First pick
Parc Municipal de Forbach
Wood or forest
280 ha5.1 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.1 km of path
2.7 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: The original uploader was InXtremis at French Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 1.032%woodland
Outdoors in Forbach · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Forbach has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
58 km of footpaths cross Forbach (3.5 km per km²). Forbach has 18 km of waymarked hiking routes. 32% of Forbach 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: Mines du Warndt, 6 km
Woodland
32%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
58 km
3.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Municipal de Forbach
Throughout this page, the Moselle 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 Forbach?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths3.5 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.On waymarked routes18 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.A wooded commune32% mapped woodland, more than in 78% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyMines du Warndt (Natura 2000) is 6 km from the town center.
What sets Forbach apart: its footpaths, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Forbach 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
Woodland32%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
78out of 100
Footpaths3.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
80out of 100
Hiking routes1.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
86out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Forbach has the 17th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (19,917 to 21,079 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Sceaux (11.7 km per km²) to Bressuire (0.6 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sceaux Hauts-de-Seine | 11.7 | 17% | 0% | 154 km |
| 2 | Chaville Hauts-de-Seine | 8.3 | 46% | 0% | 148 km |
| 3 | Gentilly Val-de-Marne | 8 | 1.8% | 0% | 153 km |
| 4 | Mont-Saint-Aignan Seine-Maritime | 7.3 | 12% | 0% | 50 km |
| 5 | La Celle-Saint-Cloud Yvelines | 6.6 | 29% | 0% | 142 km |
| 6 | Maurepas Yvelines | 5.8 | 29% | 0.1% | 137 km |
| 7 | Carrières-sous-Poissy Yvelines | 5.3 | 5.6% | 0% | 129 km |
| 8 | Coudekerque-Branche Nord | 5.1 | 14% | 0% | 2.2 km |
| 9 | Fougères Ille-et-Vilaine | 4.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 33 km |
| 10 | Joinville-le-Pont Val-de-Marne | 4.4 | 1.7% | 0% | 158 km |
| 11 | Chilly-Mazarin Essonne | 4.2 | 2.8% | 0% | 163 km |
| 12 | Albertville Savoie | 4.1 | 47% | 0% | 228 km |
| 13 | Bouguenais Loire-Atlantique | 4 | 18% | 8.4% | 33 km |
| 14 | La Chapelle-sur-Erdre Loire-Atlantique | 3.8 | 20% | 1.9% | 43 km |
| 15 | Bruges Gironde | 3.7 | 9.3% | 23% | 14 km |
| 16 | Lingolsheim Bas-Rhin | 3.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 450 km |
| 17 | Forbach Moselle | 3.5 | 32% | 0% | 359 km |
| 18 | Croix Nord | 3.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 61 km |
| 19 | Cournon-d'Auvergne Puy-de-Dôme | 3.3 | 6.6% | 6.3% | 251 km |
| 20 | Denain Nord | 3.2 | 5.9% | 0.1% | 103 km |
| 21 | Cugnaux Haute-Garonne | 3.1 | 6.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 22 | Wasquehal Nord | 3.1 | 4.7% | 0% | 60 km |
| 23 | Bourg-la-Reine Hauts-de-Seine | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 155 km |
| 24 | Le Creusot Saône-et-Loire | 3 | 23% | 0% | 361 km |
| 25 | Concarneau Finistère | 2.8 | 13% | 0.3% | On it |
| 26 | Grande-Synthe Nord | 2.8 | 5.3% | 7.4% | On it |
| 27 | Plaisance-du-Touch Haute-Garonne | 2.7 | 7.9% | 2.1% | 156 km |
| 28 | Sarreguemines Moselle | 2.6 | 32% | 0.9% | 374 km |
| 29 | Chaumont Haute-Marne | 2.6 | 52% | 0.3% | 342 km |
| 30 | Villeneuve-le-Roi Val-de-Marne | 2.6 | 0.9% | 0% | 164 km |
| 31 | Beaune Côte-d'Or | 2.6 | 16% | 25% | 389 km |
| 32 | Halluin Nord | 2.5 | 4.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 33 | Carquefou Loire-Atlantique | 2.5 | 14% | 5% | 47 km |
| 34 | Lannion Côtes-d'Armor | 2.3 | 15% | 5.9% | On it |
| 35 | Vence Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 28% | 64% | 8.3 km |
| 36 | Cahors Lot | 1.9 | 42% | 0% | 172 km |
| 37 | Bourg-lès-Valence Drôme | 1.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 166 km |
| 38 | Mitry-Mory Seine-et-Marne | 1 | 4.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 39 | Saint-Mandé Val-de-Marne | 1 | 0% | 0% | 154 km |
| 40 | L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Vaucluse | 0.8 | 4.8% | 7.3% | 54 km |
| 41 | Bressuire Deux-Sèvres | 0.6 | 2.4% | 0% | 77 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 Forbach
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Municipal de Forbach leads, at 280 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Square Jeanne d'Arc
Park or garden
0.3 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Forbach
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Mines du Warndt is the nearest protected area, 6 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
Mines du Warndt
6 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
Footpaths and woods in Forbach
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
58 km
3.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
18 km
waymarked: 1.1 km per km²
Woodland
32%
about 5.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ForbachMoselle medianFrance median
Footpaths3.5
Hiking routes1.1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ForbachMoselle medianFrance median
Woodland32%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 80% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 78% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 98% of Forbach’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
6 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 5G Nord15 km
Circuit du Galibot10 km
Saarwanderweg / Sentier de la Sarre6.2 km
Circuit de la Rosselle4.8 km
Circuit de Remsing4.3 km
Circuit de deux villages sur un plateau1.5 km
GR 5G Nord passes within 2 km of Forbach.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Forbach: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Mouterhouse, 46 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) | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 5 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 15 | 9 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 92 | 80 | 79 | 55 | 78 | 69 | 76 | 69 | 72 | 83 | 89 | 112 |
April is the driest month (55 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 112 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 99 nights a year. The climate in Forbach →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Forbach
Named gardens in the commune.
RoseraieIn Forbach
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Forbach
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ŒtingMorsbachStiring-WendelBehren-lès-ForbachPetite-RosselleSpicherenForbach
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbach | 0% | 32% | 3.5 |
| Œting 2,599 · 2.2 km | 0% | 31% | 1.8 |
| Morsbach 2,635 · 2.7 km | 0% | 43% | 1.8 |
| Stiring-Wendel 10,956 · 3.1 km | 0% | 3.4% | 2.8 |
| Behren-lès-Forbach 6,166 · 3.6 km | 0% | 14% | 2.4 |
| Petite-Rosselle 6,171 · 3.7 km | 0% | 33% | 3.3 |
| Spicheren 3,143 · 5 km | 0% | 39% | 3.1 |
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 Forbach
Is Forbach in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Mines du Warndt, 6 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Forbach?
OpenStreetMap maps 58 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 18 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Forbach is woodland?
32% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Forbach near the sea?
No: the coast is 359 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Forbach?
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.