First pick
Highworth Square
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.4 km of path
1.4 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Marco Usan · CC BY 3.06.2%of the land protected
Outdoors in Pontorson · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Pontorson is on the coast
22 km of footpaths cross Pontorson (0.4 km per km²). Pontorson has almost no mapped woodland. 6.2% of Pontorson’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
6.2%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
0.4%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
22 km
0.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
22 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
63%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 7 km from its center
Throughout this page, the Manche 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 Pontorson?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 7 km from its center.Little mapped woodland0.4% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Pontorson apart: the sea. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Pontorson 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 areas6.2%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
67out of 100
Woodland0.4%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
4out of 100
Footpaths0.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
8out of 100
Hiking routes0.4 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
51out of 100
Green space nearby63%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
1out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Pontorson has the 3rd fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,238 to 4,322 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Brives-Charensac (4.2 km per km²) to Terres-de-Caux (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brives-Charensac Haute-Loire | 4.2 | 17% | 0% | 166 km |
| 2 | Mimet Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.9 | 49% | 44% | 16 km |
| 3 | Leuville-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.8 | 15% | 0% | 166 km |
| 4 | Agneaux Manche | 3.5 | 10% | 0% | 25 km |
| 5 | Barbentane Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.1 | 36% | 8.1% | 50 km |
| 6 | Roquettes Haute-Garonne | 2.8 | 4.1% | 4.3% | 147 km |
| 7 | Courseulles-sur-Mer Calvados | 2.7 | 1% | 0% | On it |
| 8 | Angoulins Charente-Maritime | 2.7 | 0.3% | 3.8% | On it |
| 9 | Pont-Péan Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.3 | 16% | 0% | 57 km |
| 10 | Coignières Yvelines | 2.3 | 29% | 0.1% | 137 km |
| 11 | La Norville Essonne | 2.2 | 4% | 0% | 168 km |
| 12 | Combrit Finistère | 2.2 | 20% | 3.3% | On it |
| 13 | Plomelin Finistère | 2.1 | 19% | 0% | On it |
| 14 | Châtenois Bas-Rhin | 2 | 33% | 0% | 458 km |
| 15 | Rouffach Haut-Rhin | 1.8 | 37% | 10% | 464 km |
| 16 | Lanvallay Côtes-d'Armor | 1.8 | 17% | 100% | 4.9 km |
| 17 | Is-sur-Tille Côte-d'Or | 1.6 | 41% | 0% | 388 km |
| 18 | Millery Rhône | 1.6 | 14% | 0% | 237 km |
| 19 | Désertines Allier | 1.5 | 20% | 0% | 281 km |
| 20 | Fleury Aude | 1.5 | 0.7% | 98% | On it |
| 21 | Tonnerre Yonne | 1.5 | 41% | 0% | 308 km |
| 22 | Ecquevilly Yvelines | 1.4 | 26% | 0% | 124 km |
| 23 | Vimy Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 16% | 0% | 80 km |
| 24 | Saint-Just-Malmont Haute-Loire | 1.3 | 47% | 0.3% | 199 km |
| 25 | Maîche Doubs | 1.3 | 31% | 100% | 389 km |
| 26 | Beauvallon Rhône | 1.3 | 18% | 0% | 231 km |
| 27 | Rognonas Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.2 | 0% | 13% | 50 km |
| 28 | Saint-Aubin-d'Aubigné Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.8 | 12% | 0% | 38 km |
| 29 | Rang-du-Fliers Pas-de-Calais | 0.6 | 23% | 13% | 4.7 km |
| 30 | Nozay Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 9.7% | 0% | 52 km |
| 31 | Cours Rhône | 0.6 | 46% | 0% | 283 km |
| 32 | Bessières Haute-Garonne | 0.6 | 9.9% | 2.4% | 145 km |
| 33 | Châteauneuf-sur-Isère Drôme | 0.6 | 6.5% | 2.1% | 173 km |
| 34 | Nanteuil-le-Haudouin Oise | 0.5 | 9.7% | 32% | 142 km |
| 35 | Friville-Escarbotin Somme | 0.5 | 2.1% | 100% | 7.2 km |
| 36 | Eyragues Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.5 | 0.4% | 0% | 43 km |
| 37 | Serémange-Erzange Moselle | 0.5 | 14% | 0% | 307 km |
| 38 | Ussac Corrèze | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 167 km |
| 39 | Pontorson Manche | 0.4 | 0.4% | 6.2% | On it |
| 40 | Breteuil Eure | 0.3 | 31% | 0.2% | 78 km |
| 41 | Terres-de-Caux Seine-Maritime | 0.1 | 0.8% | 0% | 19 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 Pontorson
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Highworth Square leads, at 0.5 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
6 in 10 residents of Pontorson 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).
63% within 800 m37% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
PontorsonManche medianFrance median
Within 800 m63%
0%50%100%
About 1,600 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
6.2% of Pontorson 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
Baie du Mont Saint-Michel
6.2% of the commune1.1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Baie du Mont Saint-Michel
3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area6.2%
Natura 2000 site6.2%
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.
6.2% of Pontorson’s land is protected, more than in 67% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Manche has 0.6%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
22 km of footpaths and 22 km of hiking routes cross Pontorson
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
22 km
0.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
22 km
waymarked: 0.4 km per km²
Woodland
0.4%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
PontorsonManche medianFrance median
Footpaths0.4
Hiking routes0.4
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PontorsonManche medianFrance median
Woodland0.4%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 92% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 96% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
6 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Chemin du Mont-Saint-Michel à Antrain17 km
Mont-Saint-Michel - Rennes15 km
Découverte des polders8.7 km
d'Avranches au Mont-Saint-Michel7.6 km
Mortain - Mont-Saint-Michel7.5 km
Chemin des Douaniers, Mont Saint-Michel - Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes4.6 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Pontorson: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Pontorson, 3.7 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 76 | 58 | 55 | 60 | 66 | 55 | 62 | 65 | 57 | 87 | 86 | 95 |
June is the driest month (55 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 95 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 28 nights a year. The climate in Pontorson →
Neighbors
Next to Pontorson
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-JamesVal-CouesnonDucey-Les ChérisAvranchesDol-de-BretagneMaen RochPontorson
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontorson | 6.2% | 0.4% | 0.4 | On it |
| Saint-James 5,018 · 11 km | 0% | 6.3% | 0.2 | 12 km |
| Val-Couesnon 4,072 · 12 km | 1.5% | 7.2% | 0.7 | 19 km |
| Ducey-Les Chéris 2,784 · 17 km | 7.8% | 13% | 0.9 | 5.3 km |
| Avranches 10,143 · 18 km | 0% | 1.5% | 1.9 | 2.5 km |
| Dol-de-Bretagne 5,829 · 19 km | 0% | 6.8% | 1.9 | 6.4 km |
| Maen Roch 5,088 · 20 km | 0% | 3.9% | 1 | 25 km |
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 Pontorson
Is Pontorson in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 6.2% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Pontorson?
OpenStreetMap maps 22 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 22 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Pontorson is woodland?
0.4% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Pontorson near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 7 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Pontorson?
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 8, 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.