First pick
Parc de l'Île d'Amour
Park or garden · 60 m outside the commune
21 ha5.8 km of path
1 h 20 minto walk all 5.8 km of path
2.6 km north-westfrom the center
Chemin de l'Île d'Amour
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Institut géographique national (IGN), BD-ORTHO · Public domain35%woodland
Outdoors in Gières · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Gières has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
51 km of footpaths cross Gières (7.2 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 18 km in Gières. Mapped woodland covers 35% of Gières. 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: Chartreuse Regional Nature Park, 5 km
Woodland
35%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
51 km
7.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
9
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc de l'Île d'Amour
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 Gières?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths7.2 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.On waymarked routes18 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.A wooded commune35% mapped woodland, more than in 81% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyChartreuse Regional Nature Park is 5 km from the town center.
What sets Gières apart: its footpaths, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Gières 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
Woodland35%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
81out of 100
Footpaths7.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
97out of 100
Hiking routes2.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
98out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Gières has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (7,292 to 7,454 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gières (7.2 km per km²) to Lanton (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gières Isère | 7.2 | 35% | 0% | 202 km |
| 2 | Gournay-sur-Marne Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 4.3% | 0% | 159 km |
| 3 | Villemoisson-sur-Orge Essonne | 4.3 | 13% | 0% | 167 km |
| 4 | Lisses Essonne | 3.8 | 22% | 2.9% | 176 km |
| 5 | Soisy-sur-Seine Essonne | 3.6 | 64% | 0% | 173 km |
| 6 | Remiremont Vosges | 3.5 | 70% | 18% | 432 km |
| 7 | Cournonterral Hérault | 3.4 | 3.1% | 62% | 13 km |
| 8 | Roquefort-les-Pins Alpes-Maritimes | 3.3 | 52% | 15% | 8 km |
| 9 | Saint-Benoît Vienne | 3.3 | 25% | 0% | 116 km |
| 10 | Clisson Loire-Atlantique | 3.1 | 9% | 0% | 54 km |
| 11 | Audun-le-Tiche Moselle | 3 | 42% | 0% | 288 km |
| 12 | Courdimanche Val-d'Oise | 3 | 17% | 0% | 118 km |
| 13 | Fabrègues Hérault | 2.9 | 7.6% | 8.4% | 9.4 km |
| 14 | Barlin Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 5.8% | 0% | 65 km |
| 15 | Perros-Guirec Côtes-d'Armor | 2.9 | 17% | 7% | On it |
| 16 | Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 2.7 | 20% | 0% | 256 km |
| 17 | Courtry Seine-et-Marne | 2.5 | 19% | 0% | 155 km |
| 18 | Moyeuvre-Grande Moselle | 2.4 | 45% | 0% | 310 km |
| 19 | Pontcharra Isère | 2 | 39% | 0% | 217 km |
| 20 | Carhaix-Plouguer Finistère | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 40 km |
| 21 | Paimpol Côtes-d'Armor | 1.9 | 12% | 12% | On it |
| 22 | Nanteuil-lès-Meaux Seine-et-Marne | 1.9 | 26% | 0% | 164 km |
| 23 | Saujon Charente-Maritime | 1.8 | 4% | 14% | 4.1 km |
| 24 | Le Pian-Médoc Gironde | 1.6 | 60% | 100% | 8.2 km |
| 25 | Toulouges Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.6 | 0.2% | 0% | 17 km |
| 26 | Fresnes-sur-Escaut Nord | 1.5 | 24% | 100% | 100 km |
| 27 | Langres Haute-Marne | 1.2 | 9.7% | 0.1% | 371 km |
| 28 | Pordic Côtes-d'Armor | 1.2 | 8.1% | 0% | On it |
| 29 | Yssingeaux Haute-Loire | 1.2 | 39% | 15% | 176 km |
| 30 | Saint-Christol-lez-Alès Gard | 1.2 | 21% | 0% | 57 km |
| 31 | Lagnieu Ain | 1.1 | 35% | 0% | 274 km |
| 32 | Trélissac Dordogne | 0.9 | 43% | 0% | 109 km |
| 33 | Saint-Nicolas-de-Port Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.9 | 11% | 0% | 376 km |
| 34 | Ruelle-sur-Touvre Charente | 0.8 | 6.5% | 8% | 81 km |
| 35 | Digoin Saône-et-Loire | 0.8 | 12% | 6.1% | 325 km |
| 36 | Rosny-sur-Seine Yvelines | 0.7 | 60% | 62% | 104 km |
| 37 | Ensisheim Haut-Rhin | 0.6 | 35% | 21% | 453 km |
| 38 | Rethel Ardennes | 0.6 | 2.9% | 0% | 207 km |
| 39 | Chaumes-en-Retz Loire-Atlantique | 0.5 | 14% | 0% | 9.6 km |
| 40 | Guipry-Messac Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.5 | 8.9% | 0% | 55 km |
