First pick
Forêt communale de Colmar (Niederwald)
Wood or forest
622 ha0.1 km of path
11 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Gzen92 · CC BY-SA 4.029%of the land protected
Outdoors in Colmar · protected areas, woods and footpaths
29% of Colmar’s land is protected for nature
Footpaths add up to 79 km across Colmar (1.2 km per km²). 19% of Colmar is mapped woodland. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 21 km in Colmar. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
29%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
19%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
79 km
1.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
21 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
24
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt communale de Colmar (Niederwald)
Throughout this page, the Haut-Rhin 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 Colmar?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside29% of the land lies in protected areas.A nature reserveNiederwald nature reserve covers 8.3% of the commune.
What sets Colmar apart: its protected countryside, then its nature reserve.
Against French towns
How Colmar 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 areas29%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
82out of 100
Woodland19%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
60out of 100
Footpaths1.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
38out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
47out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Colmar has the 3rd fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (58,029 to 77,406 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cergy (11.2 km per km²) to Saint-André (0.6 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cergy Val-d'Oise | 11.2 | 13% | 0% | 120 km |
| 2 | Issy-les-Moulineaux Hauts-de-Seine | 10.9 | 2.2% | 0% | 149 km |
| 3 | Marseille 10e Bouches-du-Rhône | 10.6 | 23% | 37% | 4 km |
| 4 | Ivry-sur-Seine Val-de-Marne | 8.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 155 km |
| 5 | Évry-Courcouronnes Essonne | 8.4 | 9.5% | 0% | 174 km |
| 6 | Clamart Hauts-de-Seine | 8.4 | 26% | 0% | 151 km |
| 7 | Pantin Seine-Saint-Denis | 8.3 | 1.9% | 0% | 148 km |
| 8 | Levallois-Perret Hauts-de-Seine | 7.7 | 0% | 0% | 143 km |
| 9 | Villeneuve-d'Ascq Nord | 7.6 | 8% | 2.3% | 65 km |
| 10 | Villejuif Val-de-Marne | 7.4 | 1% | 0% | 156 km |
| 11 | Noisy-le-Grand Seine-Saint-Denis | 6.6 | 25% | 0% | 160 km |
| 12 | Antony Hauts-de-Seine | 6.2 | 4.8% | 0.6% | 157 km |
| 13 | Chambéry Savoie | 6 | 15% | 1.5% | 235 km |
| 14 | Marseille 3e Bouches-du-Rhône | 5.1 | 0% | 0% | 1.1 km |
| 15 | Vénissieux Rhône | 5 | 3.8% | 0% | 247 km |
| 16 | Marseille 9e Bouches-du-Rhône | 5 | 39% | 83% | On it |
| 17 | Sarcelles Val-d'Oise | 4.9 | 6.9% | 0% | 139 km |
| 18 | Pessac Gironde | 4.8 | 22% | 0% | 24 km |
| 19 | Clichy Hauts-de-Seine | 4.6 | 0.6% | 0% | 143 km |
| 20 | Lorient Morbihan | 4.6 | 1.8% | 0.6% | On it |
| 21 | Cannes Alpes-Maritimes | 4.6 | 15% | 10% | On it |
| 22 | Le Blanc-Mesnil Seine-Saint-Denis | 4.6 | 2.1% | 0% | 147 km |
| 23 | Neuilly-sur-Seine Hauts-de-Seine | 4.4 | 0.1% | 0% | 143 km |
| 24 | Marseille 14e Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.9 | 1.4% | 23% | 2.7 km |
| 25 | Troyes Aube | 3.7 | 1.2% | 0% | 272 km |
| 26 | Saint-Nazaire Loire-Atlantique | 3.4 | 7.2% | 37% | On it |
| 27 | Marseille 11e Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.3 | 43% | 42% | 7.5 km |
| 28 | Calais Pas-de-Calais | 3.3 | 2.1% | 0% | On it |
| 29 | Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Val-de-Marne | 3.3 | 0.5% | 0% | 161 km |
| 30 | Fréjus Var | 3.1 | 48% | 33% | On it |
| 31 | La Seyne-sur-Mer Var | 2.9 | 21% | 15% | On it |
| 32 | Quimper Finistère | 2.9 | 25% | 0% | On it |
| 33 | Marseille 12e Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.7 | 6.8% | 0% | 5.2 km |
| 34 | Drancy Seine-Saint-Denis | 2.3 | 0% | 0% | 147 km |
| 35 | Bourges Cher | 2.3 | 4.9% | 0.4% | 283 km |
| 36 | Valence Drôme | 2.1 | 3.3% | 0% | 164 km |
| 37 | Niort Deux-Sèvres | 2 | 6.2% | 100% | 51 km |
| 38 | Ajaccio Corse-du-Sud | 1.5 | 9.8% | 16% | On it |
| 39 | Colmar Haut-Rhin | 1.2 | 19% | 29% | 473 km |
| 40 | Montauban Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.8 | 5.4% | 1.3% | 175 km |
| 41 | Saint-André Réunion | 0.6 | 16% | 31% | 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 Colmar
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt communale de Colmar (Niederwald) leads, at 622 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt domaniale de l'Orch
Wood or forest
136 ha1.7 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.7 km of path
8.3 km north-eastfrom the center
Sentier Botanique des Sources de L'Orchbach
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt communale de Colmar
Wood or forest · 0 m outside the commune
126 ha
7.8 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt communale de Holtzwihr
Wood or forest · 210 m outside the commune
62 ha
7.3 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Champ de Mars
Park or garden
5.6 ha2 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Colmar
Allée Camille Levrel
Directionsto a point inside
