First pick
Aire de Jeux la Pointerie
Park or garden · 180 m outside the commune
0.7 ha
1.5 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Floppy36 · CC BY-SA 3.02.1%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Maur · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Saint-Maur is within 800 m of a park or wood
33% of Saint-Maur is mapped woodland. Footpaths add up to 46 km across Saint-Maur (0.5 km per km²). Saint-Maur has 8 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
2.1%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
33%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
46 km
0.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.1 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Aire de Jeux la Pointerie
Throughout this page, the Indre 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 Saint-Maur?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune33% mapped woodland, more than in 80% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Few mapped footpaths0.5 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Saint-Maur apart: its woods. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Saint-Maur 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 areas2.1%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
59out of 100
Woodland33%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
80out of 100
Footpaths0.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
14out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
30out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Maur has the 10th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,519 to 3,554 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Bergues (12 km per km²) to Dun-sur-Auron (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bergues Nord | 12 | 18% | 0% | 8.9 km |
| 2 | Deauville Calvados | 5.5 | 1.1% | 0% | On it |
| 3 | Danjoutin Territoire de Belfort | 3.3 | 33% | 0% | 429 km |
| 4 | Quissac Gard | 2.8 | 46% | 0% | 39 km |
| 5 | Mérignies Nord | 2.6 | 7.7% | 0% | 76 km |
| 6 | Bellignat Ain | 2.5 | 65% | 0% | 311 km |
| 7 | Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.4 | 82% | 1.8% | 32 km |
| 8 | Allennes-les-Marais Nord | 2.2 | 7.5% | 0% | 68 km |
| 9 | La Bernerie-en-Retz Loire-Atlantique | 2.1 | 2.2% | 0.8% | On it |
| 10 | Rubelles Seine-et-Marne | 2 | 19% | 0% | 190 km |
| 11 | Saint-Julien-lès-Metz Moselle | 1.9 | 36% | 0% | 328 km |
| 12 | Crémieu Isère | 1.9 | 36% | 24% | 254 km |
| 13 | Portiragnes Hérault | 1.9 | 5% | 80% | On it |
| 14 | Laragne-Montéglin Hautes-Alpes | 1.5 | 37% | 77% | 114 km |
| 15 | Lécousse Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.5 | 1.4% | 0% | 31 km |
| 16 | Fargues-Saint-Hilaire Gironde | 1.4 | 23% | 1.7% | 24 km |
| 17 | Cerny Essonne | 1.2 | 41% | 100% | 179 km |
| 18 | Châteauneuf-sur-Charente Charente | 1.1 | 12% | 21% | 58 km |
| 19 | Messimy Rhône | 1.1 | 13% | 0% | 242 km |
| 20 | Saint-Didier-en-Velay Haute-Loire | 1.1 | 35% | 0% | 194 km |
| 21 | Pleumeleuc Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.9 | 1.9% | 0% | 35 km |
| 22 | Vertaizon Puy-de-Dôme | 0.9 | 9% | 2.1% | 253 km |
| 23 | Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche Isère | 0.9 | 18% | 0% | 234 km |
| 24 | Béligneux Ain | 0.9 | 14% | 6.3% | 268 km |
| 25 | Échiré Deux-Sèvres | 0.8 | 2.6% | 0% | 56 km |
| 26 | Carcès Var | 0.7 | 51% | 25% | 39 km |
| 27 | Varangéville Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | 377 km |
| 28 | Saint-Soupplets Seine-et-Marne | 0.7 | 9.4% | 0% | 151 km |
| 29 | Le Breuil Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 17% | 0% | 362 km |
| 30 | Bellac Haute-Vienne | 0.6 | 20% | 0.4% | 158 km |
| 31 | Loyettes Ain | 0.5 | 5.9% | 12% | 260 km |
| 32 | Saint-Maur Indre | 0.5 | 33% | 2.1% | 220 km |
| 33 | Gallardon Eure-et-Loir | 0.5 | 8.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 34 | Clamecy Nièvre | 0.5 | 34% | 3% | 321 km |
| 35 | Puygouzon Tarn | 0.5 | 1.3% | 0% | 115 km |
| 36 | Montmirail Marne | 0.4 | 27% | 0% | 198 km |
| 37 | Espira-de-l'Agly Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.4 | 11% | 3.9% | 17 km |
| 38 | Nogent Haute-Marne | 0.4 | 38% | 36% | 359 km |
| 39 | Varennes-sur-Allier Allier | 0.3 | 6.2% | 39% | 311 km |
| 40 | Isigny-sur-Mer Calvados | 0.2 | 1.4% | 75% | 5 km |
| 41 | Dun-sur-Auron Cher | 0.1 | 5.4% | 17% | 291 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 Saint-Maur
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Aire de Jeux la Pointerie leads, at 0.7 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
2.1% of Saint-Maur lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Brenne Regional Nature Park
7.1 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de l’Indre
1.1% of the commune0.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Brenne
1% of the commune7.7 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area2.1%
Natura 2000 site2.1%
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.
2.1% of Saint-Maur’s land is protected, more than in 59% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Indre has 2.1%. 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
46 km of footpaths and 8 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Maur
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
46 km
0.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.1 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
33%
about 29.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-MaurIndre medianFrance median
Footpaths0.5
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-MaurIndre medianFrance median
Woodland33%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 86% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 80% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 97% of Saint-Maur’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
De Tours à Toulouse 01, Tours - Châteauroux17 km
Sentier de Mortaigue2.3 km
De Tours à Toulouse 02, Châteauroux - Aubusson2.1 km
Sentier des Orangeons1.7 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Maur: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Chateauroux, 4.9 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 71 | 58 | 59 | 71 | 76 | 57 | 61 | 56 | 64 | 83 | 78 | 82 |
August is the driest month (56 mm) and the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 83 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Maur →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Saint-Maur
Named gardens in the commune.
Arboretum de la Grande LienneIn Saint-Maur
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Maur
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ChâteaurouxDéolsLe PoinçonnetVilledieu-sur-IndreArdentesBuzançaisSaint-Maur
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Maur | 2.1% | 33% | 0.5 |
| Châteauroux 42,963 · 4.1 km | 4.8% | 3.8% | 2.3 |
| Déols 7,600 · 5.1 km | 6.9% | 4.6% | 0.6 |
| Le Poinçonnet 5,855 · 6.9 km | 0% | 66% | 0.5 |
| Villedieu-sur-Indre 2,583 · 9.1 km | 1.5% | 18% | 0.1 |
| Ardentes 3,715 · 15 km | 0% | 24% | 0.3 |
| Buzançais 4,356 · 19 km | 5.7% | 28% | 0.1 |
Le Poinçonnet is 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 Saint-Maur
Is Saint-Maur in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 2.1% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Maur?
OpenStreetMap maps 46 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 8 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Maur is woodland?
33% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Maur near the sea?
No: the coast is 220 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Maur?
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.