First pick
Forêt de Mare Longue
Wood or forest
274 ha5.2 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.2 km of path
1.7 km north-westfrom the center
Sentier botanique de Mare-Longue
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Clémenceau Lauret · CC BY-SA 4.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Philippe · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Saint-Philippe lies in the heart of Réunion National Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Saint-Philippe’s land. Mapped woodland covers 48% of Saint-Philippe. 66 km of footpaths cross Saint-Philippe (0.4 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
48%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
66 km
0.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
28 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Mare Longue
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 0.6 km from its center
Throughout this page, the Réunion 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 Saint-Philippe?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
In the heart of Réunion National Park76% of the commune is in the park’s core, its strictly protected zone.A wooded commune48% mapped woodland, more than in 90% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 0.6 km from its center.Few mapped footpaths0.4 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Saint-Philippe apart: the national park all around it, then its woods. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Saint-Philippe 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
95out of 100
Woodland48%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
90out of 100
Footpaths0.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
11out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
36out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Philippe has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,036 to 5,131 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Giberville (5.1 km per km²) to Laventie (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giberville Calvados | 5.1 | 3.2% | 0% | 11 km |
| 2 | Pulnoy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 4.7 | 25% | 0% | 368 km |
| 3 | Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 4.3 | 45% | 17% | 95 km |
| 4 | Billy-Berclau Pas-de-Calais | 4 | 15% | 0% | 67 km |
| 5 | Bezannes Marne | 3.4 | 1.8% | 0.1% | 198 km |
| 6 | Ornex Ain | 3.2 | 22% | 0% | 299 km |
| 7 | Sommières Gard | 2.8 | 21% | 1.3% | 25 km |
| 8 | Le Val d'Hazey Eure | 2.6 | 32% | 0.3% | 77 km |
| 9 | Châteaulin Finistère | 2.5 | 21% | 100% | On it |
| 10 | Dives-sur-Mer Calvados | 2.5 | 8.8% | 0% | 1.2 km |
| 11 | Haillicourt Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 0.2% | 0% | 63 km |
| 12 | Saint-Georges-de-Didonne Charente-Maritime | 2.3 | 19% | 37% | On it |
| 13 | Bonnières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.1 | 45% | 20% | 99 km |
| 14 | Champagne-sur-Oise Val-d'Oise | 1.8 | 33% | 54% | 119 km |
| 15 | Baden Morbihan | 1.8 | 15% | 100% | On it |
| 16 | Cucq Pas-de-Calais | 1.5 | 2.7% | 8.6% | On it |
| 17 | Yffiniac Côtes-d'Armor | 1.5 | 4.4% | 0.1% | 1.8 km |
| 18 | La Ferté Macé Orne | 1.4 | 27% | 100% | 73 km |
| 19 | Chavanoz Isère | 1.3 | 12% | 0% | 258 km |
| 20 | Petite-Forêt Nord | 1.3 | 1.8% | 1.4% | 102 km |
| 21 | Genlis Côte-d'Or | 1.3 | 0.4% | 0% | 418 km |
| 22 | Villefranche-de-Lauragais Haute-Garonne | 1.2 | 0.5% | 0% | 117 km |
| 23 | Cilaos Réunion | 1.1 | 43% | 100% | 18 km |
| 24 | Muzillac Morbihan | 1 | 4.9% | 7.8% | On it |
| 25 | Villenoy Seine-et-Marne | 1 | 4.7% | 0% | 161 km |
| 26 | Maen Roch Ille-et-Vilaine | 1 | 3.9% | 0% | 25 km |
| 27 | Faulquemont Moselle | 0.9 | 22% | 0% | 354 km |
| 28 | Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez Loire | 0.8 | 25% | 1.8% | 215 km |
| 29 | Luynes Indre-et-Loire | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5% | 176 km |
| 30 | Aÿ-Champagne Marne | 0.7 | 16% | 100% | 211 km |
| 31 | Blaye Gironde | 0.7 | 2.7% | 58% | On it |
| 32 | Habsheim Haut-Rhin | 0.7 | 49% | 50% | 438 km |
| 33 | Saint-Sever Landes | 0.6 | 17% | 4.2% | 67 km |
| 34 | Val-de-Moder Bas-Rhin | 0.5 | 5.9% | 0.1% | 424 km |
| 35 | Saint-Philippe Réunion | 0.4 | 48% | 100% | On it |
| 36 | Ferrière-la-Grande Nord | 0.4 | 8.1% | 100% | 133 km |
| 37 | Sully-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.4 | 25% | 40% | 238 km |
| 38 | Villeneuve-en-Retz Loire-Atlantique | 0.2 | 7.1% | 36% | 5.1 km |
