First pick
Forêt domaniale de Phalsbourg
Wood or forest
388 ha5.3 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.3 km of path
3.5 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Poudou99 · CC BY 3.025%of the land protected
Outdoors in Phalsbourg · protected areas, woods and footpaths
25% of Phalsbourg’s land is protected for nature
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 15 km in Phalsbourg. 6 km of footpaths cross Phalsbourg (0.5 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 19% of Phalsbourg. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
25%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
19%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
6.4 km
0.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 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 domaniale de Phalsbourg
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 Phalsbourg?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside25% of the land lies in protected areas.On waymarked routes15 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.Few mapped footpaths0.5 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Phalsbourg apart: its protected countryside, then its hiking routes. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How Phalsbourg 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 areas25%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
81out of 100
Woodland19%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
60out of 100
Footpaths0.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
13out of 100
Hiking routes1.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
87out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Phalsbourg has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,658 to 4,710 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Ban-Saint-Martin (4.6 km per km²) to Saint-Georges-de-Reneins (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Ban-Saint-Martin Moselle | 4.6 | 27% | 0% | 326 km |
| 2 | Bavilliers Territoire de Belfort | 4.6 | 16% | 0% | 430 km |
| 3 | Auzeville-Tolosane Haute-Garonne | 3.8 | 6.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 4 | L'Huisserie Mayenne | 3.8 | 16% | 0% | 80 km |
| 5 | Bièvres Essonne | 3.5 | 31% | 0% | 154 km |
| 6 | Sequedin Nord | 3.3 | 5.9% | 0% | 60 km |
| 7 | Le Trait Seine-Maritime | 3.1 | 63% | 100% | 33 km |
| 8 | Sangatte Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 1.7% | 99% | On it |
| 9 | Ribeauvillé Haut-Rhin | 2.7 | 72% | 100% | 461 km |
| 10 | Hallennes-lez-Haubourdin Nord | 2.7 | 1.3% | 0% | 61 km |
| 11 | Ascain Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2.6 | 20% | 51% | 5.2 km |
| 12 | Chavagne Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.4 | 8% | 0% | 51 km |
| 13 | Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 2.3 | 5.8% | 0% | 258 km |
| 14 | Village-Neuf Haut-Rhin | 2.2 | 9% | 36% | 424 km |
| 15 | Clohars-Carnoët Finistère | 2 | 24% | 1.3% | On it |
| 16 | Viuz-en-Sallaz Haute-Savoie | 1.5 | 40% | 0% | 278 km |
| 17 | Bar-sur-Aube Aube | 1.5 | 14% | 22% | 309 km |
| 18 | Blénod-lès-Pont-à-Mousson Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.3 | 20% | 11% | 343 km |
| 19 | Neufchâtel-en-Bray Seine-Maritime | 1.2 | 17% | 3.7% | 32 km |
| 20 | Saint-Paul-en-Jarez Loire | 1 | 18% | 97% | 217 km |
| 21 | Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Pas-de-Calais | 1 | 14% | 0% | 47 km |
| 22 | Mirecourt Vosges | 1 | 20% | 0% | 386 km |
| 23 | Soucieu-en-Jarrest Rhône | 1 | 15% | 0% | 240 km |
| 24 | Les Garennes sur Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.9 | 12% | 23% | 121 km |
| 25 | Graveson Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 10% | 0% | 45 km |
| 26 | Rognes Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 51% | 12% | 34 km |
| 27 | Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 3.1% | 0% | 12 km |
| 28 | La Charité-sur-Loire Nièvre | 0.8 | 9.6% | 13% | 319 km |
| 29 | Bédée Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.8 | 0.5% | 0% | 35 km |
| 30 | Flayosc Var | 0.8 | 36% | 0% | 32 km |
| 31 | Bourbon-Lancy Saône-et-Loire | 0.7 | 21% | 13% | 341 km |
| 32 | La Suze-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.6 | 31% | 0% | 132 km |
| 33 | La Bouëxière Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.6 | 35% | 0% | 48 km |
| 34 | Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas Gard | 0.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 59 km |
| 35 | Phalsbourg Moselle | 0.5 | 19% | 25% | 411 km |
| 36 | Beuzeville Eure | 0.4 | 2.8% | 0% | 10 km |
| 37 | Fumel Lot-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 33% | 0.1% | 135 km |
| 38 | Aigondigné Deux-Sèvres | 0.4 | 1.6% | 61% | 66 km |
| 39 | Herrlisheim Bas-Rhin | 0.3 | 6.9% | 3.3% | 448 km |
| 40 | Samer Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 20% | 100% | 12 km |
| 41 | Saint-Georges-de-Reneins Rhône | 0.3 | 10% | 25% | 282 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 Phalsbourg
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt domaniale de Phalsbourg leads, at 388 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Buergerwald
Wood or forest
178 ha9.6 km of path
2 h 10 minto walk all 9.6 km of path
1.7 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Wilsberger Wald
Wood or forest · 190 m outside the commune
96 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
3.9 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Phalsbourg
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Vosges du Nord Regional Nature Park
25% of the commune1.6 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area25%
Regional nature park25%
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.
25% of Phalsbourg’s land is protected, more than in 81% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Moselle 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
6 km of footpaths and 15 km of hiking routes cross Phalsbourg
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
6.4 km
0.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 km
waymarked: 1.1 km per km²
Woodland
19%
about 2.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
PhalsbourgMoselle medianFrance median
Footpaths0.5
Hiking routes1.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PhalsbourgMoselle medianFrance median
Woodland19%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 87% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 60% 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 Phalsbourg is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
16 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 53217 km
Circulaire anneau rouge7.9 km
Circulaire de Danne7.3 km
Circulaire Gustave Hentz7 km
Chemin des Italiens7 km
Circulaire du Heiligenberg6.7 km
Circulaire du Centenaire5.7 km
Tres Tabernae trail5.1 km
Triangle bleu4.1 km
Circulaire Nord de Henridorff3.6 km
Croix bleue3.5 km
Circulaire du Buchholzkopf3.5 km
+4 more
GR 532 passes within 2 km of Phalsbourg.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Phalsbourg: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Phalsbourg_Sapc, 3.4 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 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 5 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 64 | 67 | 54 | 81 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 83 | 75 | 87 |
April is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 87 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 65 nights a year. The climate in Phalsbourg →
Neighbors
Next to Phalsbourg
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
SaverneMarmoutierDettwillerSarrebourgBouxwillerWasselonnePhalsbourg
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phalsbourg | 25% | 19% | 0.5 |
| Saverne 11,460 · 8 km | 0% | 65% | 2.5 |
| Marmoutier 2,699 · 12 km | 0% | 28% | 1.3 |
| Dettwiller 2,558 · 15 km | 0% | 4.9% | 0.4 |
| Sarrebourg 12,170 · 15 km | 0% | 17% | 2.3 |
| Bouxwiller 3,754 · 17 km | 0.3% | 11% | 0.7 |
| Wasselonne 5,780 · 19 km | 0% | 18% | 1 |
Saverne and Marmoutier are more wooded.
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 Phalsbourg
Is Phalsbourg in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Phalsbourg lies in Vosges du Nord Regional Nature Park (25% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Phalsbourg?
OpenStreetMap maps 6 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 15 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Phalsbourg is woodland?
19% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Phalsbourg near the sea?
No: the coast is 411 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Phalsbourg?
May 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.