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
2.4 km north-eastfrom the center
Chemin des EnfantsL'EnferThe Wall
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Benoît Stella · CC BY-SA 3.02.9%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Avold · protected areas, woods and footpaths
53% of Saint-Avold is woodland, more than in 9 in 10 French towns
Saint-Avold has 38 km of waymarked hiking routes. 88 km of footpaths cross Saint-Avold (2.5 km per km²). Protected areas cover 2.9% of Saint-Avold’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
2.9%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
53%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
88 km
2.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
38 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
6
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 Saint-Avold?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A wooded commune53% mapped woodland, more than in 93% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes38 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Saint-Avold apart: its woods, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Saint-Avold 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 areas2.9%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
61out of 100
Woodland53%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
93out of 100
Footpaths2.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
66out of 100
Hiking routes1.1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
85out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Avold has the 16th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (14,402 to 15,115 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Paris 1er (17.1 km per km²) to Saint-Gilles (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris 1er Paris | 17.1 | 0% | 0% | 148 km |
| 2 | Lognes Seine-et-Marne | 9.3 | 14% | 0% | 164 km |
| 3 | Saint-Maurice Val-de-Marne | 8.8 | 9.4% | 0% | 157 km |
| 4 | Valenton Val-de-Marne | 8.7 | 6.6% | 0% | 164 km |
| 5 | Verrières-le-Buisson Essonne | 8.5 | 52% | 3.9% | 156 km |
| 6 | Villers-lès-Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 8.4 | 48% | 0% | 365 km |
| 7 | Laxou Meurthe-et-Moselle | 6.9 | 74% | 0% | 364 km |
| 8 | Haubourdin Nord | 6.6 | 10% | 0% | 62 km |
| 9 | Montargis Loiret | 4.8 | 5.7% | 0% | 237 km |
| 10 | Dinan Côtes-d'Armor | 4.7 | 17% | 100% | 5.6 km |
| 11 | Montesson Yvelines | 4.7 | 2.3% | 0% | 136 km |
| 12 | Saint-Genis-Pouilly Ain | 4.5 | 17% | 0.3% | 298 km |
| 13 | Montmagny Val-d'Oise | 4.4 | 25% | 0% | 139 km |
| 14 | Saint-Avertin Indre-et-Loire | 4.3 | 14% | 0% | 184 km |
| 15 | Canteleu Seine-Maritime | 3.7 | 64% | 100% | 49 km |
| 16 | Bar-le-Duc Meuse | 3.7 | 55% | 0% | 297 km |
| 17 | Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt Val-d'Oise | 3.3 | 24% | 0% | 137 km |
| 18 | Saint-Orens-de-Gameville Haute-Garonne | 3.2 | 6.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 19 | Vesoul Haute-Saône | 3.1 | 3.3% | 3.6% | 434 km |
| 20 | Woippy Moselle | 3.1 | 12% | 0% | 325 km |
| 21 | Bois-Guillaume Seine-Maritime | 3 | 3.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 22 | Ollioules Var | 2.9 | 23% | 14% | On it |
| 23 | Plérin Côtes-d'Armor | 2.9 | 14% | 1.8% | On it |
| 24 | Pontivy Morbihan | 2.8 | 14% | 0% | 36 km |
| 25 | L'Étang-Salé Réunion | 2.6 | 52% | 39% | On it |
| 26 | Saint-Avold Moselle | 2.5 | 53% | 2.9% | 356 km |
| 27 | Saint-Jean-de-Luz Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2.4 | 28% | 7.6% | On it |
| 28 | Carrières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.2 | 5% | 0% | 138 km |
| 29 | Fameck Moselle | 2.2 | 32% | 0% | 309 km |
| 30 | Château-Thierry Aisne | 1.9 | 18% | 0% | 176 km |
| 31 | Illzach Haut-Rhin | 1.9 | 2.6% | 0% | 443 km |
| 32 | Flers Orne | 1.6 | 2.5% | 0% | 59 km |
| 33 | Saint-Brevin-les-Pins Loire-Atlantique | 1.6 | 7.3% | 25% | On it |
| 34 | Saint-Paul-lès-Dax Landes | 1.6 | 62% | 5.3% | 29 km |
| 35 | Arnouville Val-d'Oise | 1.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 141 km |
| 36 | Issoire Puy-de-Dôme | 1.4 | 8% | 3.4% | 229 km |
| 37 | La Flèche Sarthe | 1.3 | 34% | 11% | 140 km |
| 38 | Le Raincy Seine-Saint-Denis | 0.8 | 0% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 39 | Romilly-sur-Seine Aube | 0.8 | 35% | 4.2% | 237 km |
| 40 | Bailleul Nord | 0.7 | 0.9% | 0% | 42 km |
| 41 | Saint-Gilles Gard | 0.4 | 2.5% | 18% | 25 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-Avold
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 Zang
Wood or forest
555 ha19.4 km of path
4 h 20 minto walk all 19.4 km of path
4.2 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc municipal de Saint-Avold
Park or garden
1.2 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1.3 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Friches
Park or garden · 310 m outside the commune
1.4 ha
5.9 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square Colonel Weiller
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Saint-Avold
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Chrétien de la Chapelle
Park or garden · 210 m outside the commune
0.9 ha
5.8 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
2.9% of Saint-Avold lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Landes de Saint-Avold nature reserve
2.6% of the commune2.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Mines du Warndt
1.6% of the commune1.5 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area2.9%
Nature reserve2.6%
Natura 2000 site1.6%
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.
2.9% of Saint-Avold’s land is protected, more than in 61% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Moselle has 0%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
88 km of footpaths and 38 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Avold
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
88 km
2.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
38 km
waymarked: 1.1 km per km²
Woodland
53%
about 18.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-AvoldMoselle medianFrance median
Footpaths2.5
Hiking routes1.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-AvoldMoselle medianFrance median
Woodland53%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 66% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 93% 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 Saint-Avold is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
17 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 5G16 km
Circuit Forêt du Warndt15 km
La Sente du Sanglier11 km
Sentier des Huguenots - Huguenottenweg10 km
Circuit du Vieux Hombourg9.4 km
4 Circuit du Moulin á Papier9.3 km
Circuit de St Martin-en-Glandière8.6 km
Circuit du cimetière americain8.4 km
Circuit Découverte du Site Minier7.5 km
Circuit du Steinberg7 km
Circuit de la Carrière5.9 km
Circuit de Catherine Schilling5.4 km
+5 more
GR 5G passes within 2 km of Saint-Avold.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Avold: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Aeroport Metz-Nancy-Lorraine, 38 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 Saint-Avold →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Avold
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
MacherenValmontFolschvillerHombourg-HautLongeville-lès-Saint-AvoldL'HôpitalSaint-Avold
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Avold | 2.9% | 53% | 2.5 |
| Macheren 2,814 · 2.7 km | 0% | 41% | 0.6 |
| Valmont 3,041 · 3 km | 0% | 28% | 1.2 |
| Folschviller 3,916 · 4.6 km | 0% | 22% | 1.2 |
| Hombourg-Haut 5,976 · 4.8 km | 0% | 48% | 1.9 |
| Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold 3,572 · 5.4 km | 4.6% | 52% | 2.5 |
| L'Hôpital 5,183 · 5.6 km | 0.3% | 18% | 1.6 |
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-Avold
Is Saint-Avold in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 2.9% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Avold?
OpenStreetMap maps 88 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 38 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Avold is woodland?
53% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Avold near the sea?
No: the coast is 356 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Avold?
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.