First pick
Parc Champollion
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Vif
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jvillafruela · CC BY-SA 3.07%of the land protected
Outdoors in Vif · protected areas, woods and footpaths
48% of Vif is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 19 km in Vif. Protected areas cover 7% of Vif’s land. 49 km of footpaths cross Vif (1.8 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
7%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
48%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
49 km
1.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
19 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
3
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Champollion
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 Vif?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune48% mapped woodland, more than in 91% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.A nature reserveIsles du Drac nature reserve covers 6.9% of the commune.
What sets Vif apart: its woods, then its nature reserve.
Against French towns
How Vif 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 areas7%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
68out of 100
Woodland48%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
91out of 100
Footpaths1.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
53out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
72out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Vif has the 18th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (8,443 to 8,618 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Plessis-Bouchard (5.8 km per km²) to Mauléon (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Plessis-Bouchard Val-d'Oise | 5.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 132 km |
| 2 | Crolles Isère | 4.6 | 26% | 19% | 207 km |
| 3 | Groslay Val-d'Oise | 4.3 | 15% | 0% | 138 km |
| 4 | La Salvetat-Saint-Gilles Haute-Garonne | 4.3 | 12% | 0% | 158 km |
| 5 | Rouvroy Pas-de-Calais | 3.3 | 5% | 0% | 81 km |
| 6 | Saint-Renan Finistère | 2.9 | 5% | 0% | 8 km |
| 7 | Marcoussis Essonne | 2.7 | 34% | 0% | 163 km |
| 8 | Vendin-le-Vieil Pas-de-Calais | 2.7 | 11% | 0% | 72 km |
| 9 | Pérenchies Nord | 2.5 | 0.9% | 0% | 56 km |
| 10 | Trégueux Côtes-d'Armor | 2.4 | 5.5% | 0% | 4.1 km |
| 11 | Varces-Allières-et-Risset Isère | 2.4 | 33% | 32% | 194 km |
| 12 | Sautron Loire-Atlantique | 2.3 | 16% | 0% | 34 km |
| 13 | Ballan-Miré Indre-et-Loire | 2.2 | 30% | 0% | 176 km |
| 14 | Privas Ardèche | 2.1 | 32% | 1.6% | 136 km |
| 15 | Bormes-les-Mimosas Var | 2.1 | 38% | 8.3% | On it |
| 16 | Pont-l'Abbé Finistère | 1.9 | 13% | 2% | On it |
| 17 | Puget-sur-Argens Var | 1.9 | 9.8% | 54% | 6.5 km |
| 18 | Vif Isère | 1.8 | 48% | 7% | 189 km |
| 19 | Ergué-Gabéric Finistère | 1.8 | 21% | 0% | 6.3 km |
| 20 | Hirson Aisne | 1.8 | 66% | 66% | 167 km |
| 21 | Aulnoye-Aymeries Nord | 1.7 | 1.2% | 100% | 132 km |
| 22 | Lillebonne Seine-Maritime | 1.6 | 18% | 0% | 16 km |
| 23 | Le Grau-du-Roi Gard | 1.6 | 3.9% | 89% | On it |
| 24 | Uzès Gard | 1.6 | 6.9% | 0% | 57 km |
| 25 | Unieux Loire | 1.5 | 23% | 16% | 205 km |
| 26 | Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf Seine-Maritime | 1.4 | 4.8% | 0.5% | 50 km |
| 27 | Peymeinade Alpes-Maritimes | 1.4 | 31% | 20% | 13 km |
| 28 | Sérignan Hérault | 1.1 | 0.2% | 34% | On it |
| 29 | Reignier-Ésery Haute-Savoie | 1.1 | 26% | 3.1% | 279 km |
| 30 | Éguilles Bouches-du-Rhône | 1 | 12% | 54% | 23 km |
| 31 | Theix-Noyalo Morbihan | 0.9 | 11% | 98% | On it |
| 32 | Talmont-Saint-Hilaire Vendée | 0.6 | 6.9% | 8.5% | On it |
| 33 | Roussillon Isère | 0.6 | 12% | 0% | 209 km |
| 34 | Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.6 | 1.2% | 81% | On it |
| 35 | Châteauneuf-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.6 | 49% | 22% | 222 km |
| 36 | Le Loroux-Bottereau Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 6.4% | 8.8% | 53 km |
| 37 | Saint-Vallier Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 19% | 0% | 344 km |
| 38 | Thaon-les-Vosges Vosges | 0.6 | 41% | 0% | 406 km |
| 39 | Chantonnay Vendée | 0.5 | 12% | 0% | 42 km |
| 40 | Onnaing Nord | 0.5 | 16% | 1.1% | 105 km |
| 41 | Mauléon Deux-Sèvres | 0.4 | 6.8% | 0% | 76 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 Vif
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Champollion leads, at 2.1 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parcours de santé
Park or garden
1.8 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
0.7 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Kiltz-Baud
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
0.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
7% of Vif 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
Vercors Regional Nature Park
1.6 km from the town center
Nature reserve
Isles du Drac nature reserve
6.9% of the commune1.8 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area7%
Nature reserve6.9%
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.
7% of Vif’s land is protected, more than in 68% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Isère has 0%. 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
49 km of footpaths and 19 km of hiking routes cross Vif
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
49 km
1.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
19 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
48%
about 13.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
VifIsère medianFrance median
Footpaths1.8
Hiking routes0.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
VifIsère medianFrance median
Woodland48%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 53% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 91% 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 Vif 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 Vif: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St-Jean-En-Roya, 30 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 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 75 | 65 | 74 | 101 | 114 | 91 | 89 | 86 | 116 | 127 | 124 | 75 |
February is the driest month (65 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 29 °C). 127 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 57 nights a year. The climate in Vif →
Neighbors
Next to Vif
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Georges-de-CommiersVarces-Allières-et-RissetChamp-sur-DracClaixVizilleJarrieVif
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vif | 7% | 48% | 1.8 |
| Saint-Georges-de-Commiers 2,699 · 3 km | 9.7% | 70% | 4.5 |
| Varces-Allières-et-Risset 8,542 · 4.9 km | 32% | 33% | 2.4 |
| Champ-sur-Drac 3,335 · 5.6 km | 24% | 51% | 3.9 |
| Claix 7,836 · 7.9 km | 64% | 55% | 3.5 |
| Vizille 7,292 · 8.3 km | 0% | 48% | 2.8 |
| Jarrie 3,952 · 8.6 km | 0.8% | 33% | 3.2 |
Varces-Allières-et-Risset, Champ-sur-Drac and Claix 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 Vif
Is Vif in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 7% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Vif?
OpenStreetMap maps 49 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 19 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Vif is woodland?
48% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Vif near the sea?
No: the coast is 189 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Vif?
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.