Photo: Antonio Belti · CC BY-SA 4.0Parks, woods and footpaths in Saint-Héand
No protected area reaches Saint-Héand; the nearest, Plaine du Forez (Natura 2000), is 8 km from the town center. 41 km of footpaths cross Saint-Héand (1.3 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 14% of Saint-Héand. 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 Saint-Héand 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.
Saint-Héand has the 15th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,639 to 3,692 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Champhol (3.7 km per km²) to Étrépagny (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Champhol Eure-et-Loir | 3.7 | 9.3% | 0% | 137 km |
| 2 | Étupes Doubs | 3.5 | 54% | 0% | 417 km |
| 3 | Ligny-en-Barrois Meuse | 2.7 | 80% | 0% | 312 km |
| 4 | Dampmart Seine-et-Marne | 2.6 | 26% | 18% | 163 km |
| 5 | Saint-Erblon Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 58 km |
| 6 | Ézy-sur-Eure Eure | 2.3 | 42% | 8.3% | 100 km |
| 7 | Plestin-les-Grèves Côtes-d'Armor | 2.3 | 16% | 6% | On it |
| 8 | Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey Alpes-Maritimes | 2.1 | 64% | 100% | 19 km |
| 9 | Templemars Nord | 2.1 | 0.6% | 0% | 68 km |
| 10 | Sainte-Gemmes-sur-Loire Maine-et-Loire | 2 | 9.2% | 36% | 116 km |
| 11 | Fillinges Haute-Savoie | 2 | 45% | 3.2% | 280 km |
| 12 | Meurchin Pas-de-Calais | 1.9 | 7.8% | 0% | 70 km |
| 13 | Forges-les-Eaux Seine-Maritime | 1.7 | 24% | 4.9% | 47 km |
| 14 | Gallargues-le-Montueux Gard | 1.3 | 2% | 2% | 19 km |
| 15 | Saint-Héand Loire | 1.3 | 14% | 0% | 220 km |
| 16 | La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin Cher | 1.3 | 3.5% | 11% | 277 km |
| 17 | Breteil Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.3 | 1.4% | 0% | 39 km |
| 18 | La Rivière-de-Corps Aube | 1.3 | 4.3% | 0% | 271 km |
| 19 | Champagney Haute-Saône | 1.1 | 76% | 100% | 440 km |
| 20 | Châteauneuf-du-Faou Finistère | 1 | 9.4% | 8% | 20 km |
| 21 | Martillac Gironde | 1 | 18% | 0% | 32 km |
| 22 | Arcangues Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1 | 32% | 7.3% | 5.2 km |
| 23 | Pont-de-Buis-lès-Quimerch Finistère | 1 | 27% | 100% | On it |
| 24 | Estrées-Saint-Denis Oise | 1 | 2% | 0% | 109 km |
| 25 | Belleu Aisne | 0.9 | 17% | 0% | 150 km |
| 26 | Penta-di-Casinca Haute-Corse | 0.9 | 40% | 0.2% | On it |
| 27 | Salindres Gard | 0.8 | 4.3% | 0% | 68 km |
| 28 | Pont-de-l'Isère Drôme | 0.7 | 2.2% | 0% | 173 km |
| 29 | Créhange Moselle | 0.7 | 5.5% | 0% | 353 km |
| 30 | Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine Vendée | 0.7 | 2.5% | 0% | 35 km |
| 31 | Champagné Sarthe | 0.7 | 40% | 3.5% | 142 km |
| 32 | Coulanges-lès-Nevers Nièvre | 0.6 | 7.8% | 5.1% | 338 km |
| 33 | Quincieux Rhône | 0.5 | 4.2% | 0% | 267 km |
| 34 | Lectoure Gers | 0.4 | 10% | 0% | 154 km |
| 35 | Neuvic Dordogne | 0.3 | 36% | 10% | 84 km |
| 36 | Estrablin Isère | 0.3 | 8.8% | 0% | 228 km |
| 37 | Garchizy Nièvre | 0.3 | 9% | 12% | 333 km |
| 38 | Montoire-sur-le-Loir Loir-et-Cher | 0.3 | 14% | 0.4% | 185 km |
| 39 | Saint-Laurent-d'Aigouze Gard | 0.2 | 1.3% | 91% | 11 km |
| 40 | Saint-Nicolas-d'Aliermont Seine-Maritime | 0.2 | 14% | 2.4% | 9.8 km |
| 41 | Étrépagny Eure | 0.2 | 12% | 0% | 78 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
9 in 10 residents of Saint-Héand 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.
Plaine du Forez is the nearest protected area, 8 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Plaine du Forez
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.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
41 km of footpaths cross Saint-Héand
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 58% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 52% 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 Saint-Héand: May and July to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Chazelles-Lyon, 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 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 42 | 35 | 37 | 57 | 82 | 85 | 76 | 75 | 71 | 81 | 78 | 46 |
February is the driest month (35 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 85 mm of rain falls in June, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 75 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Héand →
Next to Saint-Héand
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Héand | 0% | 14% | 1.3 |
| L'Étrat 2,879 · 4.6 km | 0% | 19% | 1 |
| La Fouillouse 4,630 · 5.3 km | 0% | 26% | 1.3 |
| Saint-Priest-en-Jarez 6,471 · 6 km | 0% | 0.6% | 3.3 |
| Sorbiers 8,116 · 6.8 km | 0% | 14% | 1.8 |
| La Talaudière 7,133 · 7 km | 0% | 6.6% | 1.5 |
| Villars 7,664 · 7 km | 0% | 0.1% | 2.3 |
La Fouillouse is 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 Saint-Héand
Is Saint-Héand in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Plaine du Forez, 8 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Saint-Héand?
OpenStreetMap maps 41 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Saint-Héand is woodland?
14% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Héand near the sea?
No: the coast is 220 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Héand?
May and July 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.