First pick
Parc Jean Verlhac
Park or garden · 190 m outside the commune
21 ha4.2 km of path
55 minto walk all 4.2 km of path
2.2 km north-eastfrom the center
Chemin de la RampeChemin des Tilleuls
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Patafisik · CC BY-SA 4.011%woodland
Outdoors in Échirolles · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Échirolles has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 78 km across Échirolles (9.9 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 8 km in Échirolles. No protected area reaches Échirolles; the nearest, Vercors Regional Nature Park, is 3.1 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Vercors Regional Nature Park, 3.1 km
Woodland
11%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
78 km
9.9 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
19
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Jean Verlhac
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 place
What kind of outdoors place is Échirolles?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths9.9 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.On waymarked routes8 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyVercors Regional Nature Park is 3.1 km from the town center.
What sets Échirolles apart: its footpaths, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Échirolles 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 areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland11%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
44out of 100
Footpaths9.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
99out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
84out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Échirolles has the 2nd most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (35,177 to 39,800 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Martin-d'Hères (10.1 km per km²) to Saint-Benoît (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Martin-d'Hères Isère | 10.1 | 14% | 0% | 203 km |
| 2 | Échirolles Isère | 9.9 | 11% | 0% | 200 km |
| 3 | Annemasse Haute-Savoie | 8.3 | 2.4% | 0% | 286 km |
| 4 | Châtenay-Malabry Hauts-de-Seine | 8.2 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 5 | Franconville Val-d'Oise | 8.2 | 27% | 0% | 132 km |
| 6 | Marseille 1er Bouches-du-Rhône | 7.5 | 0.1% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Paris 8e Paris | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 146 km |
| 8 | Marseille 6e Bouches-du-Rhône | 6.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 1 km |
| 9 | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Val-de-Marne | 6.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 164 km |
| 10 | Neuilly-sur-Marne Seine-Saint-Denis | 6.6 | 9.5% | 11% | 157 km |
| 11 | Romainville Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 11% | 0% | 151 km |
| 12 | Palaiseau Essonne | 5.9 | 18% | 0% | 158 km |
| 13 | Creil Oise | 5.8 | 25% | 41% | 117 km |
| 14 | Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Essonne | 5.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 15 | Chartres Eure-et-Loir | 5.5 | 2.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 16 | Vitrolles Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.9 | 8.9% | 33% | 9.7 km |
| 17 | Athis-Mons Essonne | 4.6 | 4% | 0% | 165 km |
| 18 | Meyzieu Rhône | 4.2 | 13% | 26% | 256 km |
| 19 | Oullins-Pierre-Bénite Rhône | 4.2 | 2.3% | 0% | 246 km |
| 20 | Mâcon Saône-et-Loire | 4.2 | 17% | 0% | 311 km |
| 21 | Châtillon Hauts-de-Seine | 4.2 | 0.2% | 0% | 152 km |
| 22 | Pontault-Combault Seine-et-Marne | 4.1 | 27% | 0% | 166 km |
| 23 | Six-Fours-les-Plages Var | 3.9 | 34% | 21% | On it |
| 24 | Saint-Raphaël Var | 3.8 | 60% | 61% | On it |
| 25 | Thonon-les-Bains Haute-Savoie | 3.8 | 17% | 8.5% | 299 km |
| 26 | Roanne Loire | 3.7 | 2.7% | 15% | 275 km |
| 27 | Le Perreux-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 3.4 | 1.2% | 0% | 157 km |
| 28 | Savigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 166 km |
| 29 | La Ciotat Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.4 | 20% | 27% | On it |
| 30 | Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Yvelines | 3.2 | 3.8% | 0% | 126 km |
| 31 | Tremblay-en-France Seine-Saint-Denis | 3 | 3.9% | 0% | 151 km |
| 32 | Joué-lès-Tours Indre-et-Loire | 2.5 | 15% | 0% | 179 km |
| 33 | Bezons Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 137 km |
| 34 | Saint-Chamond Loire | 2.1 | 26% | 33% | 215 km |
| 35 | Villefranche-sur-Saône Rhône | 1.9 | 0.7% | 0% | 274 km |
| 36 | La Possession Réunion | 1.6 | 67% | 88% | On it |
| 37 | Haguenau Bas-Rhin | 1 | 81% | 76% | 436 km |
| 38 | Saint-Leu Réunion | 0.9 | 23% | 17% | On it |
| 39 | Sainte-Marie Réunion | 0.7 | 50% | 60% | On it |
| 40 | Saint-Joseph Réunion | 0.6 | 50% | 85% | On it |
| 41 | Saint-Benoît Réunion | 0.4 | 59% | 78% | On it |
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 Échirolles
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Jean Verlhac leads, at 21 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc des Champs Elysées
Park or garden · 270 m outside the commune
13 ha4.5 km of path
1 hto walk all 4.5 km of path
1.8 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc des Ruires
Park or garden · 20 m outside the commune
