First pick
Parc de l'horticulture
Park or garden
1.8 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
0.7 km south-westfrom the center
La coulée verte
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sand~commonswiki · Public domain7.2%of the land protected
Outdoors in Épernay · protected areas, woods and footpaths
44% of Épernay is woodland, more than in 8 in 10 French towns
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 3 km in Épernay. 7.2% of Épernay’s land lies in protected areas. 38 km of footpaths cross Épernay (1.7 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
7.2%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
44%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
38 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.6 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
11
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc de l'horticulture
Throughout this page, the Marne 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 Épernay 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 areas7.2%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
68out of 100
Woodland44%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
88out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
50out of 100
Hiking routes0.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
31out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Épernay has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (21,443 to 22,943 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Torcy (11 km per km²) to Chemillé-en-Anjou (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torcy Seine-et-Marne | 11 | 17% | 0% | 163 km |
| 2 | Sèvres Hauts-de-Seine | 8.9 | 24% | 0% | 147 km |
| 3 | Arcueil Val-de-Marne | 8.8 | 3.2% | 0% | 153 km |
| 4 | La Madeleine Nord | 8.6 | 0.6% | 0% | 61 km |
| 5 | Fontaine Isère | 8.1 | 37% | 39% | 204 km |
| 6 | Gif-sur-Yvette Essonne | 7.8 | 28% | 60% | 153 km |
| 7 | Montigny-lès-Cormeilles Val-d'Oise | 7 | 17% | 0% | 130 km |
| 8 | Longjumeau Essonne | 5.9 | 4.2% | 0% | 163 km |
| 9 | Saint-Michel-sur-Orge Essonne | 5.3 | 6.7% | 0% | 168 km |
| 10 | Loos Nord | 5 | 4.6% | 0% | 63 km |
| 11 | Fleury-les-Aubrais Loiret | 4.9 | 16% | 0% | 203 km |
| 12 | Montigny-lès-Metz Moselle | 4.9 | 3.4% | 0% | 329 km |
| 13 | Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon Rhône | 4.8 | 10% | 0% | 249 km |
| 14 | Lagny-sur-Marne Seine-et-Marne | 4 | 5.7% | 0% | 163 km |
| 15 | Montmorency Val-d'Oise | 3.8 | 20% | 0% | 136 km |
| 16 | Morsang-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.8 | 3.4% | 0% | 168 km |
| 17 | Gardanne Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.8 | 38% | 0% | 16 km |
| 18 | Achères Yvelines | 3.7 | 3.4% | 0% | 129 km |
| 19 | Neuilly-Plaisance Seine-Saint-Denis | 3.6 | 14% | 14% | 156 km |
| 20 | Allauch Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.4 | 28% | 65% | 9.7 km |
| 21 | Le Petit-Quevilly Seine-Maritime | 3.3 | 0% | 0% | 51 km |
| 22 | Nogent-sur-Oise Oise | 3.3 | 19% | 0% | 115 km |
| 23 | Voiron Isère | 3.3 | 28% | 0% | 220 km |
| 24 | Saint-Louis Haut-Rhin | 2.9 | 8.5% | 18% | 423 km |
| 25 | Mandelieu-la-Napoule Alpes-Maritimes | 2.9 | 48% | 0.1% | On it |
| 26 | Dax Landes | 2.5 | 21% | 37% | 30 km |
| 27 | Mantes-la-Ville Yvelines | 2.5 | 7.2% | 0% | 111 km |
| 28 | Oyonnax Ain | 2.4 | 59% | 0% | 312 km |
| 29 | Les Pennes-Mirabeau Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.4 | 11% | 0% | 4.3 km |
| 30 | Manosque Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 2.2 | 26% | 100% | 64 km |
| 31 | Montereau-Fault-Yonne Seine-et-Marne | 2.2 | 4.3% | 8.8% | 217 km |
| 32 | Saint-Dizier Haute-Marne | 2.1 | 47% | 0% | 293 km |
| 33 | Millau Aveyron | 2 | 35% | 100% | 91 km |
| 34 | Hazebrouck Nord | 1.7 | 0.7% | 0% | 37 km |
| 35 | Épernay Marne | 1.7 | 44% | 7.2% | 208 km |
| 36 | Auch Gers | 1.6 | 18% | 0% | 161 km |
| 37 | Gujan-Mestras Gironde | 1.4 | 48% | 0.3% | On it |
| 38 | Abbeville Somme | 1.3 | 11% | 100% | 14 km |
| 39 | Challans Vendée | 0.9 | 10% | 0.9% | 15 km |
| 40 | Villeneuve-sur-Lot Lot-et-Garonne | 0.5 | 11% | 0.9% | 123 km |
| 41 | Chemillé-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 4.3% | 0% | 98 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 Épernay
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de l'horticulture leads, at 1.8 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin de l'Hôtel de ville