| 41 | Lanton Gironde | 0.2 | 83% | 100% | 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 Gières
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de l'Île d'Amour leads, at 21 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Arboretum Robert Ruffier-Lanche
Park or garden
4.1 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
1.4 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois
Wood or forest · 320 m outside the commune
6.9 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
3.1 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Charly-Guibbaud
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Gières
Chemin du 19 Mars 1962
Directionsto a point inside
Jardins pédagogiques
Park or garden · 140 m outside the commune
1.3 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
2.5 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du Chamandier
Park or garden
0.8 ha0.5 km of path
Centralin the middle of Gières
Directionsto a point inside
Parc des Sapins
Park or garden
1.2 ha0.2 km of path
0.6 km westfrom the center
Chemin des Sapins
Directionsto a point inside
All 9 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc de l'Île d'AmourPark or garden · 21 ha · 5.8 km of path · just outside
DirectionsArboretum Robert Ruffier-LanchePark or garden · 4.1 ha · 1.1 km of path
DirectionsBoisWood or forest · 6.9 ha · 1 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc Charly-GuibbaudPark or garden · 2.1 ha · 0.8 km of path
DirectionsJardins pédagogiquesPark or garden · 1.3 ha · 0.5 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc du ChamandierPark or garden · 0.8 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsParc des SapinsPark or garden · 1.2 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsParc Noël-CohardPark or garden · 1 ha
DirectionsSquare Paul MonvalPark or garden · 0.2 ha · just outside
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Chartreuse Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 5 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
Chartreuse Regional Nature Park
5 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 Gières
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
51 km
7.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 km
waymarked: 2.6 km per km²
Woodland
35%
about 2.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
GièresIsère medianFrance median
Footpaths7.2
Hiking routes2.6
04.59 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
GièresIsère medianFrance median
Woodland35%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 97% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 81% 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 Gières is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
6 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Boucle Des Cochettes8 km
De Gières au col du Gourlu6.2 km
Domène à Murianette, par les rives de l'Isère5.7 km
Grande Traverse de Meylan5.4 km
Boucle De Panama4.2 km
Les Quatre Seigneurs4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Gières: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Chatte_Sapc, 38 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 Gières →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Gières
Named gardens in the commune.
Arboretum Robert-Ruffier-LancheIn Gières
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Gières
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Martin-d'HèresMeylanLa TroncheDomèneCorencEybensGières
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gières | 0% | 35% | 7.2 |
| Saint-Martin-d'Hères 37,695 · 2.5 km | 0% | 14% | 10.1 |
| Meylan 18,770 · 3.5 km | 12% | 18% | 9.2 |
| La Tronche 6,424 · 4.1 km | 43% | 46% | 9 |
| Domène 6,835 · 4.3 km | 0% | 24% | 3.8 |
| Corenc 4,215 · 4.3 km | 45% | 50% | 3.8 |
| Eybens 10,493 · 4.7 km | 0% | 17% | 7.6 |
Meylan, La Tronche and Corenc 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 Gières
Is Gières in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Chartreuse Regional Nature Park, 5 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Gières?
OpenStreetMap maps 51 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 7.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 18 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Gières is woodland?
35% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Gières near the sea?
No: the coast is 202 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Gières?
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 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.