marseille 1er Bouches-du-Rhône | 7.5 | 0.1% | 0% | On it |
| 9 | Paris 8e Paris | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 146 km |
| 10 | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Val-de-Marne | 6.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 164 km |
| 11 | Romainville Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 11% | 0% | 151 km |
| 12 | Palaiseau Essonne | 5.9 | 18% | 0% | 158 km |
| 13 | Creil Oise | 5.8 | 25% | 41% | 117 km |
| 14 | Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Essonne | 5.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 15 | Chartres Eure-et-Loir | 5.5 | 2.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 16 | Marseille 7e Bouches-du-Rhône | 5.4 | 0.7% | 33% | On it |
| 17 | Vitrolles Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.9 | 8.9% | 33% | 9.7 km |
| 18 | Trappes Yvelines | 4.8 | 20% | 22% | 140 km |
| 19 | Athis-Mons Essonne | 4.6 | 4% | 0% | 165 km |
| 20 | Meyzieu Rhône | 4.2 | 13% | 26% | 256 km |
| 21 | Oullins-Pierre-Bénite Rhône | 4.2 | 2.3% | 0% | 246 km |
| 22 | Mâcon Saône-et-Loire | 4.2 | 17% | 0% | 311 km |
| 23 | Châtillon Hauts-de-Seine | 4.2 | 0.2% | 0% | 152 km |
| 24 | Six-Fours-les-Plages Var | 3.9 | 34% | 21% | On it |
| 25 | Saint-Raphaël Var | 3.8 | 60% | 61% | On it |
| 26 | Thonon-les-Bains Haute-Savoie | 3.8 | 17% | 8.5% | 299 km |
| 27 | Roanne Loire | 3.7 | 2.7% | 15% | 275 km |
| 28 | Le Perreux-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 3.4 | 1.2% | 0% | 157 km |
| 29 | Savigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 166 km |
| 30 | Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Yvelines | 3.2 | 3.8% | 0% | 126 km |
| 31 | Tremblay-en-France Seine-Saint-Denis | 3 | 3.9% | 0% | 151 km |
| 32 | Joué-lès-Tours Indre-et-Loire | 2.5 | 15% | 0% | 179 km |
| 33 | Bezons Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 137 km |
| 34 | Saint-Chamond Loire | 2.1 | 26% | 33% | 215 km |
| 35 | Villefranche-sur-Saône Rhône | 1.9 | 0.7% | 0% | 274 km |
| 36 | Auxerre Yonne | 1.8 | 15% | 0% | 298 km |
| 37 | La Possession Réunion | 1.6 | 67% | 88% | On it |
| 38 | Haguenau Bas-Rhin | 1 | 81% | 76% | 436 km |
| 39 | Saint-Leu Réunion | 0.9 | 23% | 17% | On it |
| 40 | Sainte-Marie Réunion | 0.7 | 50% | 60% | On it |
| 41 | Matoury French Guiana | 0.2 | 54% | 14% | On it |
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 Matoury
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de la crique Morthium leads, at 12 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
14% of Matoury 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
Guyane Regional Nature Park
4.7 km from the town center
Nature reserve
Mont Grand Matoury nature reserve
14% of the commune1.7 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area14%
Nature reserve14%
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.
14% of Matoury’s land is protected, more than in 75% of compared French towns; the median compared town in French Guiana has –. A regional nature park is a charter between communes to look after a landscape: farming, building and hunting go on inside it. Natura 2000 doesn’t apply in the overseas départements.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
35 km of footpaths and 9 km of hiking routes cross Matoury
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
35 km
0.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
9.3 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
54%
about 78.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MatouryFrench Guiana medianFrance median
Footpaths0.2
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MatouryFrench Guiana medianFrance median
Woodland54%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 96% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 93% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. The center of Matoury is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood (INSEE’s population grid doesn’t cover French Guiana).
7 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Grand tour3.9 km
Sentier des Américains3.8 km
Chemin de l'Habitation Vidal3.2 km
Boucle Cascades3 km
Boucle Paypayo2.1 km
Sentier de la pointe Liberté1.1 km
Sentier d'accès1.1 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The walking year in Matoury
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Cayenne-Matoury, 4.9 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) | 11.9 | 12.0 | 12.1 | 12.2 | 12.3 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 12.1 | 12.0 | 11.9 | 11.8 |
| High (°C) | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 33 | 32 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 399 | 335 | 315 | 443 | 600 | 392 | 262 | 135 | 63 | 55 | 135 | 352 |
October is the driest month (55 mm) and the warmest (highs of 33 °C). 600 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 33 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Matoury →
Neighbors
Next to Matoury
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Remire-MontjolyCayenneRouraMontsinéry-TonnegrandeMacouriaMatoury
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matoury | 14% | 54% | 0.2 | On it |
| Remire-Montjoly 27,723 · 8.6 km | 0% | 36% | 0.9 | On it |
| Cayenne 62,675 · 9.8 km | 0% | 14% | 2.6 | On it |
| Roura 3,449 · 14 km | 100% | 93% | 0 | On it |
| Montsinéry-Tonnegrande 3,626 · 19 km | 0% | 83% | 0 | On it |
| Macouria 19,899 · 24 km | 0% | 50% | 0.1 | On it |
Roura has at least twice as much protected land. Roura and Montsinéry-Tonnegrande 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 Matoury
Is Matoury in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 14% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Matoury?
OpenStreetMap maps 35 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 9 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Matoury is woodland?
54% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Matoury near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 4.3 km from its center.
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 4, 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.