First pick
Parc Puits des Granges
Park or garden
1.8 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Roche-la-Molière
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Julien Bertrand · Public domain8.5%woodland
Outdoors in Roche-la-Molière · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Parks, woods and footpaths in Roche-la-Molière
No protected area reaches Roche-la-Molière; the nearest, Pelouses, landes et habitats rocheux des Gorges de la Loire (Natura 2000), is 2.3 km from the town center. Mapped woodland covers 8.5% of Roche-la-Molière. Roche-la-Molière has 4 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Pelouses, landes et habitats rocheux des Gorges de la Loire, 2.3 km
Woodland
8.5%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
31 km
1.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.5 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
93%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
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.
Against French towns
How Roche-la-Molière 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%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland8.5%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
36out of 100
Footpaths1.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
53out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
37out of 100
Green space nearby93%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
10out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Roche-la-Molière has the 20th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (9,679 to 10,024 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Max (5.1 km per km²) to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Max Meurthe-et-Moselle | 5.1 | 4.9% | 0.3% | 366 km |
| 2 | Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 4.4 | 10% | 0.1% | 123 km |
| 3 | Beauchamp Val-d'Oise | 4.2 | 12% | 0% | 129 km |
| 4 | Saint-Grégoire Ille-et-Vilaine | 4.2 | 5% | 0% | 44 km |
| 5 | Montlhéry Essonne | 4.1 | 9.8% | 0% | 165 km |
| 6 | Aytré Charente-Maritime | 3.7 | 1.1% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Méry-sur-Oise Val-d'Oise | 3.6 | 35% | 0% | 124 km |
| 8 | Vernouillet Yvelines | 3.5 | 19% | 0% | 124 km |
| 9 | Le Rheu Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.4 | 5.5% | 0% | 46 km |
| 10 | Frouzins Haute-Garonne | 3.3 | 7.7% | 11% | 152 km |
| 11 | Voreppe Isère | 3.3 | 42% | 35% | 213 km |
| 12 | Montigny-en-Gohelle Pas-de-Calais | 3.1 | 7.7% | 0% | 78 km |
| 13 | Portet-sur-Garonne Haute-Garonne | 3 | 9.8% | 15% | 146 km |
| 14 | Grand-Couronne Seine-Maritime | 2.9 | 42% | 0.2% | 48 km |
| 15 | Basse-Goulaine Loire-Atlantique | 2.5 | 14% | 14% | 44 km |
| 16 | Neuville-en-Ferrain Nord | 2.4 | 5.6% | 0% | 54 km |
| 17 | Bondues Nord | 2.2 | 6.4% | 0% | 56 km |
| 18 | Ézanville Val-d'Oise | 2.2 | 0.7% | 0% | 134 km |
| 19 | Foix Ariège | 2.2 | 28% | 21% | 117 km |
| 20 | Figeac Lot | 2.1 | 27% | 0% | 182 km |
| 21 | Pont-Audemer Eure | 1.8 | 20% | 65% | 15 km |
| 22 | Roche-la-Molière Loire | 1.8 | 8.5% | 0% | 209 km |
| 23 | Léguevin Haute-Garonne | 1.5 | 14% | 0% | 161 km |
| 24 | Saint-Lys Haute-Garonne | 1.5 | 9.5% | 0% | 162 km |
| 25 | Aniche Nord | 1.4 | 6.8% | 0.1% | 98 km |
| 26 | Lambesc Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.3 | 32% | 65% | 33 km |
| 27 | Saint-Amand-Montrond Cher | 1.3 | 10% | 6.4% | 282 km |
| 28 | Chambly Oise | 1.2 | 5.4% | 0.1% | 117 km |
| 29 | Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.2 | 0.1% | 45% | 3.8 km |
| 30 | La Farlède Var | 1.1 | 8.7% | 15% | 7.4 km |
| 31 | Merville Nord | 1 | 2% | 0% | 48 km |
| 32 | Bourg-de-Péage Drôme | 0.9 | 0.4% | 0% | 176 km |
| 33 | Bernay Eure | 0.9 | 15% | 4.7% | 42 km |
| 34 | Lançon-Provence Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.7 | 2.7% | 80% | 23 km |
| 35 | Loudéac Côtes-d'Armor | 0.7 | 14% | 0% | 35 km |
| 36 | Revel Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 4.3% | 0% | 99 km |
| 37 | Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe Tarn | 0.6 | 6.1% | 1.1% | 138 km |
| 38 | Lorgues Var | 0.6 | 53% | 6.3% | 30 km |
| 39 | Mézidon Vallée d'Auge Calvados | 0.5 | 8.1% | 0% | 24 km |
| 40 | Carmaux Tarn | 0.4 | 3.3% | 0% | 127 km |
| 41 | Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire Nièvre | 0.3 | 24% | 3.8% | 295 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 Roche-la-Molière
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Puits des Granges leads, at 1.8 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
9 in 10 residents of Roche-la-Molière 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).
93% within 800 m7.2% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
Roche-la-MolièreLoire medianFrance median
Within 800 m93%
0%50%100%
About 700 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.
Protected areas
Pelouses, landes et habitats rocheux des Gorges de la Loire is the nearest protected area, 2.3 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
Pelouses, landes et habitats rocheux des Gorges de la Loire
2.3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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
31 km of footpaths cross Roche-la-Molière
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
31 km
1.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.5 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
8.5%
about 1.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Roche-la-MolièreLoire medianFrance median
Footpaths1.8
Hiking routes0.2
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Roche-la-MolièreLoire medianFrance median
Woodland8.5%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 53% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 64% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
8 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Sainté balades 1712 km
Sainté balades 46.9 km
Boucle verte 24.5 km
Sainté balades 33.9 km
Sainté balades 12.7 km
Boucle verte 12 km
Parcours des six troncs1.4 km
La Boucle du Musée d'Art & d'Industrie0.7 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Roche-la-Molière: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St Etienne-Boutheon, 13 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 | 15.6 | 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 Roche-la-Molière →
Neighbors
Next to Roche-la-Molière
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Genest-LerptLe Chambon-FeugerollesLa RicamarieUnieuxVillarsFirminyRoche-la-Molière
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roche-la-Molière | 0% | 8.5% | 1.8 |
| Saint-Genest-Lerpt 6,181 · 2.6 km | 0% | 20% | 2 |
| Le Chambon-Feugerolles 12,314 · 4 km | 0.1% | 43% | 2.8 |
| La Ricamarie 8,039 · 4.7 km | 3.2% | 20% | 2.8 |
| Unieux 8,514 · 4.9 km | 16% | 23% | 1.5 |
| Villars 7,664 · 5 km | 0% | 0.1% | 2.3 |
| Firminy 17,060 · 5.4 km | 0% | 25% | 3 |
Unieux has at least twice as much protected land. Le Chambon-Feugerolles, Unieux and Firminy are more wooded.
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 Roche-la-Molière
Is Roche-la-Molière in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Pelouses, landes et habitats rocheux des Gorges de la Loire, 2.3 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Roche-la-Molière?
OpenStreetMap maps 31 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); 4 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Roche-la-Molière is woodland?
8.5% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Roche-la-Molière near the sea?
No: the coast is 209 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Roche-la-Molière?
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.