| 39 | Saint-Pantaléon-de-Larche Corrèze | 0.2 | 25% | 0.3% | 161 km |
| 40 | Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre Deux-Sèvres | 0.2 | 7% | 0% | 62 km |
| 41 | Laventie Pas-de-Calais | 0.1 | 0.7% | 0% | 54 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 Saint-Philippe
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Mare Longue leads, at 274 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Saint-Philippe
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
National park, outer area
Réunion National Park
24% of the commune
National park, core
Réunion National Park
76% of the commune0.6 km from the center
Nature reserve
Hauts de Saint-Philippe nature reserve
25% of the commune1.8 km from the center
Nature reserve
Bois de couleurs des Bas nature reserve
1.5% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Nature reserve
Littoral de Saint-Philippe nature reserve
2.2 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
National park, core76%
National park, outer area24%
Nature reserve27%
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.
100% of Saint-Philippe’s land is protected, more than in 95% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Réunion has 69%. A national park’s outer area (aire d’adhésion) is made of the communes that signed the park’s charter: it guides how they grow, but it isn’t strict protection like the core. Natura 2000 doesn’t apply in the overseas départements.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
66 km of footpaths and 28 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Philippe
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
66 km
0.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
28 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
48%
about 73.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-PhilippeRéunion medianFrance median
Footpaths0.4
Hiking routes0.2
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-PhilippeRéunion medianFrance median
Woodland48%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 89% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 90% 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-Philippe is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Sentier Littoral9.8 km
Sentier du Cratère Dolomieu5.3 km
Sentier botanique de Mare-Longue (grande boucle)3 km
Sentier botanique de Mare-Longue (petite boucle)0.9 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Philippe: October and November
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St-Joseph_Sapc, 15 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) | 13.3 | 12.8 | 12.3 | 11.6 | 11.1 | 10.8 | 10.9 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.2 | 13.4 |
| High (°C) | 31 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 30 |
| Rain (mm) | 190 | 233 | 218 | 193 | 159 | 127 | 155 | 97 | 75 | 57 | 66 | 93 |
October is the driest month (57 mm) and January the warmest (highs of 31 °C). 233 mm of rain falls in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 31 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Saint-Philippe →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Saint-Philippe
Named gardens in the commune.
Jardin des parfums et des épicesIn Saint-Philippe
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Philippe
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-JosephPetite-ÎleSainte-RoseLe TamponLa Plaine-des-PalmistesSaint-PierreSaint-Philippe
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Philippe | 100% | 48% | 0.4 | On it |
| Saint-Joseph 39,207 · 13 km | 85% | 50% | 0.6 | On it |
| Petite-Île 13,067 · 20 km | 4.9% | 22% | 0.6 | On it |
| Sainte-Rose 6,557 · 24 km | 100% | 48% | 0.5 | On it |
| Le Tampon 82,579 · 26 km | 19% | 23% | 0.7 | 10 km |
| La Plaine-des-Palmistes 6,936 · 28 km | 100% | 64% | 0.5 | 14 km |
| Saint-Pierre 85,038 · 29 km | 18% | 9.1% | 0.9 | On it |
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-Philippe
Is Saint-Philippe in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Saint-Philippe lies in Réunion National Park (24% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Saint-Philippe?
OpenStreetMap maps 66 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); 28 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Philippe is woodland?
48% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Philippe near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 0.6 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Philippe?
October and November: 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.