Photo: Vpe · Public domainLodève lies inside Grands Causses Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Lodève’s land. 51% of Lodève is mapped woodland. Footpaths add up to 23 km across Lodève (1 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
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 outdoors place is Lodève?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
What sets Lodève apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
How Lodève 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Lodève has the 11th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (7,167 to 7,336 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gournay-sur-Marne (6 km per km²) to Herbignac (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gournay-sur-Marne Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 4.3% | 0% | 159 km |
| 2 | Colombelles Calvados | 4.9 | 3.1% | 0% | 9.7 km |
| 3 | Villemoisson-sur-Orge Essonne | 4.3 | 13% | 0% | 167 km |
| 4 | Labenne Landes | 4 | 54% | 20% | 2.8 km |
| 5 | Écouen Val-d'Oise | 4 | 16% | 0% | 135 km |
| 6 | Vendargues Hérault | 3.3 | 11% | 0% | 12 km |
| 7 | Roquefort-les-Pins Alpes-Maritimes | 3.3 | 52% | 15% | 8 km |
| 8 | Courdimanche Val-d'Oise | 3 | 17% | 0% | 118 km |
| 9 | Barlin Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 5.8% | 0% | 65 km |
| 10 | Perros-Guirec Côtes-d'Armor | 2.9 | 17% | 7% | On it |
| 11 | Vizille Isère | 2.8 | 48% | 0% | 193 km |
| 12 | Courtry Seine-et-Marne | 2.5 | 19% | 0% | 155 km |
| 13 | Moyeuvre-Grande Moselle | 2.4 | 45% | 0% | 310 km |
| 14 | Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis Yvelines | 2.2 | 13% | 100% | 140 km |
| 15 | Waziers Nord | 2.2 | 4.9% | 0% | 88 km |
| 16 | Chauray Deux-Sèvres | 2 | 2.4% | 0% | 58 km |
| 17 | Nanteuil-lès-Meaux Seine-et-Marne | 1.9 | 26% | 0% | 164 km |
| 18 | La Gaude Alpes-Maritimes | 1.8 | 44% | 2.8% | 7.1 km |
| 19 | Montauroux Var | 1.8 | 61% | 9.8% | 16 km |
| 20 | Bourg-Saint-Maurice Savoie | 1.8 | 15% | 0.4% | 211 km |
| 21 | Le Pian-Médoc Gironde | 1.6 | 60% | 100% | 8.2 km |
| 22 | Kervignac Morbihan | 1.5 | 30% | 0% | On it |
| 23 | Templeuve-en-Pévèle Nord | 1.4 | 11% | 0% | 76 km |
| 24 | Caudan Morbihan | 1.2 | 16% | 3.4% | On it |
| 25 | Mably Loire | 1.2 | 6.8% | 4.4% | 279 km |
| 26 | Pleurtuit Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.2 | 9.8% | 100% | On it |
| 27 | Divatte-sur-Loire Loire-Atlantique | 1.2 | 7.5% | 5.6% | 56 km |
| 28 | Saint-Christol-lez-Alès Gard | 1.2 | 21% | 0% | 57 km |
| 29 | Orgeval Yvelines | 1.1 | 27% | 0% | 129 km |
| 30 | Les Trois-Bassins Réunion | 1 | 20% | 82% | On it |
| 31 | Lodève Hérault | 1 | 51% | 100% | 47 km |
| 32 | Montoir-de-Bretagne Loire-Atlantique | 0.9 | 0.2% | 50% | On it |
| 33 | Salazie Réunion | 0.9 | 63% | 100% | 16 km |
| 34 | Rosny-sur-Seine Yvelines | 0.7 | 60% | 62% | 104 km |
| 35 | Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.6 | 37% | 6.3% | 8.8 km |
| 36 | Aubigny-Les Clouzeaux Vendée | 0.6 | 2.7% | 0% | 24 km |
| 37 | Ensisheim Haut-Rhin | 0.6 | 35% | 21% | 453 km |
| 38 | Sainte-Pazanne Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 4.9% | 0% | 15 km |
| 39 | Verneuil d'Avre et d'Iton Eure | 0.4 | 20% | 1.5% | 87 km |
| 40 | La Ferté-Saint-Aubin Loiret | 0.4 | 68% | 100% | 224 km |
| 41 | Herbignac Loire-Atlantique | 0.2 | 14% | 100% | 7.8 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Protected land in and around Lodève
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Grands Causses Regional Nature Park
Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park
Share of the commune’s land
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 Lodève’s land is protected, more than in 97% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Hérault 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.
23 km of footpaths and 12 km of hiking routes cross Lodève
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is less than in 69% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 92% 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 Lodève is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
5 named hiking routes within 2 km
2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Lodève: GR 7 and GR 71.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Lodève: April to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Soumont, 3.9 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 89 | 60 | 71 | 89 | 76 | 46 | 30 | 48 | 103 | 146 | 116 | 96 |
July is the driest month (30 mm) and the warmest (highs of 30 °C). 146 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 11 nights a year. The climate in Lodève →
Next to Lodève
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lodève | 100% | 51% | 1 | 47 km |
| Clermont-l'Hérault 9,461 · 15 km | 46% | 22% | 2 | 32 km |
| Saint-André-de-Sangonis 6,427 · 18 km | 11% | 3.2% | 0.7 | 30 km |
| Bédarieux 5,804 · 18 km | 100% | 23% | 1.6 | 41 km |
| Canet 3,619 · 20 km | 2.8% | 2.7% | 0.8 | 27 km |
| Gignac 6,651 · 21 km | 4.8% | 26% | 1.2 | 29 km |
| Aniane 2,979 · 22 km | 14% | 43% | 1.7 | 31 km |
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 Lodève
Is Lodève in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Lodève lies in Grands Causses Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Lodève?
OpenStreetMap maps 23 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 12 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Lodève is woodland?
51% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Lodève 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 Lodève?
April to August: 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.