Photo: V. Glatier · Public domainAlmost every home in Cessieu is within 800 m of a park or wood
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 20 km in Cessieu. Mapped woodland covers 27% of Cessieu. No protected area reaches Cessieu; the nearest, L’Isle Crémieu (Natura 2000), is 1.5 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Isère 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 Cessieu?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
What sets Cessieu apart: its hiking routes, then protected land close by.
How Cessieu 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.
Cessieu has the 20th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,230 to 3,289 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From L'Île-Rousse (3.6 km per km²) to Albias (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L'Île-Rousse Haute-Corse | 3.6 | 0% | 0% | On it |
| 2 | Exincourt Doubs | 3.3 | 4% | 0% | 416 km |
| 3 | Amfreville-la-Mi-Voie Seine-Maritime | 3.2 | 24% | 3.5% | 56 km |
| 4 | Volx Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 3.1 | 37% | 100% | 71 km |
| 5 | Les Noës-près-Troyes Aube | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 270 km |
| 6 | Luc-sur-Mer Calvados | 3 | 1.1% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Lespinasse Haute-Garonne | 2.8 | 1.6% | 0% | 156 km |
| 8 | Bousse Moselle | 2.6 | 33% | 0% | 316 km |
| 9 | Carantec Finistère | 2.2 | 3.6% | 14% | On it |
| 10 | Jard-sur-Mer Vendée | 2.1 | 21% | 43% | On it |
| 11 | Dieulefit Drôme | 2 | 66% | 0% | 120 km |
| 12 | Bonne Haute-Savoie | 1.7 | 34% | 3.3% | 281 km |
| 13 | Pontpoint Oise | 1.5 | 41% | 100% | 120 km |
| 14 | Bernis Gard | 1.4 | 26% | 2.6% | 28 km |
| 15 | Rostrenen Côtes-d'Armor | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 45 km |
| 16 | La Chapelle-Longueville Eure | 1.3 | 31% | 0% | 86 km |
| 17 | Montmorot Jura | 1.3 | 17% | 0% | 357 km |
| 18 | Romilly-sur-Andelle Eure | 1.1 | 39% | 5.8% | 66 km |
| 19 | Magnac-sur-Touvre Charente | 1 | 22% | 3.1% | 82 km |
| 20 | Cessieu Isère | 1 | 27% | 0% | 238 km |
| 21 | Boves Somme | 0.8 | 24% | 8.8% | 63 km |
| 22 | Offranville Seine-Maritime | 0.8 | 4.5% | 0% | 5.3 km |
| 23 | Moussy-le-Neuf Seine-et-Marne | 0.8 | 26% | 0.2% | 141 km |
| 24 | Frévent Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 13% | 0% | 44 km |
| 25 | Anould Vosges | 0.6 | 49% | 0.1% | 443 km |
| 26 | Bram Aude | 0.6 | 3.5% | 0% | 81 km |
| 27 | Podensac Gironde | 0.5 | 14% | 4.6% | 44 km |
| 28 | Gouville-sur-Mer Manche | 0.5 | 2.6% | 0.4% | 2.9 km |
| 29 | Lansargues Hérault | 0.5 | 0.6% | 27% | 10 km |
| 30 | Carentoir Morbihan | 0.5 | 20% | 0% | 40 km |
| 31 | Sainte-Florine Haute-Loire | 0.5 | 8.3% | 0% | 213 km |
| 32 | Bavay Nord | 0.4 | 4% | 100% | 121 km |
| 33 | Dordives Loiret | 0.4 | 30% | 0% | 228 km |
| 34 | La Tour-du-Crieu Ariège | 0.4 | 0% | 0% | 114 km |
| 35 | Azay-sur-Cher Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 0% | 189 km |
| 36 | Brou Eure-et-Loir | 0.3 | 2.2% | 0% | 149 km |
| 37 | Sarrola-Carcopino Corse-du-Sud | 0.3 | 6.7% | 0% | 6.1 km |
| 38 | Vonnas Ain | 0.3 | 9.9% | 0% | 304 km |
| 39 | Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis Aube | 0.3 | 26% | 0.9% | 263 km |
| 40 | Argentonnay Deux-Sèvres | 0.1 | 5.2% | 4.8% | 91 km |
| 41 | Albias Tarn-et-Garonne | 0 | 4.8% | 1.4% | 173 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
L’Isle Crémieu is the nearest protected area, 1.5 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
L’Isle Crémieu
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.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
14 km of footpaths and 20 km of hiking routes cross Cessieu
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 72% 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 Cessieu 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).
The best walking months in Cessieu: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Pont-De-Beauvoisin, 23 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 69 | 84 | 93 | 115 | 103 | 94 | 89 | 111 | 117 | 113 | 94 |
February is the driest month (69 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 29 °C). 117 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 83 nights a year. The climate in Cessieu →
Next to Cessieu
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cessieu | 0% | 27% | 1 |
| Ruy-Montceau 4,805 · 4.1 km | 12% | 21% | 0.4 |
| La Tour-du-Pin 8,111 · 5.2 km | 0% | 4.7% | 1.2 |
| Nivolas-Vermelle 2,706 · 5.8 km | 0% | 18% | 1.4 |
| Saint-Clair-de-la-Tour 3,628 · 8 km | 0% | 19% | 0.7 |
| Saint-Chef 3,921 · 8 km | 12% | 24% | 1 |
| Saint-Savin 4,323 · 8.1 km | 15% | 17% | 0.5 |
Ruy-Montceau, Saint-Chef and Saint-Savin have at least twice as much protected land.
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 Cessieu
Is Cessieu in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is L’Isle Crémieu, 1.5 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Cessieu?
OpenStreetMap maps 14 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 20 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Cessieu is woodland?
27% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Cessieu near the sea?
No: the coast is 238 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Cessieu?
April and June 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.