First pick
Base des loisirs communale
Park or garden · 30 m outside the commune
19 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
2.1 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: War Department. 1789-9/18/1947 · Public domain5.9%woodland
Outdoors in Denain · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Denain is within 800 m of a park or wood
Denain has 12 km of waymarked hiking routes. 37 km of footpaths cross Denain (3.2 km per km²). No protected area reaches Denain; the nearest, Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, is 1.8 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.1%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, 1.8 km
Woodland
5.9%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
37 km
3.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Base des loisirs communale
Throughout this page, the Nord 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 Denain?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On waymarked routes12 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.A place of footpaths3.2 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyScarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park is 1.8 km from the town center.
What sets Denain apart: its hiking routes, then its footpaths.
Against French towns
How Denain 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 areas0.1%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
51out of 100
Woodland5.9%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
27out of 100
Footpaths3.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
76out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
84out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Denain has the 21st fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (20,020 to 21,268 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 L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (0.8 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 | Mons-en-Barœul Nord | 7.5 | 2% | 0% | 63 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 | Saint-Cyr-l'École Yvelines | 6.3 | 7.8% | 0% | 143 km |
| 7 | Maurepas Yvelines | 5.8 | 29% | 0.1% | 137 km |
| 8 | Carrières-sous-Poissy Yvelines | 5.3 | 5.6% | 0% | 129 km |
| 9 | Coudekerque-Branche Nord | 5.1 | 14% | 0% | 2.2 km |
| 10 | Fougères Ille-et-Vilaine | 4.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 33 km |
| 11 | Joinville-le-Pont Val-de-Marne | 4.4 | 1.7% | 0% | 158 km |
| 12 | Chilly-Mazarin Essonne | 4.2 | 2.8% | 0% | 163 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 | Ozoir-la-Ferrière Seine-et-Marne | 3.6 | 44% | 0% | 172 km |
| 18 | Forbach Moselle | 3.5 | 32% | 0% | 359 km |
| 19 | Croix Nord | 3.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 61 km |
| 20 | Le Plessis-Trévise Val-de-Marne | 3.4 | 9.3% | 0% | 163 km |
| 21 | Denain Nord | 3.2 | 5.9% | 0.1% | 103 km |
| 22 | Cugnaux Haute-Garonne | 3.1 | 6.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 23 | Wasquehal Nord | 3.1 | 4.7% | 0% | 60 km |
| 24 | Bourg-la-Reine Hauts-de-Seine | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 155 km |
| 25 | Le Creusot Saône-et-Loire | 3 | 23% | 0% | 361 km |
| 26 | Concarneau Finistère | 2.8 | 13% | 0.3% | On it |
| 27 | Grande-Synthe Nord | 2.8 | 5.3% | 7.4% | On it |
| 28 | Plaisance-du-Touch Haute-Garonne | 2.7 | 7.9% | 2.1% | 156 km |
| 29 | Sarreguemines Moselle | 2.6 | 32% | 0.9% | 374 km |
| 30 | Chaumont Haute-Marne | 2.6 | 52% | 0.3% | 342 km |
| 31 | Villeneuve-le-Roi Val-de-Marne | 2.6 | 0.9% | 0% | 164 km |
| 32 | Saint-Genis-Laval Rhône | 2.6 | 6% | 0% | 244 km |
| 33 | Beaune Côte-d'Or | 2.6 | 16% | 25% | 389 km |
| 34 | Halluin Nord | 2.5 | 4.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 35 | Carquefou Loire-Atlantique | 2.5 | 14% | 5% | 47 km |
| 36 | Lannion Côtes-d'Armor | 2.3 | 15% | 5.9% | On it |
| 37 | Cahors Lot | 1.9 | 42% | 0% | 172 km |
| 38 | Montaigu-Vendée Vendée | 1.2 | 7.4% | 0% | 51 km |
| 39 | Mitry-Mory Seine-et-Marne | 1 | 4.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 40 | Saint-Mandé Val-de-Marne | 1 | 0% | 0% | 154 km |
| 41 | L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Vaucluse | 0.8 | 4.8% | 7.3% | 54 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 Denain
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Base des loisirs communale leads, at 19 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Émile Zola
Wood or forest
10 ha2.8 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.8 km of path
0.7 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Place Gambetta
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Denain
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 1.8 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park
1.8 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.1%
Regional nature park0.1%
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.
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
37 km of footpaths and 12 km of hiking routes cross Denain
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
37 km
3.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
5.9%
about 0.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
DenainNord medianFrance median
Footpaths3.2
Hiking routes1
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
DenainNord medianFrance median
Woodland5.9%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 76% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 73% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 98% of Denain’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Denain, Ville d'Eau, de Charbon et d'Acier6.1 km
Circuit des Anciennes Carrières2.9 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Denain: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Valenciennes, 4.9 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) | 8.5 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 47 | 51 | 42 | 58 | 63 | 66 | 68 | 52 | 60 | 64 | 69 |
April is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 69 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Denain →
Neighbors
Next to Denain
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Douchy-les-MinesLourchesHaveluyEscaudainNeuville-sur-EscautRœulxDenain
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denain | 0.1% | 5.9% | 3.2 |
| Douchy-les-Mines 10,109 · 2.8 km | 0% | 11% | 1 |
| Lourches 3,734 · 2.9 km | 0% | 5.6% | 2.5 |
| Haveluy 3,222 · 3 km | 99% | 4.2% | 0.8 |
| Escaudain 9,039 · 3.5 km | 0.2% | 6.3% | 2.9 |
| Neuville-sur-Escaut 2,901 · 4.2 km | 0% | 0.8% | 0.4 |
| Rœulx 3,743 · 4.5 km | 0% | 0.4% | 1.2 |
Haveluy 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 Denain
Is Denain in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, 1.8 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Denain?
OpenStreetMap maps 37 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 12 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Denain is woodland?
5.9% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Denain near the sea?
No: the coast is 103 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Denain?
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 8, 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.