First pick
Forêt domaniale du Gâvre
Wood or forest
4,765 ha74.6 km of path
16 h 35 minto walk all 74.6 km of path
6.9 km eastfrom the center
Circuit du Chêne de la MesseAllée de HirelAllée Forestière de la Herse+1 path
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Erwan Corre · CC BY-SA 4.015%woodland
Outdoors in Plessé · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Plessé is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 29 km across Plessé (0.3 km per km²). No protected area reaches Plessé; the nearest, Marais de Vilaine (Natura 2000), is 4.2 km from the town center. Mapped woodland covers 15% of Plessé. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.9%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Marais de Vilaine, 4.2 km
Woodland
15%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
29 km
0.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
29 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
7
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt domaniale du Gâvre
The sea
35 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Loire-Atlantique 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 Plessé?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected land nearbyMarais de Vilaine (Natura 2000) is 4.2 km from the town center.Few mapped footpaths0.3 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Plessé apart: protected land close by. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Plessé 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 areas0.9%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
56out of 100
Woodland15%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
54out of 100
Footpaths0.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
5out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
44out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Plessé has the 2nd fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,281 to 5,396 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cormelles-le-Royal (7.2 km per km²) to Mormant (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cormelles-le-Royal Calvados | 7.2 | 2.2% | 0% | 15 km |
| 2 | Mériel Val-d'Oise | 6 | 41% | 9.5% | 124 km |
| 3 | Barberaz Savoie | 4.4 | 26% | 50% | 232 km |
| 4 | Bethoncourt Doubs | 4.4 | 38% | 0% | 420 km |
| 5 | Mundolsheim Bas-Rhin | 3.5 | 6.5% | 0% | 445 km |
| 6 | Levens Alpes-Maritimes | 3 | 64% | 12% | 17 km |
| 7 | Charbonnières-les-Bains Rhône | 2.8 | 16% | 0% | 252 km |
| 8 | La Balme-de-Sillingy Haute-Savoie | 2.6 | 41% | 0% | 269 km |
| 9 | Bretignolles-sur-Mer Vendée | 2.5 | 9.6% | 23% | On it |
| 10 | Dechy Nord | 2.3 | 13% | 0% | 92 km |
| 11 | Villers-le-Lac Doubs | 2 | 45% | 100% | 370 km |
| 12 | Calonne-Ricouart Pas-de-Calais | 1.8 | 1.5% | 0% | 56 km |
| 13 | Erquinghem-Lys Nord | 1.7 | 2.6% | 0% | 51 km |
| 14 | Cruseilles Haute-Savoie | 1.6 | 40% | 21% | 273 km |
| 15 | Idron Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.6 | 15% | 4.1% | 100 km |
| 16 | Tresses Gironde | 1.5 | 9.1% | 0% | 20 km |
| 17 | Gray Haute-Saône | 1.4 | 47% | 28% | 418 km |
| 18 | Commercy Meuse | 1.3 | 64% | 5.6% | 324 km |
| 19 | Vic-le-Comte Puy-de-Dôme | 1.2 | 19% | 100% | 241 km |
| 20 | Saint-Astier Dordogne | 1 | 33% | 8% | 89 km |
| 21 | Trèbes Aude | 1 | 9.6% | 0% | 54 km |
| 22 | Le Lion-d'Angers Maine-et-Loire | 1 | 5.4% | 0.8% | 115 km |
| 23 | Brebières Pas-de-Calais | 1 | 8% | 0% | 90 km |
| 24 | Gambsheim Bas-Rhin | 0.9 | 13% | 13% | 450 km |
| 25 | Condat-sur-Vienne Haute-Vienne | 0.9 | 17% | 0% | 160 km |
| 26 | Valence Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.9 | 8.2% | 0.6% | 154 km |
| 27 | Mouy Oise | 0.8 | 34% | 0% | 106 km |
| 28 | Drusenheim Bas-Rhin | 0.8 | 29% | 17% | 449 km |
| 29 | Chagny Saône-et-Loire | 0.8 | 38% | 0.8% | 376 km |
| 30 | Blotzheim Haut-Rhin | 0.8 | 16% | 0% | 424 km |
| 31 | Le Pellerin Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 2.7% | 64% | 24 km |
