First pick
Plantation de Peupliers
Wood or forest
14 ha
5.4 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Zresdgpu · CC BY-SA 4.028%of the land protected
Outdoors in Gray · protected areas, woods and footpaths
47% of Gray is woodland, more than in 8 in 10 French towns
Protected areas cover 28% of Gray’s land. Gray has 3 km of waymarked hiking routes. Footpaths add up to 28 km across Gray (1.4 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
28%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
47%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
28 km
1.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.3 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
7
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Plantation de Peupliers
Throughout this page, the Haute-Saône 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 Gray?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune47% mapped woodland, more than in 90% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Protected countryside28% of the land lies in protected areas.
What sets Gray apart: its woods, then its protected countryside.
Against French towns
How Gray 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 areas28%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
82out of 100
Woodland47%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
90out of 100
Footpaths1.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
43out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
34out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Gray has the 20th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,308 to 5,419 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cormelles-le-Royal (7.2 km per km²) to Plessé (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cormelles-le-Royal Calvados | 7.2 | 2.2% | 0% | 15 km |
| 2 | Heillecourt Meurthe-et-Moselle | 6.1 | 1.5% | 0% | 369 km |
| 3 | Mériel Val-d'Oise | 6 | 41% | 9.5% | 124 km |
| 4 | Bethoncourt Doubs | 4.4 | 38% | 0% | 420 km |
| 5 | Marles-les-Mines Pas-de-Calais | 3.6 | 3.7% | 0% | 57 km |
| 6 | Mundolsheim Bas-Rhin | 3.5 | 6.5% | 0% | 445 km |
| 7 | Le Cendre Puy-de-Dôme | 3.4 | 3.3% | 1.8% | 249 km |
| 8 | Levens Alpes-Maritimes | 3 | 64% | 12% | 17 km |
| 9 | Charbonnières-les-Bains Rhône | 2.8 | 16% | 0% | 252 km |
| 10 | La Balme-de-Sillingy Haute-Savoie | 2.6 | 41% | 0% | 269 km |
| 11 | Bretignolles-sur-Mer Vendée | 2.5 | 9.6% | 23% | On it |
| 12 | Peyrolles-en-Provence Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.4 | 63% | 69% | 38 km |
| 13 | Dechy Nord | 2.3 | 13% | 0% | 92 km |
| 14 | Plouhinec Morbihan | 2 | 24% | 32% | On it |
| 15 | Calonne-Ricouart Pas-de-Calais | 1.8 | 1.5% | 0% | 56 km |
| 16 | Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours Seine-et-Marne | 1.8 | 45% | 29% | 214 km |
| 17 | Erquinghem-Lys Nord | 1.7 | 2.6% | 0% | 51 km |
| 18 | Cruseilles Haute-Savoie | 1.6 | 40% | 21% | 273 km |
| 19 | Idron Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.6 | 15% | 4.1% | 100 km |
| 20 | Gray Haute-Saône | 1.4 | 47% | 28% | 418 km |
| 21 | Bordères-sur-l'Échez Hautes-Pyrénées | 1.4 | 22% | 0% | 128 km |
| 22 | Commercy Meuse | 1.3 | 64% | 5.6% | 324 km |
| 23 | Vic-le-Comte Puy-de-Dôme | 1.2 | 19% | 100% | 241 km |
| 24 | Lacroix-Saint-Ouen Oise | 1.2 | 73% | 76% | 121 km |
| 25 | Saint-Astier Dordogne | 1 | 33% | 8% | 89 km |
| 26 | Aiffres Deux-Sèvres | 1 | 3.4% | 14% | 54 km |
| 27 | Trèbes Aude | 1 | 9.6% | 0% | 54 km |
| 28 | Le Lion-d'Angers Maine-et-Loire | 1 | 5.4% | 0.8% | 115 km |
| 29 | Gambsheim Bas-Rhin | 0.9 | 13% | 13% | 450 km |
| 30 | Mouy Oise | 0.8 | 34% | 0% | 106 km |
| 31 | Drusenheim Bas-Rhin | 0.8 | 29% | 17% | 449 km |
| 32 | Chagny Saône-et-Loire | 0.8 | 38% | 0.8% | 376 km |
| 33 | Le Pellerin Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 2.7% | 64% | 24 km |
| 34 | Audruicq Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 0.2% | 0% | 12 km |
| 35 | Bléré Indre-et-Loire | 0.6 | 11% | 8.4% | 197 km |
| 36 | Reichshoffen Bas-Rhin | 0.5 | 27% | 100% | 420 km |
| 37 | Garons Gard | 0.5 | 0.1% | 0% | 35 km |
| 38 | Parigné-l'Évêque Sarthe | 0.5 | 49% | 19% | 149 km |
| 39 | Ploumagoar Côtes-d'Armor | 0.5 | 20% | 0% | 19 km |
| 40 | Reyrieux Ain | 0.4 | 11% | 2.2% | 270 km |
| 41 | Plessé Loire-Atlantique | 0.3 | 15% | 0.9% | 35 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 Gray
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Plantation de Peupliers leads, at 14 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Lamugnière
Park or garden · 380 m outside the commune
1.2 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1.7 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la Maison pour Tous
Park or garden
1 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Gray
Directionsto a point inside
Les Tilleuls
Park or garden
1.2 ha0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Gray
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de l'île Sauzay
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.3 km of path
0.8 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bas des îles
Park or garden · 390 m outside the commune
0.7 ha
4.4 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du Musée Baron-Martin
Park or garden
0.7 ha
Centralin the middle of Gray
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
28% of Gray lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de la Saône
28% of the commune0.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de la Saône
28% of the commune0.7 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area28%
Natura 2000 site28%
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.
28% of Gray’s land is protected, more than in 82% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Haute-Saône has 28%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
28 km of footpaths cross Gray
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
28 km
1.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.3 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
47%
about 9.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
GrayHaute-Saône medianFrance median
Footpaths1.4
Hiking routes0.2
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
GrayHaute-Saône medianFrance median
Woodland47%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 57% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 90% 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 Gray is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Gray: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Chargey-Les-Gray, 7.2 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 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 50 | 60 | 64 | 82 | 71 | 77 | 77 | 62 | 82 | 80 | 68 |
February is the driest month (50 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 82 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 58 nights a year. The climate in Gray →
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 Gray
Is Gray in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 28% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Gray?
OpenStreetMap maps 28 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Gray is woodland?
47% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Gray near the sea?
No: the coast is 418 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Gray?
April and June 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 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.