First pick
Bois de Malrocher
Wood or forest
375 ha9.8 km of path
2 h 10 minto walk all 9.8 km of path
7.9 km south-eastfrom the center
Sentier karstique des Malrochers
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: PRA · CC BY 2.577%woodland
Outdoors in Poligny · protected areas, woods and footpaths
77% of Poligny is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Poligny has 52 km of waymarked hiking routes. Footpaths add up to 22 km across Poligny (0.4 km per km²). No protected area reaches Poligny; the nearest, Grottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve, is 1.3 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.1%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Grottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve, 1.3 km
Woodland
77%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
22 km
0.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
52 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois de Malrocher
Throughout this page, the Jura 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 Poligny?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune77% mapped woodland, more than in 99% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes52 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyGrottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve is 1.3 km from the town center.Few mapped footpaths0.4 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Poligny apart: its woods, then its hiking routes. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Poligny 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 areas0.1%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
50out of 100
Woodland77%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
99out of 100
Footpaths0.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
11out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
83out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Poligny has the 6th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,954 to 3,999 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Allevard (2 km per km²) to Aiguillon (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allevard Isère | 2 | 55% | 0% | 211 km |
| 2 | Pujaut Gard | 2 | 10% | 0% | 62 km |
| 3 | Condrieu Rhône | 2 | 20% | 100% | 219 km |
| 4 | Mozac Puy-de-Dôme | 2 | 1.7% | 0% | 270 km |
| 5 | Toufflers Nord | 1.9 | 0.4% | 0% | 65 km |
| 6 | Pléneuf-Val-André Côtes-d'Armor | 1.8 | 10% | 2.6% | On it |
| 7 | Oberhoffen-sur-Moder Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 25% | 11% | 442 km |
| 8 | Hondschoote Nord | 1.6 | 0% | 0% | 12 km |
| 9 | Argences Calvados | 1.5 | 16% | 0% | 18 km |
| 10 | Porte-de-Savoie Savoie | 1.4 | 18% | 86% | 224 km |
| 11 | Erquy Côtes-d'Armor | 1.4 | 6.8% | 15% | On it |
| 12 | Duclair Seine-Maritime | 1.3 | 8.1% | 100% | 37 km |
| 13 | Quévert Côtes-d'Armor | 1.3 | 12% | 100% | 6.9 km |
| 14 | Allaire Morbihan | 1.2 | 17% | 6.3% | 22 km |
| 15 | Boos Seine-Maritime | 1.2 | 21% | 0% | 60 km |
| 16 | Rousies Nord | 1.2 | 20% | 100% | 132 km |
| 17 | Ingwiller Bas-Rhin | 1.2 | 61% | 100% | 414 km |
| 18 | La Gacilly Morbihan | 1.1 | 27% | 4.9% | 34 km |
| 19 | Fourchambault Nièvre | 1.1 | 16% | 11% | 332 km |
| 20 | Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu Loire-Atlantique | 1.1 | 30% | 19% | 29 km |
| 21 | Plouvien Finistère | 1 | 9.4% | 0.6% | 3.9 km |
| 22 | Propriano Corse-du-Sud | 1 | 19% | 3.7% | On it |
| 23 | Fontaine-le-Comte Vienne | 0.9 | 20% | 0% | 110 km |
| 24 | Semur-en-Auxois Côte-d'Or | 0.9 | 21% | 0% | 357 km |
| 25 | Masny Nord | 0.9 | 4% | 0% | 95 km |
| 26 | Cires-lès-Mello Oise | 0.8 | 36% | 0% | 112 km |
| 27 | Sailly-sur-la-Lys Pas-de-Calais | 0.8 | 1.3% | 0.9% | 51 km |
| 28 | Le Bignon Loire-Atlantique | 0.8 | 14% | 0% | 37 km |
| 29 | Maing Nord | 0.7 | 4.2% | 0% | 108 km |
| 30 | Villeveyrac Hérault | 0.6 | 7% | 85% | 12 km |
| 31 | Gourin Morbihan | 0.6 | 12% | 1.7% | 34 km |
| 32 | Le Lude Sarthe | 0.5 | 23% | 7.6% | 157 km |
| 33 | Saint-Fulgent Vendée | 0.5 | 5.8% | 0% | 57 km |
| 34 | Châtelaudren-Plouagat Côtes-d'Armor | 0.5 | 4.2% | 0% | 14 km |
| 35 | Verfeil Haute-Garonne | 0.4 | 7.7% | 0% | 133 km |
| 36 | Poligny Jura | 0.4 | 77% | 0.1% | 368 km |
| 37 | Salses-le-Château Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.3 | 4.1% | 34% | 10 km |
| 38 | Grand Bourgtheroulde Eure | 0.3 | 4.2% | 0% | 40 km |
| 39 | Replonges Ain | 0.3 | 9.3% | 19% | 311 km |
| 40 | Saint-Chély-d'Apcher Lozère | 0.2 | 21% | 0% | 150 km |
| 41 | Aiguillon Lot-et-Garonne | 0.1 | 1.4% | 2.5% | 108 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 Poligny
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de Malrocher leads, at 375 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt de Vaivres
Wood or forest
494 ha0.5 km of path
2.5 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Grottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 1.3 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Grottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve
1.3 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Réseau de cavités à Minioptères de Schreibers en Franche-Comté (6 cavités)
1.5 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.1%
Nature reserve0.1%
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
22 km of footpaths and 52 km of hiking routes cross Poligny
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
22 km
0.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
52 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
77%
about 40 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
PolignyJura medianFrance median
Footpaths0.4
Hiking routes1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PolignyJura medianFrance median
Woodland77%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 89% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 99% 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 Poligny is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
7 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Arc-et-Senans - Perrigny22 km
Via Cluny Etape 1513 km
Tour du Bief de Corne9.5 km
Via Cluny Etape 149.5 km
Via Cluny variante Dole Etape 47.3 km
La Bresse Comtoise5.1 km
Sentier karstique des Malrochers3.8 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Poligny: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Arbois_Sapc, 7 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 85 | 88 | 94 | 123 | 91 | 99 | 102 | 92 | 116 | 119 | 108 |
February is the driest month (85 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 123 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 54 nights a year. The climate in Poligny →
Neighbors
Next to Poligny
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ArboisChampagnoleLons-le-SaunierMontmorotPoligny
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poligny | 0.1% | 77% | 0.4 |
| Arbois 3,114 · 9.1 km | 12% | 51% | 1.4 |
| Champagnole 8,036 · 18 km | 0% | 48% | 1.7 |
| Lons-le-Saunier 16,618 · 21 km | 1.8% | 8.8% | 4.9 |
| Montmorot 3,261 · 22 km | 0% | 17% | 1.3 |
Arbois has 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 Poligny
Is Poligny in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Grottes de la Côte de la Baume nature reserve, 1.3 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Poligny?
OpenStreetMap maps 22 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 52 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Poligny is woodland?
77% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Poligny near the sea?
No: the coast is 368 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Poligny?
April and June to September: 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.