| 32 | Audruicq Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 0.2% | 0% | 12 km |
| 33 | Bléré Indre-et-Loire | 0.6 | 11% | 8.4% | 197 km |
| 34 | Garons Gard | 0.5 | 0.1% | 0% | 35 km |
| 35 | Parigné-l'Évêque Sarthe | 0.5 | 49% | 19% | 149 km |
| 36 | Reyrieux Ain | 0.4 | 11% | 2.2% | 270 km |
| 37 | Saint-Lyphard Loire-Atlantique | 0.4 | 6.2% | 100% | 8.4 km |
| 38 | Vindry-sur-Turdine Rhône | 0.4 | 17% | 0% | 260 km |
| 39 | Champniers Charente | 0.3 | 9.7% | 0% | 81 km |
| 40 | Plessé Loire-Atlantique | 0.3 | 15% | 0.9% | 35 km |
| 41 | Mormant Seine-et-Marne | 0.3 | 7.5% | 0% | 195 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 Plessé
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt domaniale du Gâvre leads, at 4,765 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de Carheil
Wood or forest
136 ha4.9 km of path
1 h 5 minto walk all 4.9 km of path
4.2 km south-westfrom the center
Chemin de Halage du Canal de Nantes à BrestAllée de MonsieurAllée du Moulin+1 path
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Marais de Vilaine is the nearest protected area, 4.2 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Marais de Vilaine
0.9% of the commune4.2 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Forêt de Gâvre
4.3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.9%
Natura 2000 site0.9%
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.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
29 km of footpaths and 29 km of hiking routes cross Plessé
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
29 km
0.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
29 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
15%
about 16.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
PlesséLoire-Atlantique medianFrance median
Footpaths0.3
Hiking routes0.3
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PlesséLoire-Atlantique medianFrance median
Woodland15%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 95% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 54% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Plessé’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
6 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Boucle du Coudray12 km
Circuit du Canal à la Forêt3.8 km
Circuit des Chêtelons3 km
Circuit du Pilier2.7 km
Tour du Lac1.7 km
Circuit la Rote du Farinier (grande boucle)0.4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Plessé: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St-Jacut-Les-Pins, 28 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 114 | 83 | 67 | 71 | 63 | 52 | 48 | 53 | 69 | 98 | 106 | 123 |
July is the driest month (48 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 123 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 32 nights a year. The climate in Plessé →
Neighbors
Next to Plessé
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
GuenrouetGuémené-PenfaoSaint-Gildas-des-BoisBlainSainte-Anne-sur-BrivetBouvronPlessé
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plessé | 0.9% | 15% | 0.3 | 35 km |
| Guenrouet 3,673 · 5.8 km | 6.5% | 9.5% | 0.3 | 29 km |
| Guémené-Penfao 5,243 · 11 km | 2.7% | 9.4% | 0.6 | 44 km |
| Saint-Gildas-des-Bois 3,860 · 12 km | 3.5% | 12% | 0.3 | 25 km |
| Blain 10,376 · 13 km | 0% | 15% | 0.6 | 37 km |
| Sainte-Anne-sur-Brivet 3,063 · 14 km | 17% | 12% | 0.6 | 21 km |
| Bouvron 3,153 · 14 km | 0% | 6.3% | 0.3 | 27 km |
Sainte-Anne-sur-Brivet 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 Plessé
Is Plessé in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Marais de Vilaine, 4.2 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Plessé?
OpenStreetMap maps 29 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 29 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Plessé is woodland?
15% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Plessé near the sea?
No: the coast is 35 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Plessé?
April 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.