All 24 named parks, gardens and woods
Forêt communale de Colmar (Niederwald)Wood or forest · 622 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsForêt domaniale de l'OrchWood or forest · 136 ha · 1.7 km of path
DirectionsForêt communale de ColmarWood or forest · 126 ha · just outside
DirectionsForêt communale de HoltzwihrWood or forest · 62 ha · just outside
DirectionsForêt Communale d'OstheimWood or forest · 36 ha
DirectionsGrussenheimer WaldWood or forest · 36 ha
DirectionsChamp de MarsPark or garden · 5.6 ha · 2 km of path
DirectionsForêt communale de HoussenWood or forest · 24 ha
DirectionsParc de la Cour d'appelPark or garden · 2.4 ha · 0.8 km of path
DirectionsParc Saint-François-XavierPark or garden · 0.8 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsJardin MéquilletPark or garden · 0.6 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsSquare des "Malgré Nous"Park or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsSquare Gustave Adolphe HirnPark or garden · 0.4 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsParc de Lattre de TassignyPark or garden · 0.4 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsParc du NatalaPark or garden · 0.7 ha
DirectionsParc de la Montagne VertePark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsPlace d'UnterlindenPark or garden · 0.2 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsPlace André MalrauxPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsPlace Jean-Sébastien BachPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsPlace des VosgesPark or garden · 0.3 ha
Directionssquare HerzogPark or garden · 0.3 ha · just outside
DirectionsPlace du Chanoine OberlechnerPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsPlace BillingPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsPlace DesportesPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Colmar
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park
2 km from the town center
Nature reserve
Niederwald nature reserve
8.3% of the commune8.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Ried de Colmar à Sélestat, Haut-Rhin
29% of the commune6.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Secteur Alluvial Rhin-Ried-Bruch, Haut-Rhin
8.4% of the commune6.5 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area29%
Nature reserve8.3%
Natura 2000 site29%
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.
29% of Colmar’s land is protected, more than in 82% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Haut-Rhin has 12%. 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
79 km of footpaths and 21 km of hiking routes cross Colmar
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
79 km
1.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
21 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
19%
about 12.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ColmarHaut-Rhin medianFrance median
Footpaths1.2
Hiking routes0.3
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ColmarHaut-Rhin medianFrance median
Woodland19%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 62% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 60% 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 Colmar is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Sentier de l'Ill25 km
Voie de Breisach12 km
Sentier botanique1.8 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Colmar: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Colmar-Inrae, 2.2 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) | 8.8 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 33 | 29 | 32 | 37 | 65 | 61 | 60 | 57 | 46 | 55 | 42 | 42 |
February is the driest month (29 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 65 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 68 nights a year. The climate in Colmar →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Colmar
Named gardens in the commune.
Jardin du souvenir françaisIn Colmar
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Colmar
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Horbourg-WihrIngersheimWintzenheimTurckheimSainte-Croix-en-PlaineKaysersberg VignobleColmar
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colmar | 29% | 19% | 1.2 |
| Horbourg-Wihr 6,199 · 3.6 km | 0% | 5% | 0.6 |
| Ingersheim 4,774 · 3.6 km | 1.3% | 17% | 2 |
| Wintzenheim 8,059 · 3.6 km | 100% | 51% | 2.8 |
| Turckheim 4,139 · 5.3 km | 7.9% | 56% | 2.7 |
| Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine 3,004 · 8.1 km | 11% | 24% | 0.4 |
| Kaysersberg Vignoble 4,383 · 8.9 km | 100% | 69% | 1.5 |
Wintzenheim and Kaysersberg Vignoble have at least twice as much protected land. Wintzenheim, Turckheim and Kaysersberg Vignoble 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 Colmar
Is Colmar in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 29% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Colmar?
OpenStreetMap maps 79 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 21 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Colmar is woodland?
19% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Colmar near the sea?
No: the coast is 473 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Colmar?
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.