First pick
Square Storrington
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.2 km of path
1.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jojovichy · CC BY-SA 3.025%of the land protected
Outdoors in Villerest · protected areas, woods and footpaths
25% of Villerest’s land is protected for nature
4.2% of Villerest is mapped woodland. 24 km of footpaths cross Villerest (1.7 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
25%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
4.2%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
24 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
94%
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.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is Villerest?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside25% of the land lies in protected areas.Little mapped woodland4.2% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Villerest apart: its protected countryside. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Villerest 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 areas25%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
81out of 100
Woodland4.2%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
20out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
51out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Green space nearby94%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
12out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Villerest has the 20th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,124 to 5,222 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From L'Étang-la-Ville (8.8 km per km²) to Pauillac (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L'Étang-la-Ville Yvelines | 8.8 | 62% | 0% | 137 km |
| 2 | Saint-Clément-de-Rivière Hérault | 6.3 | 43% | 2.7% | 18 km |
| 3 | Bassens Savoie | 6.2 | 18% | 0.1% | 234 km |
| 4 | Brou-sur-Chantereine Seine-et-Marne | 5.9 | 62% | 0% | 159 km |
| 5 | Vaux-sur-Seine Yvelines | 5.2 | 57% | 63% | 120 km |
| 6 | Coubron Seine-Saint-Denis | 4.9 | 49% | 41% | 154 km |
| 7 | Valdoie Territoire de Belfort | 4.6 | 52% | 0% | 435 km |
| 8 | Vernaison Rhône | 4 | 15% | 0% | 239 km |
| 9 | Le Bourget-du-Lac Savoie | 2.8 | 57% | 13% | 244 km |
| 10 | Loison-sous-Lens Pas-de-Calais | 2.3 | 3.6% | 0% | 75 km |
| 11 | Douvres-la-Délivrande Calvados | 2.3 | 4.4% | 0% | 3.4 km |
| 12 | Saint-Chéron Essonne | 2.2 | 49% | 0% | 162 km |
| 13 | Beynost Ain | 2.2 | 10% | 4.9% | 263 km |
| 14 | Baume-les-Dames Doubs | 2.1 | 61% | 19% | 406 km |
| 15 | Gauchy Aisne | 2 | 12% | 0% | 121 km |
| 16 | Schweighouse-sur-Moder Bas-Rhin | 2 | 40% | 5.4% | 432 km |
| 17 | Nans-les-Pins Var | 2 | 39% | 100% | 23 km |
| 18 | Seichamps Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.8 | 0.7% | 0% | 367 km |
| 19 | Forcalquier Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.8 | 17% | 100% | 76 km |
| 20 | Villerest Loire | 1.7 | 4.2% | 25% | 271 km |
| 21 | L'Hôpital Moselle | 1.6 | 18% | 0.3% | 353 km |
| 22 | Trilport Seine-et-Marne | 1.6 | 47% | 0% | 164 km |
| 23 | Cucq Pas-de-Calais | 1.5 | 2.7% | 8.6% | On it |
| 24 | Pont-l'Évêque Calvados | 1.4 | 3.4% | 0% | 12 km |
| 25 | Chavanoz Isère | 1.3 | 12% | 0% | 258 km |
| 26 | Saint-Vit Doubs | 1.2 | 30% | 0% | 400 km |
| 27 | Gorges Loire-Atlantique | 1.1 | 10% | 0% | 52 km |
| 28 | Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon Vaucluse | 1.1 | 1.3% | 9.7% | 56 km |
| 29 | Scaër Finistère | 1 | 8.9% | 0% | 19 km |
| 30 | Villenoy Seine-et-Marne | 1 | 4.7% | 0% | 161 km |
| 31 | Le Cannet-des-Maures Var | 1 | 31% | 52% | 23 km |
| 32 | Tourves Var | 0.9 | 44% | 83% | 32 km |
| 33 | Marquise Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 1.2% | 100% | 6.8 km |
| 34 | Surzur Morbihan | 0.7 | 8.8% | 100% | On it |
| 35 | Villars-les-Dombes Ain | 0.7 | 12% | 67% | 281 km |
| 36 | Jonquières Vaucluse | 0.7 | 1.9% | 2.4% | 74 km |
| 37 | Villeneuve-sur-Yonne Yonne | 0.6 | 34% | 0% | 260 km |
| 38 | Ferrière-la-Grande Nord | 0.4 | 8.1% | 100% | 133 km |
| 39 | Sully-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.4 | 25% | 40% | 238 km |
| 40 | Longuyon Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.4 | 39% | 0% | 274 km |
| 41 | Pauillac Gironde | 0.2 | 7.2% | 99% | On it |
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 Villerest
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Square Storrington leads, at 0.4 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Square Lejon
Park or garden · 290 m outside the commune
0.3 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Villerest
Directionsto 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 Villerest 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).
94% within 800 m5.7% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
VillerestLoire medianFrance median
Within 800 m94%
0%50%100%
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.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Villerest
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Gorges de la Loire aval
23% of the commune1.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Milieux alluviaux et aquatiques de la Loire
9.2% of the commune0.2 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area25%
Natura 2000 site25%
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.
25% of Villerest’s land is protected, more than in 81% 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
24 km of footpaths cross Villerest
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
24 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
4.2%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
VillerestLoire medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes0
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
VillerestLoire medianFrance median
Woodland4.2%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 51% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 80% 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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Villerest: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Riorges - Man, 5.2 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 42 | 33 | 38 | 53 | 78 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 69 | 68 | 45 |
February is the driest month (33 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 78 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 61 nights a year. The climate in Villerest →
Neighbors
Next to Villerest
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Commelle-VernayLe CoteauRoanneRiorgesMablyRenaisonVillerest
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
Renaison is 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 Villerest
Is Villerest in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 25% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Villerest?
OpenStreetMap maps 24 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Villerest is woodland?
4.2% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Villerest near the sea?
No: the coast is 271 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Villerest?
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.