Park or garden
1.5 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
0.6 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Nelson Mandela
Park or garden
1.3 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square Raoul Chandon
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.5 km of path
Centralin the middle of Épernay
Directionsto a point inside
Square Pol Roger
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Épernay
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin à la française Moët & Chandon
Park or garden
0.7 ha
0.6 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square des Frères Birin
Park or garden
0.4 ha
Centralin the middle of Épernay
Directionsto a point inside
All 11 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc de l'horticulturePark or garden · 1.8 ha · 1 km of path
DirectionsJardin de l'Hôtel de villePark or garden · 1.5 ha · 0.8 km of path
DirectionsParc Nelson MandelaPark or garden · 1.3 ha · 0.6 km of path
DirectionsLe JardPark or garden · 2 ha
DirectionsSquare Raoul ChandonPark or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsSquare Pol RogerPark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsJardin à la française Moët & ChandonPark or garden · 0.7 ha
DirectionsSquare des Frères BirinPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsParc du CubryPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsPlace Pierre Mendès FrancePark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsSolarium de BulléoPark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
7.2% of Épernay lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Montagne de Reims Regional Nature Park
2.2 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Massif forestier d’Epernay et étangs associés
7.2% of the commune4.4 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area7.2%
Natura 2000 site7.2%
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.
7.2% of Épernay’s land is protected, more than in 68% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Marne has 0%. A regional nature park is a charter between communes to look after a landscape: farming, building and hunting go on inside it.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
38 km of footpaths cross Épernay
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
38 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.6 km
waymarked: 0.1 km per km²
Woodland
44%
about 9.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ÉpernayMarne medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ÉpernayMarne medianFrance median
Woodland44%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 50% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 88% 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 Épernay is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
A named hiking route within 2 km
GR de Pays
GRP EMC11 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Épernay: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Bouzy-Civc, 15 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 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 52 | 50 | 45 | 59 | 61 | 59 | 51 | 49 | 64 | 63 | 78 |
April is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 78 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Épernay →
Neighbors
Next to Épernay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Aÿ-ChampagneBlancs-CoteauxBezannesCormontreuilDormansTinqueuxÉpernay
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Épernay | 7.2% | 44% | 1.7 |
| Aÿ-Champagne 5,103 · 4.7 km | 100% | 16% | 0.7 |
| Blancs-Coteaux 3,080 · 15 km | 2.1% | 35% | 0.2 |
| Bezannes 5,039 · 21 km | 0.1% | 1.8% | 3.4 |
| Cormontreuil 6,534 · 21 km | 1.5% | 6.1% | 2.9 |
| Dormans 2,890 · 23 km | 0% | 24% | 0.4 |
| Tinqueux 10,771 · 23 km | 0% | 2.4% | 2.8 |
Aÿ-Champagne has at least twice as much protected land.
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 Épernay
Is Épernay in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 7.2% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Épernay?
OpenStreetMap maps 38 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); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Épernay is woodland?
44% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Épernay near the sea?
No: the coast is 208 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Épernay?
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.