Photo: moi · CC BY-SA 4.0Almost every home in Saint-Ay is within 800 m of a park or wood
Saint-Ay has 9 km of waymarked hiking routes. 6.3% of Saint-Ay is mapped woodland. Protected areas cover 10% of Saint-Ay’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Loiret median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
How Saint-Ay 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-Ay has the 16th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,734 to 3,798 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Barby (6.7 km per km²) to Courtenay (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barby Savoie | 6.7 | 35% | 39% | 232 km |
| 2 | Bruyères-le-Châtel Essonne | 4.2 | 64% | 0.1% | 163 km |
| 3 | Doussard Haute-Savoie | 2.7 | 53% | 100% | 244 km |
| 4 | Grand-Aigueblanche Savoie | 2.4 | 63% | 0.1% | 208 km |
| 5 | Les Rousses Jura | 2.3 | 52% | 100% | 321 km |
| 6 | Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort Gard | 2.2 | 38% | 58% | 47 km |
| 7 | Sospel Alpes-Maritimes | 2 | 57% | 100% | 12 km |
| 8 | Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise Rhône | 1.9 | 1.9% | 0% | 232 km |
| 9 | Saint-Mihiel Meuse | 1.8 | 66% | 7.4% | 314 km |
| 10 | Charlieu Loire | 1.7 | 5.4% | 0% | 289 km |
| 11 | Malville Loire-Atlantique | 1.7 | 17% | 1.9% | 24 km |
| 12 | La Bazoge Sarthe | 1.6 | 25% | 0% | 126 km |
| 13 | Alénya Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.5 | 0.1% | 5.7% | 4.4 km |
| 14 | Torreilles Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.5 | 0.4% | 20% | On it |
| 15 | Ploubezre Côtes-d'Armor | 1.3 | 17% | 6.5% | 3.3 km |
| 16 | Saint-Ay Loiret | 1.3 | 6.3% | 10% | 203 km |
| 17 | Varennes-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 1.7% | 38% | 218 km |
| 18 | Échillais Charente-Maritime | 1.2 | 9% | 8.5% | On it |
| 19 | Saint-Clair-du-Rhône Isère | 1.2 | 19% | 0.2% | 216 km |
| 20 | Rœulx Nord | 1.2 | 0.4% | 0% | 103 km |
| 21 | Saïx Tarn | 0.9 | 12% | 3.3% | 93 km |
| 22 | Saint-Martin-la-Plaine Loire | 0.9 | 11% | 0% | 224 km |
| 23 | Brantôme en Périgord Dordogne | 0.8 | 48% | 20% | 104 km |
| 24 | Bapaume Pas-de-Calais | 0.8 | 0.9% | 0% | 84 km |
| 25 | Pujols Lot-et-Garonne | 0.8 | 12% | 0% | 123 km |
| 26 | Bouxwiller Bas-Rhin | 0.7 | 11% | 0.3% | 418 km |
| 27 | Bénesse-Maremne Landes | 0.7 | 42% | 0.1% | 6.6 km |
| 28 | Lavernose-Lacasse Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 2.6% | 0% | 153 km |
| 29 | Pannes Loiret | 0.7 | 8.9% | 0% | 233 km |
| 30 | Fougerolles-Saint-Valbert Haute-Saône | 0.7 | 36% | 100% | 429 km |
| 31 | Sartène Corse-du-Sud | 0.4 | 17% | 39% | On it |
| 32 | Labastide-Saint-Pierre Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 3.4% | 1.5% | 169 km |
| 33 | Puiseux-en-France Val-d'Oise | 0.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 138 km |
| 34 | Chauconin-Neufmontiers Seine-et-Marne | 0.3 | 4.2% | 0% | 158 km |
| 35 | Plémet Côtes-d'Armor | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | 35 km |
| 36 | Nazelles-Négron Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 17% | 4.5% | 202 km |
| 37 | Ribérac Dordogne | 0.3 | 9% | 12% | 77 km |
| 38 | Terres-de-Haute-Charente Charente | 0.3 | 23% | 0% | 116 km |
| 39 | Montreuil-Bellay Maine-et-Loire | 0.2 | 8.5% | 100% | 119 km |
| 40 | Val de Virvée Gironde | 0.1 | 12% | 0% | 16 km |
| 41 | Courtenay Loiret | 0 | 20% | 0% | 253 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
10% of Saint-Ay lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Saint-Mesmin nature reserve
Vallée de la Loire de Tavers à Belleville-sur-Loire
Vallée de la Loire du Loiret
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.
10% of Saint-Ay’s land is protected, more than in 72% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Loiret has 4%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
13 km of footpaths and 9 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Ay
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 60% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 72% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. Every home in Saint-Ay is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Saint-Ay: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Fleury-Les-Aub., 14 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 55 | 52 | 52 | 75 | 53 | 58 | 58 | 56 | 67 | 69 | 75 |
March is the driest month (52 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 75 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 55 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Ay →
Next to Saint-Ay
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-Ay | 10% | 6.3% | 1.3 |
| Chaingy 4,116 · 2.8 km | 2.3% | 21% | 1 |
| Cléry-Saint-André 3,596 · 4.2 km | 0% | 27% | 0.3 |
| Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Mesmin 3,261 · 5.6 km | 1.5% | 35% | 0.9 |
| Meung-sur-Loire 6,670 · 5.7 km | 6.4% | 7.2% | 1.1 |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin 11,017 · 6.5 km | 11% | 6.2% | 2 |
| Ingré 10,062 · 8.5 km | 0% | 11% | 1.8 |
Chaingy, Cléry-Saint-André and Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Mesmin 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 Saint-Ay
Is Saint-Ay in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 10% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Ay?
OpenStreetMap maps 13 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); 9 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Ay is woodland?
6.3% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Ay near the sea?
No: the coast is 203 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Ay?
April and June 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.