First pick
Forêt de Steinberg
Wood or forest
1,099 ha39.4 km of path
8 h 45 minto walk all 39.4 km of path
2.9 km northfrom the center
Chemin des EnfantsL'EnferThe Wall
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Mellonne · CC BY-SA 4.041%woodland
Outdoors in Macheren · protected areas, woods and footpaths
41% of Macheren is woodland, more than in 8 in 10 French towns
Macheren has 16 km of waymarked hiking routes. 11 km of footpaths cross Macheren (0.6 km per km²). No protected area reaches Macheren; the nearest, Mines du Warndt (Natura 2000), is 2.8 km from the town center. 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, 2.8 km
Woodland
41%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
11 km
0.6 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
16 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
3
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Steinberg
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 Macheren?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune41% mapped woodland, more than in 86% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes16 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Protected land nearbyMines du Warndt (Natura 2000) is 2.8 km from the town center.Few mapped footpaths0.6 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Macheren apart: its woods, then its hiking routes. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Macheren 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
Woodland41%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
86out of 100
Footpaths0.6 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
19out of 100
Hiking routes0.9 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
81out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Macheren has the 16th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,785 to 2,844 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Éleu-dit-Leauwette (5.5 km per km²) to Levroux (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Éleu-dit-Leauwette Pas-de-Calais | 5.5 | 16% | 0% | 76 km |
| 2 | Burbure Pas-de-Calais | 3 | 3.7% | 0% | 55 km |
| 3 | Pinsaguel Haute-Garonne | 2.8 | 14% | 29% | 146 km |
| 4 | Cosnes-et-Romain Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.6 | 35% | 0% | 273 km |
| 5 | Candé Maine-et-Loire | 1.9 | 16% | 0% | 91 km |
| 6 | Sainghin-en-Mélantois Nord | 1.8 | 6.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 7 | Peyruis Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.8 | 53% | 6.2% | 90 km |
| 8 | Arles-sur-Tech Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.7 | 72% | 6.8% | 36 km |
| 9 | Ibos Hautes-Pyrénées | 1.7 | 31% | 0% | 126 km |
| 10 | Anzin-Saint-Aubin Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 6.2% | 0% | 77 km |
| 11 | Massieux Ain | 1.6 | 5.1% | 0% | 267 km |
| 12 | Le Faouët Morbihan | 1.4 | 21% | 7.3% | 24 km |
| 13 | Colombiers Hérault | 1.2 | 1.4% | 0% | 13 km |
| 14 | Fraize Vosges | 1.2 | 48% | 100% | 447 km |
| 15 | Pont-d'Ain Ain | 1 | 22% | 18% | 291 km |
| 16 | Saint-Aignan Loir-et-Cher | 1 | 31% | 0% | 218 km |
| 17 | Ambronay Ain | 1 | 28% | 1.3% | 286 km |
| 18 | La Fère Aisne | 0.9 | 12% | 11% | 134 km |
| 19 | Amancy Haute-Savoie | 0.8 | 14% | 0% | 271 km |
| 20 | Langogne Lozère | 0.7 | 23% | 0.1% | 131 km |
| 21 | Ayguesvives Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 8.4% | 0% | 128 km |
| 22 | Arcis-sur-Aube Aube | 0.7 | 10% | 0% | 256 km |
| 23 | Uzerche Corrèze | 0.7 | 22% | 0.9% | 176 km |
| 24 | Fère-en-Tardenois Aisne | 0.7 | 40% | 0% | 171 km |
| 25 | Seiches-sur-le-Loir Maine-et-Loire | 0.6 | 31% | 0% | 137 km |
| 26 | Macheren Moselle | 0.6 | 41% | 0% | 358 km |
| 27 | Longny les Villages Orne | 0.5 | 35% | 100% | 104 km |
| 28 | Saint-Loup-sur-Semouse Haute-Saône | 0.5 | 46% | 46% | 422 km |
| 29 | Cour-Cheverny Loir-et-Cher | 0.4 | 41% | 29% | 229 km |
| 30 | Blangy-sur-Bresle Seine-Maritime | 0.4 | 32% | 0.5% | 23 km |
| 31 | Courville-sur-Eure Eure-et-Loir | 0.4 | 0.2% | 0% | 127 km |
| 32 | Vendays-Montalivet Gironde | 0.3 | 74% | 100% | On it |
| 33 | Grandvilliers Oise | 0.3 | 0.4% | 0% | 60 km |
| 34 | Rosières-aux-Salines Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.3 | 24% | 0% | 381 km |
| 35 | Buchy Seine-Maritime | 0.3 | 4.8% | 0% | 42 km |
| 36 | Miremont Haute-Garonne | 0.2 | 7.8% | 0.2% | 139 km |
| 37 | Rodilhan Gard | 0.2 | 0% | 24% | 40 km |
| 38 | Wignehies Nord | 0.1 | 0.5% | 100% | 156 km |
| 39 | La Boixe Charente | 0.1 | 10% | 23% | 78 km |
| 40 | Listrac-Médoc Gironde | 0 | 72% | 100% | 8.3 km |
| 41 | Levroux Indre | 0 | 8.7% | 0% | 222 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 Macheren
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Steinberg leads, at 1,099 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt de Macheren
Wood or forest
803 ha3.3 km of path
45 minto walk all 3.3 km of path
3.2 km south-eastfrom the center
Chemin Eden
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, 2.8 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
2.8 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
11 km of footpaths and 16 km of hiking routes cross Macheren
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
11 km
0.6 km per km²
Hiking routes
16 km
waymarked: 0.9 km per km²
Woodland
41%
about 6.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
MacherenMoselle medianFrance median
Footpaths0.6
Hiking routes0.9
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MacherenMoselle medianFrance median
Woodland41%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 81% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 86% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Macheren’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
11 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 5G9.6 km
Circuit du Vieux Hombourg9.4 km
Circuit de la collégiale de Hombourg-Haut9.4 km
4 Circuit du Moulin á Papier8.5 km
Circuit de la Pierre tournante7 km
Circuit du Steinberg7 km
Circuit de Catherine Schilling6.7 km
Circuit de la Nied Allemande4.6 km
Circuit du cimetière americain3.5 km
Circuit de la Pierre tournante (raccourci)1.8 km
Circuit de la ligne Maginot Aquatique0.3 km
GR 5G passes within 2 km of Macheren.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Macheren: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Aeroport Metz-Nancy-Lorraine, 39 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 | 13.6 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 5 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 9 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 48 | 47 | 40 | 64 | 57 | 64 | 60 | 59 | 61 | 60 | 67 |
April is the driest month (40 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 67 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 62 nights a year. The climate in Macheren →
Neighbors
Next to Macheren
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-AvoldValmontHombourg-HautFolschvillerL'HôpitalFreyming-MerlebachMacheren
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macheren | 0% | 41% | 0.6 |
| Saint-Avold 14,755 · 2.7 km | 2.9% | 53% | 2.5 |
| Valmont 3,041 · 3.2 km | 0% | 28% | 1.2 |
| Hombourg-Haut 5,976 · 4.5 km | 0% | 48% | 1.9 |
| Folschviller 3,916 · 5 km | 0% | 22% | 1.2 |
| L'Hôpital 5,183 · 7.2 km | 0.3% | 18% | 1.6 |
| Freyming-Merlebach 13,266 · 7.4 km | 0% | 19% | 4.1 |
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 Macheren
Is Macheren in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Mines du Warndt, 2.8 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Macheren?
OpenStreetMap maps 11 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 16 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Macheren is woodland?
41% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Macheren near the sea?
No: the coast is 358 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Macheren?
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 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.