7.7 ha2 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
2 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Picasso
Park or garden
5.1 ha2.4 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.4 km of path
1.4 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Maurice Thorez
Park or garden
5.7 ha1.9 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.9 km of path
1.2 km north-eastfrom the center
Allée du Roussillon
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Robert Buisson
Park or garden
6 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
1.2 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Géo-Charles
Park or garden
4.1 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
1.3 km westfrom the center
Mail Meunier-Curtinet
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la Mairie
Park or garden · 360 m outside the commune
3.2 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
2.8 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
All 19 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc Jean VerlhacPark or garden · 21 ha · 4.2 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc des Champs ElyséesPark or garden · 13 ha · 4.5 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc des RuiresPark or garden · 7.7 ha · 2 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc PicassoPark or garden · 5.1 ha · 2.4 km of path
DirectionsParc Maurice ThorezPark or garden · 5.7 ha · 1.9 km of path
DirectionsParc Robert BuissonPark or garden · 6 ha · 0.8 km of path
DirectionsParc Géo-CharlesPark or garden · 4.1 ha · 1.5 km of path
DirectionsParc de la MairiePark or garden · 3.2 ha · 1.5 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc Simone LagrangePark or garden · 1.9 ha · 0.8 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc de la Croix-de-VérinesPark or garden · 2.2 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsParc Jean JaurèsPark or garden · 1.9 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsParc Élie BlanchetPark or garden · 1.4 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsParc du LimousinPark or garden · 1.1 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsLe Champ de la RoussePark or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsLes EssartsPark or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsParc de la ButtePark or garden · 0.8 ha
DirectionsJardin de l'Hôtel de VillePark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsVerger participatif de l'Atelier de PicassoPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsJardin de l'ÉvéchéPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Vercors Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 3.1 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Vercors Regional Nature Park
3.1 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Échirolles
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
78 km
9.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
8.1 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
11%
about 0.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ÉchirollesIsère medianFrance median
Footpaths9.9
Hiking routes1
0612 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ÉchirollesIsère medianFrance median
Woodland11%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 99% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 56% 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 Échirolles is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 96511 km
La Balme - Les Perouses0.7 km
GR 965 passes within 2 km of Échirolles.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Échirolles: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Chatte_Sapc, 32 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 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 66 | 54 | 64 | 84 | 96 | 81 | 68 | 82 | 101 | 108 | 99 | 66 |
February is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 108 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 67 nights a year. The climate in Échirolles →
Neighbors
Next to Échirolles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Le Pont-de-ClaixSeyssinsEybensGrenobleSeyssinet-ParisetClaixÉchirolles
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Échirolles | 0% | 11% | 9.9 |
| Le Pont-de-Claix 10,956 · 2.2 km | 2.9% | 15% | 4.3 |
| Seyssins 8,092 · 2.6 km | 45% | 44% | 7.1 |
| Eybens 10,493 · 2.6 km | 0% | 17% | 7.6 |
| Grenoble 156,140 · 3.6 km | 0% | 4.6% | 11.6 |
| Seyssinet-Pariset 11,739 · 3.6 km | 57% | 60% | 6.6 |
| Claix 7,836 · 4.4 km | 64% | 55% | 3.5 |
Seyssins, Seyssinet-Pariset and Claix have at least twice as much protected land. Seyssins, Seyssinet-Pariset and Claix are 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 Échirolles
Is Échirolles in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Vercors Regional Nature Park, 3.1 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Échirolles?
OpenStreetMap maps 78 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 9.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 8 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Échirolles is woodland?
11% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Échirolles near the sea?
No: the coast is 200 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Échirolles?
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.