First pick
Jardin public
Park or garden · 320 m outside the commune
0.2 ha0.2 km of path
1.2 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
41%of the land protected
Outdoors in Laroque · protected areas, woods and footpaths
41% of Laroque’s land is protected for nature
Mapped woodland covers 46% of Laroque. Laroque has 11 km of waymarked hiking routes. Footpaths add up to 20 km across Laroque (2.9 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
41%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
46%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
20 km
2.9 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
11 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
91%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
47 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Laroque?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside41% of the land lies in protected areas.A wooded commune46% mapped woodland, more than in 89% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes11 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Laroque apart: its protected countryside, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Laroque 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 areas41%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland46%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
89out of 100
Footpaths2.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
73out of 100
Hiking routes1.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
94out of 100
Green space nearby91%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
9out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Laroque has the 4th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (1,668 to 2,582 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From École-Valentin (3.9 km per km²) to Bouligny (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | École-Valentin Doubs | 3.9 | 16% | 0% | 405 km |
| 2 | Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Gironde | 3.7 | 0% | 8.7% | 66 km |
| 3 | Mers-les-Bains Somme | 3.5 | 10% | 100% | On it |
| 4 | Laroque Hérault | 2.9 | 46% | 41% | 47 km |
| 5 | Villejust Essonne | 2.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 160 km |
| 6 | Sainte-Feyre Creuse | 2.1 | 30% | 0% | 222 km |
| 7 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 8 | Sain-Bel Rhône | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 253 km |
| 9 | La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur Calvados | 1.8 | 14% | 29% | On it |
| 10 | Fareins Ain | 1.8 | 8.8% | 0.1% | 279 km |
| 11 | Entzheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 449 km |
| 12 | Mornas Vaucluse | 1.5 | 35% | 5% | 84 km |
| 13 | Watten Nord | 1.4 | 24% | 100% | 18 km |
| 14 | Rantigny Oise | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 109 km |
| 15 | Beautor Aisne | 1.3 | 3.6% | 40% | 133 km |
| 16 | Conques-sur-Orbiel Aude | 1.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 60 km |
| 17 | Barcelonnette Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.3 | 46% | 100% | 91 km |
| 18 | Granges-Aumontzey Vosges | 1.1 | 70% | 90% | 436 km |
| 19 | Cattenom Moselle | 1.1 | 37% | 0% | 308 km |
| 20 | Prayssac Lot | 1 | 42% | 0% | 151 km |
| 21 | Chatte Isère | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 190 km |
| 22 | Arelaune-en-Seine Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 69% | 100% | 29 km |
| 23 | La Croix-en-Touraine Indre-et-Loire | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 199 km |
| 24 | Criel-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 4.9% | 7% | On it |
| 25 | Lusignan Vienne | 0.7 | 17% | 0% | 97 km |
| 26 | Avelin Nord | 0.6 | 6.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 27 | Civray Vienne | 0.5 | 19% | 0% | 101 km |
| 28 | Le Cailar Gard | 0.4 | 2% | 68% | 17 km |
| 29 | Vervins Aisne | 0.4 | 1.1% | 0% | 164 km |
| 30 | Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt Dordogne | 0.4 | 13% | 2.1% | 65 km |
| 31 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 32 | Toucy Yonne | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 288 km |
| 33 | Auxi-le-Château Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 25% | 1% | 31 km |
| 34 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 35 | Nogent-sur-Vernisson Loiret | 0.2 | 46% | 0.3% | 249 km |
| 36 | Eymet Dordogne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 0.4% | 86 km |
| 37 | Athies-sous-Laon Aisne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 0% | 159 km |
| 38 | Val-de-Scie Seine-Maritime | 0.1 | 18% | 0% | 23 km |
| 39 | Noyen-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.1 | 28% | 0% | 126 km |
| 40 | Chalamont Ain | 0.1 | 20% | 69% | 284 km |
| 41 | Bouligny Meuse | 0.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 293 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 Laroque
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Jardin public leads, at 0.2 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
9 in 10 residents of Laroque live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
91% within 800 m8.8% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
LaroqueHérault medianFrance median
Within 800 m91%
0%50%100%
About 100 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Laroque
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Gorges de l’Hérault
41% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Gorges de Rieutord, Fage et Cagnasse
1.5 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area41%
Natura 2000 site41%
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.
41% of Laroque’s land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Hérault has 12%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
20 km of footpaths and 11 km of hiking routes cross Laroque
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
20 km
2.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
11 km
waymarked: 1.7 km per km²
Woodland
46%
about 3.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
LaroqueHérault medianFrance median
Footpaths2.9
Hiking routes1.7
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
LaroqueHérault medianFrance median
Woodland46%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 73% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 89% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)
GR 6012 km
PR Plateau du Thaurac7 km
PR 220.8 km
GR 60 passes within 2 km of Laroque.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Laroque: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Le Vigan, 11 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 139 | 90 | 101 | 120 | 106 | 72 | 40 | 53 | 170 | 227 | 222 | 155 |
July is the driest month (40 mm) and the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 227 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Laroque →
Neighbors
Next to Laroque
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
GangesLe ViganSaint-Hippolyte-du-FortSaint-Martin-de-LondresSaint-Mathieu-de-TréviersQuissacLaroque
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laroque | 41% | 46% | 2.9 | 47 km |
| Ganges 3,724 · 1.3 km | 65% | 30% | 2 | 48 km |
| Le Vigan 3,863 · 11 km | 100% | 68% | 1.7 | 57 km |
| Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort 3,737 · 12 km | 58% | 38% | 2.2 | 47 km |
| Saint-Martin-de-Londres 2,696 · 16 km | 100% | 17% | 1.6 | 33 km |
| Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers 4,979 · 21 km | 66% | 48% | 2.6 | 26 km |
| Quissac 3,528 · 22 km | 0% | 46% | 2.8 | 39 km |
Le Vigan and Saint-Martin-de-Londres have at least twice as much protected land.
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 Laroque
Is Laroque in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 41% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Laroque?
OpenStreetMap maps 20 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 11 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Laroque is woodland?
46% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Laroque near the sea?
No: the coast is 47 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Laroque?
April to June: 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.