First pick
Parc Docteur Albert Schweitzer
Park or garden
3.3 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Munster
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 4.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Munster · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Munster lies inside Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park
100% of Munster’s land lies in protected areas. 55% of Munster is mapped woodland. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 32 km in Munster. 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
55%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
32 km
3.6 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Docteur Albert Schweitzer
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 Munster?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.On waymarked routes32 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.A wooded commune55% mapped woodland, more than in 94% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.A place of footpaths3.6 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Munster apart: the regional nature park around it, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Munster 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
95out of 100
Woodland55%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
94out of 100
Footpaths3.6 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
81out of 100
Hiking routes3.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
100out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Munster has the 2nd most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,698 to 4,780 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Pompey (5.3 km per km²) to Sanilhac (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pompey Meurthe-et-Moselle | 5.3 | 68% | 0% | 356 km |
| 2 | Munster Haut-Rhin | 3.6 | 55% | 100% | 464 km |
| 3 | Chasseneuil-du-Poitou Vienne | 3.4 | 6.9% | 30% | 121 km |
| 4 | Le Trait Seine-Maritime | 3.1 | 63% | 100% | 33 km |
| 5 | Reichstett Bas-Rhin | 2.9 | 18% | 0% | 446 km |
| 6 | L'Hermitage Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.8 | 4.9% | 0% | 43 km |
| 7 | La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.7 | 3% | 0% | 40 km |
| 8 | Dagneux Ain | 2.5 | 18% | 0% | 266 km |
| 9 | Chavagne Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.4 | 8% | 0% | 51 km |
| 10 | Village-Neuf Haut-Rhin | 2.2 | 9% | 36% | 424 km |
| 11 | Écouflant Maine-et-Loire | 2.1 | 10% | 46% | 123 km |
| 12 | Clohars-Carnoët Finistère | 2 | 24% | 1.3% | On it |
| 13 | Ingersheim Haut-Rhin | 2 | 17% | 1.3% | 469 km |
| 14 | Soufflenheim Bas-Rhin | 1.8 | 46% | 0.8% | 444 km |
| 15 | La Haie-Fouassière Loire-Atlantique | 1.7 | 12% | 0% | 47 km |
| 16 | Saint-Martin-des-Champs Finistère | 1.7 | 17% | 1.4% | On it |
| 17 | Locminé Morbihan | 1.6 | 7.8% | 0% | 24 km |
| 18 | Marvejols Lozère | 1.6 | 19% | 0.1% | 125 km |
| 19 | Limas Rhône | 1.4 | 8.5% | 0% | 273 km |
| 20 | Sadirac Gironde | 1.4 | 37% | 3.6% | 29 km |
| 21 | Grésy-sur-Aix Savoie | 1.3 | 26% | 1.2% | 248 km |
| 22 | Verneuil-en-Halatte Oise | 1.3 | 49% | 58% | 117 km |
| 23 | Vermelles Pas-de-Calais | 1.1 | 0.5% | 0% | 67 km |
| 24 | Saint-Paul-en-Jarez Loire | 1 | 18% | 97% | 217 km |
| 25 | Mirecourt Vosges | 1 | 20% | 0% | 386 km |
| 26 | Graveson Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 10% | 0% | 45 km |
| 27 | La Charité-sur-Loire Nièvre | 0.8 | 9.6% | 13% | 319 km |
| 28 | Casteljaloux Lot-et-Garonne | 0.7 | 49% | 0.8% | 94 km |
| 29 | La Plaine-sur-Mer Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 6% | 0.1% | On it |
| 30 | Sanguinet Landes | 0.6 | 73% | 21% | 14 km |
| 31 | Les Monts d'Aunay Calvados | 0.6 | 23% | 25% | 37 km |
| 32 | Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.5 | 4.3% | 0.1% | On it |
| 33 | Venansault Vendée | 0.5 | 6.2% | 0% | 27 km |
| 34 | Salies-de-Béarn Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.5 | 34% | 27% | 46 km |
| 35 | La Ferté-Gaucher Seine-et-Marne | 0.4 | 7.6% | 0% | 195 km |
| 36 | Beuzeville Eure | 0.4 | 2.8% | 0% | 10 km |
| 37 | Saint-Germain-du-Puy Cher | 0.4 | 7.4% | 0% | 290 km |
| 38 | Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire Charente | 0.4 | 3.4% | 7.8% | 46 km |
| 39 | Aigondigné Deux-Sèvres | 0.4 | 1.6% | 61% | 66 km |
| 40 | Samer Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 20% | 100% | 12 km |
| 41 | Sanilhac Dordogne | 0.1 | 56% | 0% | 105 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 Munster
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Docteur Albert Schweitzer leads, at 3.3 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de la Fecht
Park or garden
1.5 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
Centralin the middle of Munster
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 Munster
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
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Site à chauves-souris des Vosges haut-rhinoises
17% of the commune0.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Hautes-Vosges, Haut-Rhin
1.9% of the commune0.8 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 Munster’s land is protected, more than in 95% 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
32 km of footpaths and 32 km of hiking routes cross Munster
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
32 km
3.6 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 km
waymarked: 3.6 km per km²
Woodland
55%
about 4.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MunsterHaut-Rhin medianFrance median
Footpaths3.6
Hiking routes3.6
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MunsterHaut-Rhin medianFrance median
Woodland55%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 81% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 94% 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 Munster is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
28 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 53111 km
GR 5322.6 km
Ligne de Front 1914/191814 km
L'itinéraire Albert Schweitzer9.4 km
Circuit du Solberg6.4 km
Circuit du Moenchberg5.8 km
Circuit d’Eschbach-au-Val5.6 km
Anneau jaune5.4 km
Circuit Narrenstein5.1 km
Sentier de l'Eau4.8 km
Circuit Historique principale4.3 km
Circuit Hohrod4.2 km
+16 more
2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Munster: GR 531 and GR 532.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Munster: April and July to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Rouffach - Sa, 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) | 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) | 5 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 40 | 33 | 35 | 43 | 73 | 67 | 66 | 64 | 50 | 59 | 45 | 48 |
February is the driest month (33 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 73 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 56 nights a year. The climate in Munster →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Munster
Named gardens in the commune.
Parc Albert SchweitzerIn Munster
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Munster
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
OrbeyTurckheimWintzenheimBuhlIngersheimKaysersberg VignobleMunster
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munster | 100% | 55% | 3.6 |
| Orbey 3,429 · 9.1 km | 100% | 53% | 1.7 |
| Turckheim 4,139 · 12 km | 7.9% | 56% | 2.7 |
| Wintzenheim 8,059 · 13 km | 100% | 51% | 2.8 |
| Buhl 3,100 · 13 km | 100% | 74% | 3.7 |
| Ingersheim 4,774 · 14 km | 1.3% | 17% | 2 |
| Kaysersberg Vignoble 4,383 · 15 km | 100% | 69% | 1.5 |
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 Munster
Is Munster in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Munster lies in Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Munster?
OpenStreetMap maps 32 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 32 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Munster is woodland?
55% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Munster near the sea?
No: the coast is 464 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Munster?
April and July 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.