FrançaisGuest, Sign inJoin
Le Volvon entre Veauche et St.Bonnet-des-Oules (Loire, Fr)Photo: Havang(nl) · CC0
3.3%of the land protected
Outdoors in Veauche · protected areas, woods and footpaths

Parks, woods and footpaths in Veauche

1.5% of Veauche is mapped woodland. 9 km of footpaths cross Veauche (0.9 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 2 km in Veauche. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.

Protected areas
3.3%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
1.5%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
9.3 km
0.9 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.5 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
90%
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 Veauche 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 areas3.3%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
NoneMedian 0.1%100
62out of 100
Woodland1.5%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
Median 13%0100
9out of 100
Footpaths0.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
Median 1.7 km per km²08+
28out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
NoneMedian 0.3 km per km²3+
33out of 100
Green space nearby90%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
Median 100%0100
8out of 100

Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.

Towns its size

Veauche has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size

The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (8,813 to 9,134 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.

Veauche 0.9
Magny-le-HongreLa Fare-les-Oliviers
03.57 km per km²

From Magny-le-Hongre (6.5 km per km²) to La Fare-les-Oliviers (0.2 km per km²).

Every town in the comparison
TownPaths (km/km²)WoodlandProtectedCoast
1Magny-le-Hongre Seine-et-Marne6.511%0%167 km
2Grabels Hérault6.19.7%0%17 km
3Les Angles Gard5.127%13%56 km
4Bougival Yvelines4.820%0%140 km
5Bessancourt Val-d'Oise4.629%0%127 km
6Epagny Metz-Tessy Haute-Savoie4.424%0%264 km
7Tomblaine Meurthe-et-Moselle4.32.9%0%368 km
8Périgny Charente-Maritime4.13.4%0%4.1 km
9Chartres-de-Bretagne Ille-et-Vilaine4.15.2%0%55 km
10Quetigny Côte-d'Or40.7%0%406 km
11Meulan-en-Yvelines Yvelines3.811%0.4%118 km
12Gouvieux Oise3.543%100%122 km
13Velaux Bouches-du-Rhône3.229%25%19 km
14Longvic Côte-d'Or3.13.4%0%406 km
15Pibrac Haute-Garonne327%0%159 km
16Gretz-Armainvilliers Seine-et-Marne357%0%176 km
17Quéven Morbihan2.926%5.9%On it
18Chécy Loiret2.918%9.7%210 km
19Escaudain Nord2.96.3%0.2%101 km
20Irigny Rhône2.813%0%242 km
21Bellerive-sur-Allier Allier2.723%2.2%289 km
22Cébazat Puy-de-Dôme2.65.6%0%263 km
23Lamorlaye Oise2.542%100%125 km
24Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Drôme2.319%0%100 km
25Boucau Pyrénées-Atlantiques2.226%5.8%3.1 km
26Saint-Jean-de-Monts Vendée2.213%73%On it
27Golbey Vosges2.226%0%411 km
28Morières-lès-Avignon Vaucluse2.14.7%0%54 km
29Roquevaire Bouches-du-Rhône2.111%66%15 km
30Cornebarrieu Haute-Garonne1.913%0%158 km
31Pithiviers Loiret1.52.2%0%198 km
32Monistrol-sur-Loire Haute-Loire1.434%16%192 km
33Joigny Yonne0.970%0%274 km
34Gonfreville-l'Orcher Seine-Maritime0.95.2%6.1%On it
35Veauche Loire0.91.5%3.3%223 km
36Le Thor Vaucluse0.70.9%7.2%54 km
37Ombrée d'Anjou Maine-et-Loire0.711%0%94 km
38Nangis Seine-et-Marne0.610%0%205 km
39Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue Vaucluse0.52%11%61 km
40Grenade Haute-Garonne0.59.5%14%165 km
41La Fare-les-Oliviers Bouches-du-Rhône0.20.8%44%23 km
The map

Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside

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
Close to home

9 in 10 residents of Veauche 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).

90% within 800 m9.7% further

Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents

VeaucheLoire medianFrance median
Within 800 m90%
0%50%100%

About 900 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

3.3% of Veauche lies in protected areas

The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.

Natura 2000 site

Plaine du Forez

3.3% of the commune1.1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site

Milieux alluviaux et aquatiques de la Loire

1.8% of the commune1.1 km from the center

Share of the commune’s land

Any protected area3.3%
Natura 2000 site3.3%

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.

3.3% of Veauche’s land is protected, more than in 62% 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.

Footpaths and woods

9 km of footpaths cross Veauche

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
9.3 km
0.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.5 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
1.5%
about 0.2 km² of mapped woods

Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap

VeaucheLoire medianFrance median
Footpaths0.9
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²

Share of the land · mapped woods and forest

VeaucheLoire medianFrance median
Woodland1.5%
0%50%100%

That is less than in 72% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 91% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.

A named hiking route within 2 km

Other named walk
Via Lugdunum, Lyon to Le Puy-en-Velay7.9 km

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).

When to get out

The best walking months in Veauche: April to September

Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St Etienne-Boutheon, 2.1 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.110.311.813.514.915.715.314.112.510.89.48.7
High (°C)791316202527272217118
Rain (mm)383034558281777370767339

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 Veauche →

Neighbors

Next to Veauche

The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.

Andrézieux-BouthéonSaint-GalmierBonsonLa FouillouseSaint-Just-Saint-RambertSaint-HéandVeauche
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
TownProtectedWoodlandPaths (km/km²)
Veauche3.3%1.5%0.9
Andrézieux-Bouthéon
10,425 · 4.1 km
7.1%3.5%1.4
Saint-Galmier
5,829 · 4.1 km
0%13%0.7
Bonson
4,557 · 7 km
7.9%9.6%1.1
La Fouillouse
4,630 · 7.2 km
0%26%1.3
Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert
15,764 · 7.5 km
13%23%1.7
Saint-Héand
3,665 · 7.7 km
0%14%1.3

Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert has at least twice as much protected land. La Fouillouse and Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert 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 Veauche

Is Veauche in a national or regional nature park?

No, but 3.3% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.

Are there good walks in Veauche?

OpenStreetMap maps 9 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.

How much of Veauche is woodland?

1.5% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.

Is Veauche near the sea?

No: the coast is 223 km from the town center, as the crow flies.

When is the best time for walking in Veauche?

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.