First pick
Site des Anciennes Filatures de Saint-James
Park or garden
1.8 ha0.4 km of path
2.5 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Giogo · CC BY-SA 4.06.3%woodland
Outdoors in Saint-James · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Parks, woods and footpaths in Saint-James
Footpaths add up to 16 km across Saint-James (0.2 km per km²). No protected area reaches Saint-James; the nearest, Baie du Mont Saint-Michel (Natura 2000), is 9.2 km from the town center. 6.3% of Saint-James is mapped woodland. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Baie du Mont Saint-Michel, 9.2 km
Woodland
6.3%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
16 km
0.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
19 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
87%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
12 km
from the town center to the coast
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 Saint-James?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected land nearbyBaie du Mont Saint-Michel (Natura 2000) is 9.2 km from the town center.Few mapped footpaths0.2 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Saint-James apart: protected land close by. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Saint-James 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 areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland6.3%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
28out of 100
Footpaths0.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
2out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
39out of 100
Green space nearby87%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
6out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-James has the 2nd fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,963 to 5,073 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Villefranche-sur-Mer (4.2 km per km²) to Laventie (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villefranche-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes | 4.2 | 19% | 26% | On it |
| 2 | Beaucourt Territoire de Belfort | 3.7 | 33% | 0% | 414 km |
| 3 | Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Yvelines | 3.6 | 38% | 0% | 136 km |
| 4 | Bezannes Marne | 3.4 | 1.8% | 0.1% | 198 km |
| 5 | Saint-Étienne-au-Mont Pas-de-Calais | 2.8 | 35% | 100% | On it |
| 6 | Sommières Gard | 2.8 | 21% | 1.3% | 25 km |
| 7 | Luzarches Val-d'Oise | 2.6 | 47% | 100% | 130 km |
| 8 | Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers Hérault | 2.6 | 48% | 66% | 26 km |
| 9 | Gruissan Aude | 2.5 | 13% | 100% | On it |
| 10 | Haillicourt Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 0.2% | 0% | 63 km |
| 11 | La Mure Isère | 2.2 | 10% | 0% | 176 km |
| 12 | Decazeville Aveyron | 2.2 | 40% | 0% | 168 km |
| 13 | Montchanin Saône-et-Loire | 2.1 | 20% | 0% | 355 km |
| 14 | La Mézière Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.1 | 7.5% | 0% | 36 km |
| 15 | Bonnières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.1 | 45% | 20% | 99 km |
| 16 | Hauts de Bienne Jura | 1.9 | 77% | 100% | 326 km |
| 17 | Champagne-sur-Oise Val-d'Oise | 1.8 | 33% | 54% | 119 km |
| 18 | Lorette Loire | 1.8 | 13% | 0.2% | 220 km |
| 19 | Bousbecque Nord | 1.5 | 1.4% | 0% | 49 km |
| 20 | Mamers Sarthe | 1.4 | 0.9% | 0.1% | 110 km |
| 21 | La Ferté Macé Orne | 1.4 | 27% | 100% | 73 km |
| 22 | Bitche Moselle | 1.3 | 75% | 100% | 398 km |
| 23 | Petite-Forêt Nord | 1.3 | 1.8% | 1.4% | 102 km |
| 24 | Villefranche-de-Lauragais Haute-Garonne | 1.2 | 0.5% | 0% | 117 km |
| 25 | Crécy-la-Chapelle Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 21% | 0% | 172 km |
| 26 | Plouigneau Finistère | 1.1 | 19% | 12% | 9 km |
| 27 | Cilaos Réunion | 1.1 | 43% | 100% | 18 km |
| 28 | La Souterraine Creuse | 1.1 | 18% | 0% | 193 km |
| 29 | Le Fenouiller Vendée | 1 | 4.1% | 9.9% | 3.5 km |
| 30 | Luynes Indre-et-Loire | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5% | 176 km |
| 31 | Blaye Gironde | 0.7 | 2.7% | 58% | On it |
| 32 | Saint-Sever Landes | 0.6 | 17% | 4.2% | 67 km |
| 33 | Pacy-sur-Eure Eure | 0.6 | 45% | 3.1% | 88 km |
| 34 | Lestrem Pas-de-Calais | 0.5 | 1% | 0% | 52 km |
| 35 | Neuville-aux-Bois Loiret | 0.5 | 19% | 0% | 196 km |
| 36 | Morcenx-la-Nouvelle Landes | 0.4 | 64% | 12% | 34 km |
| 37 | Val d'Erdre-Auxence Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 11% | 0% | 97 km |
| 38 | Beaurepaire Isère | 0.3 | 4.5% | 0% | 210 km |
| 39 | Rambervillers Vosges | 0.2 | 38% | 0% | 414 km |
| 40 | Saint-James Manche | 0.2 | 6.3% | 0% | 12 km |
| 41 | Laventie Pas-de-Calais | 0.1 | 0.7% | 0% | 54 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 Saint-James
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Site des Anciennes Filatures de Saint-James leads, at 1.8 ha. Directions go to 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 Saint-James 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).
87% within 800 m13% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
Saint-JamesManche medianFrance median
Within 800 m87%
0%50%100%
About 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
Baie du Mont Saint-Michel is the nearest protected area, 9.2 km away
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
9.2 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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.
Footpaths and woods
16 km of footpaths and 19 km of hiking routes cross Saint-James
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
16 km
0.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
19 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
6.3%
about 5.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-JamesManche medianFrance median
Footpaths0.2
Hiking routes0.2
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-JamesManche medianFrance median
Woodland6.3%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 98% 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.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Other named walk
A l'Orée de Gâtines10 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-James: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Pontorson, 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) | 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 Saint-James →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-James
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
PontorsonDucey-Les ChérisVal-CouesnonMaen RochIsigny-le-BuatLouvigné-du-DésertSaint-James
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-James | 0% | 6.3% | 0.2 | 12 km |
| Pontorson 4,280 · 11 km | 6.2% | 0.4% | 0.4 | On it |
| Ducey-Les Chéris 2,784 · 12 km | 7.8% | 13% | 0.9 | 5.3 km |
| Val-Couesnon 4,072 · 12 km | 1.5% | 7.2% | 0.7 | 19 km |
| Maen Roch 5,088 · 13 km | 0% | 3.9% | 1 | 25 km |
| Isigny-le-Buat 3,183 · 17 km | 0% | 5.1% | 0.4 | 13 km |
| Louvigné-du-Désert 3,346 · 17 km | 0% | 4.2% | 0.6 | 24 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 Saint-James
Is Saint-James in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Baie du Mont Saint-Michel, 9.2 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Saint-James?
OpenStreetMap maps 16 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 19 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-James is woodland?
6.3% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-James near the sea?
No: the coast is 12 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-James?
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.