Photo: OMichael92 · CC BY-SA 4.0Parks, woods and footpaths in Bonson
6 km of footpaths cross Bonson (1.1 km per km²). 9.6% of Bonson is mapped woodland. 7.9% of Bonson’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Loire median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
How Bonson 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Bonson has the 19th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,507 to 4,606 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gréasque (7.9 km per km²) to Cabannes (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gréasque Bouches-du-Rhône | 7.9 | 53% | 0% | 19 km |
| 2 | Villiers-sur-Orge Essonne | 4.7 | 7.5% | 0% | 166 km |
| 3 | La Frette-sur-Seine Val-d'Oise | 4.6 | 6.9% | 0% | 131 km |
| 4 | Bizanos Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.8 | 12% | 9.4% | 98 km |
| 5 | Leucate Aude | 3.4 | 2.1% | 79% | On it |
| 6 | Annay Pas-de-Calais | 2.1 | 5.8% | 0% | 73 km |
| 7 | Plourin-lès-Morlaix Finistère | 2 | 22% | 0.5% | 5.4 km |
| 8 | Milly-la-Forêt Essonne | 1.9 | 53% | 100% | 192 km |
| 9 | Notre-Dame-d'Oé Indre-et-Loire | 1.9 | 2.7% | 0% | 189 km |
| 10 | Saint-Marcel Eure | 1.8 | 24% | 0% | 88 km |
| 11 | Communay Rhône | 1.8 | 13% | 0% | 235 km |
| 12 | Grimaud Var | 1.7 | 41% | 4.5% | On it |
| 13 | Plougonvelin Finistère | 1.4 | 4.3% | 0.9% | On it |
| 14 | Chaponnay Rhône | 1.4 | 17% | 0% | 240 km |
| 15 | Biache-Saint-Vaast Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 9.2% | 0% | 90 km |
| 16 | Espalion Aveyron | 1.2 | 30% | 3.6% | 144 km |
| 17 | La Guerche-de-Bretagne Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.2 | 0.2% | 0% | 77 km |
| 18 | Jouques Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.2 | 61% | 92% | 40 km |
| 19 | Bonson Loire | 1.1 | 9.6% | 7.9% | 218 km |
| 20 | Bages Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.1 | 0.3% | 0% | 12 km |
| 21 | Saint-Aunès Hérault | 1 | 4.7% | 0% | 10 km |
| 22 | Salaise-sur-Sanne Isère | 0.9 | 13% | 9.2% | 207 km |
| 23 | Saint-Pair-sur-Mer Manche | 0.9 | 2.5% | 4.5% | 0.9 km |
| 24 | Dieulouard Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.8 | 24% | 100% | 348 km |
| 25 | Castelmaurou Haute-Garonne | 0.8 | 20% | 0% | 143 km |
| 26 | Crespin Nord | 0.7 | 34% | 99% | 105 km |
| 27 | Saint-Martin-de-May Calvados | 0.7 | 2.9% | 0% | 21 km |
| 28 | Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes Moselle | 0.6 | 2.2% | 0% | 314 km |
| 29 | Lescure-d'Albigeois Tarn | 0.6 | 16% | 0% | 119 km |
| 30 | Montagnac Hérault | 0.6 | 11% | 14% | 17 km |
| 31 | Lunel-Viel Hérault | 0.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 13 km |
| 32 | Retiers Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 79 km |
| 33 | Macau Gironde | 0.5 | 13% | 100% | On it |
| 34 | Le Thillay Val-d'Oise | 0.5 | 2.5% | 0% | 141 km |
| 35 | Sézanne Marne | 0.4 | 22% | 1.7% | 220 km |
| 36 | Arnas Rhône | 0.4 | 8.7% | 2.2% | 277 km |
| 37 | Hœrdt Bas-Rhin | 0.4 | 3% | 0% | 444 km |
| 38 | Vivonne Vienne | 0.4 | 21% | 0% | 108 km |
| 39 | Camaret-sur-Aigues Vaucluse | 0.3 | 2.4% | 0.8% | 79 km |
| 40 | Tiercé Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 12% | 16% | 131 km |
| 41 | Cabannes Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.3 | 1.5% | 14% | 46 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
9 in 10 residents of Bonson live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
About 300 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
7.9% of Bonson lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Plaine du Forez
Milieux alluviaux et aquatiques de la Loire
Share of the commune’s land
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.
7.9% of Bonson’s land is protected, more than in 69% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Loire has 1.2%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
6 km of footpaths cross Bonson
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is less than in 64% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 61% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Bonson: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St Etienne-Boutheon, 6.4 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 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 38 | 30 | 34 | 55 | 82 | 81 | 77 | 73 | 70 | 76 | 73 | 39 |
February is the driest month (30 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 82 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 60 nights a year. The climate in Bonson →
Next to Bonson
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonson | 7.9% | 9.6% | 1.1 |
| Sury-le-Comtal 6,621 · 3 km | 0.6% | 2.4% | 0.5 |
| Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert 15,764 · 3.8 km | 13% | 23% | 1.7 |
| Andrézieux-Bouthéon 10,425 · 3.8 km | 7.1% | 3.5% | 1.4 |
| Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez 5,116 · 5.2 km | 1.8% | 25% | 0.8 |
| Veauche 8,975 · 7 km | 3.3% | 1.5% | 0.9 |
| Saint-Romain-le-Puy 4,142 · 8 km | 17% | 16% | 1.4 |
Saint-Romain-le-Puy has at least twice as much protected land. Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert and Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez are more wooded.
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 Bonson
Is Bonson in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 7.9% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Bonson?
OpenStreetMap maps 6 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Bonson is woodland?
9.6% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Bonson near the sea?
No: the coast is 218 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Bonson?
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 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.