First pick
forêt de Tire-Gerbe
Wood or forest · 320 m outside the commune
143 ha7.9 km of path
1 h 45 minto walk all 7.9 km of path
5.4 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.012%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Chef · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Saint-Chef is within 800 m of a park or wood
Mapped woodland covers 24% of Saint-Chef. 12% of Saint-Chef’s land lies in protected areas. 27 km of footpaths cross Saint-Chef (1 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
12%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
24%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
27 km
1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.9 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: forêt de Tire-Gerbe
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.
Against French towns
How Saint-Chef 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 areas12%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
73out of 100
Woodland24%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
69out of 100
Footpaths1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
31out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
26out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Chef has the 14th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,888 to 3,955 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Coye-la-Forêt (6.4 km per km²) to Arvert (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coye-la-Forêt Oise | 6.4 | 60% | 100% | 129 km |
| 2 | La Rochette Seine-et-Marne | 3.6 | 67% | 56% | 193 km |
| 3 | Pagny-sur-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle | 3.4 | 41% | 100% | 333 km |
| 4 | Ferrières-en-Brie Seine-et-Marne | 3.3 | 45% | 0% | 168 km |
| 5 | Jarrie Isère | 3.2 | 33% | 0.8% | 196 km |
| 6 | Santeny Val-de-Marne | 3.2 | 51% | 0% | 171 km |
| 7 | Hussigny-Godbrange Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.5 | 62% | 0% | 282 km |
| 8 | Belz Morbihan | 2.4 | 25% | 13% | On it |
| 9 | Saint-Nabord Vosges | 2.1 | 62% | 3.6% | 429 km |
| 10 | Pont-de-Roide-Vermondans Doubs | 2.1 | 67% | 4.5% | 405 km |
| 11 | Montry Seine-et-Marne | 2 | 20% | 0% | 166 km |
| 12 | Mézières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 1.9 | 28% | 5.5% | 117 km |
| 13 | Lauris Vaucluse | 1.8 | 41% | 100% | 43 km |
| 14 | Richwiller Haut-Rhin | 1.7 | 25% | 0% | 444 km |
| 15 | Nouvoitou Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.7 | 1.6% | 0% | 60 km |
| 16 | Lexy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 275 km |
| 17 | Oudon Loire-Atlantique | 1.3 | 17% | 27% | 63 km |
| 18 | Aix-Noulette Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 16% | 0% | 73 km |
| 19 | Touques Calvados | 1.3 | 2.5% | 0% | 2.8 km |
| 20 | Saint-Germain-sur-Morin Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 15% | 0% | 167 km |
| 21 | Quévert Côtes-d'Armor | 1.3 | 12% | 100% | 6.9 km |
| 22 | Folschviller Moselle | 1.2 | 22% | 0% | 357 km |
| 23 | Mortagne-au-Perche Orne | 1.2 | 6.1% | 100% | 98 km |
| 24 | Boissise-le-Roi Seine-et-Marne | 1.2 | 10% | 100% | 190 km |
| 25 | Pierrevert Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.1 | 36% | 100% | 61 km |
| 26 | Tinténiac Ille-et-Vilaine | 1 | 3.9% | 2.2% | 22 km |
| 27 | Verberie Oise | 1 | 20% | 8.1% | 123 km |
| 28 | Saint-Chef Isère | 1 | 24% | 12% | 246 km |
| 29 | Tavaux Jura | 0.9 | 10% | 0% | 398 km |
| 30 | Saint-Martin-en-Haut Rhône | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 236 km |
| 31 | Fay-aux-Loges Loiret | 0.8 | 36% | 12% | 213 km |
| 32 | Maing Nord | 0.7 | 4.2% | 0% | 108 km |
| 33 | Villedieu-les-Poêles-Rouffigny Manche | 0.7 | 2.5% | 0.6% | 21 km |
| 34 | Blainville-sur-l'Eau Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.6 | 46% | 0% | 388 km |
| 35 | Grosseto-Prugna Corse-du-Sud | 0.6 | 59% | 0.2% | On it |
| 36 | Ablis Yvelines | 0.5 | 8.6% | 0% | 149 km |
| 37 | Verfeil Haute-Garonne | 0.4 | 7.7% | 0% | 133 km |
| 38 | Moreuil Somme | 0.3 | 21% | 1.9% | 73 km |
| 39 | Val d'Anast Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.2 | 12% | 0% | 52 km |
| 40 | Suippes Marne | 0.2 | 24% | 0% | 237 km |
| 41 | Arvert Charente-Maritime | 0.2 | 5.8% | 31% | 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 Saint-Chef
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: forêt de Tire-Gerbe leads, at 143 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt de Flosaille
Wood or forest · 90 m outside the commune
69 ha
5.3 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
12% of Saint-Chef lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
L’Isle Crémieu
12% of the commune0.1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area12%
Natura 2000 site12%
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.
12% of Saint-Chef’s land is protected, more than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Isère has 0%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
27 km of footpaths cross Saint-Chef
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
27 km
1 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.9 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
24%
about 6.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-ChefIsère medianFrance median
Footpaths1
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-ChefIsère medianFrance median
Woodland24%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 69% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 69% 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 Saint-Chef 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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Chef: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Lyon-St Exupery, 24 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 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 55 | 47 | 54 | 72 | 83 | 71 | 67 | 71 | 87 | 101 | 92 | 63 |
February is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 101 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Chef →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Chef
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-SavinRuy-MontceauCessieuBourgoin-JallieuMorestelNivolas-VermelleSaint-Chef
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Chef | 12% | 24% | 1 |
| Saint-Savin 4,323 · 4 km | 15% | 17% | 0.5 |
| Ruy-Montceau 4,805 · 6.3 km | 12% | 21% | 0.4 |
| Cessieu 3,259 · 8 km | 0% | 27% | 1 |
| Bourgoin-Jallieu 30,151 · 8.5 km | 0% | 13% | 2.7 |
| Morestel 4,340 · 9 km | 12% | 16% | 0.8 |
| Nivolas-Vermelle 2,706 · 9.7 km | 0% | 18% | 1.4 |
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-Chef
Is Saint-Chef in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 12% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Chef?
OpenStreetMap maps 27 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Saint-Chef is woodland?
24% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Chef near the sea?
No: the coast is 246 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Chef?
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.