First pick
Forêt communale de Hirson
Wood or forest
2,684 ha78 km of path
17 h 20 minto walk all 78 km of path
7.7 km south-eastfrom the center
Single de Bon FeuParcours de SantéSentier des Carrières+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: mrtnklr · Public domain100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Fourmies · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Fourmies lies inside Avesnois Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Fourmies’ land. Mapped woodland covers 48% of Fourmies. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 17 km in Fourmies. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
48%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
36 km
1.6 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
17 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 communale de Hirson
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 Fourmies?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Avesnois Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune48% mapped woodland, more than in 91% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Fourmies apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Fourmies 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
96out of 100
Woodland48%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
91out of 100
Footpaths1.6 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
48out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
74out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Fourmies has the 12th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (11,261 to 11,647 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Épinay-sous-Sénart (10.3 km per km²) to Pia (0.5 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Épinay-sous-Sénart Essonne | 10.3 | 54% | 0% | 171 km |
| 2 | Villecresnes Val-de-Marne | 6.5 | 27% | 0% | 170 km |
| 3 | Enghien-les-Bains Val-d'Oise | 5.4 | 0% | 0% | 137 km |
| 4 | Sassenage Isère | 4.6 | 48% | 50% | 205 km |
| 5 | Briançon Hautes-Alpes | 4.4 | 62% | 0% | 142 km |
| 6 | Saint-Jean Haute-Garonne | 4 | 10% | 0% | 145 km |
| 7 | Gravelines Nord | 3.9 | 7.7% | 0% | On it |
| 8 | Gaillard Haute-Savoie | 3.9 | 14% | 8% | 286 km |
| 9 | Maizières-lès-Metz Moselle | 3.2 | 8.6% | 0% | 319 km |
| 10 | Plan-de-Cuques Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.2 | 0.6% | 59% | 8.8 km |
| 11 | Le Haillan Gironde | 3.2 | 18% | 3.4% | 16 km |
| 12 | Yvetot Seine-Maritime | 3 | 3.5% | 100% | 28 km |
| 13 | Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon Essonne | 3 | 16% | 0% | 167 km |
| 14 | Dourdan Essonne | 2.8 | 58% | 0% | 157 km |
| 15 | Saint-Estève Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.8 | 2.8% | 0.5% | 16 km |
| 16 | Panazol Haute-Vienne | 2.7 | 21% | 0% | 167 km |
| 17 | Tournon-sur-Rhône Ardèche | 2.5 | 41% | 12% | 177 km |
| 18 | Ploufragan Côtes-d'Armor | 2.5 | 13% | 0.2% | 5.7 km |
| 19 | Corbas Rhône | 2.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 243 km |
| 20 | Saverne Bas-Rhin | 2.5 | 65% | 0% | 418 km |
| 21 | Nœux-les-Mines Pas-de-Calais | 2.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 66 km |
| 22 | Vaux-le-Pénil Seine-et-Marne | 2.4 | 27% | 0% | 194 km |
| 23 | Ancenis-Saint-Géréon Loire-Atlantique | 2.4 | 10% | 27% | 71 km |
| 24 | Castelginest Haute-Garonne | 2.4 | 1.3% | 0% | 151 km |
| 25 | Montlouis-sur-Loire Indre-et-Loire | 2.1 | 15% | 7.6% | 192 km |
| 26 | La Roche-sur-Foron Haute-Savoie | 2.1 | 21% | 0% | 270 km |
| 27 | Bruay-sur-l'Escaut Nord | 2.1 | 14% | 98% | 102 km |
| 28 | Méricourt Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 4.3% | 0% | 79 km |
| 29 | Les Avirons Réunion | 1.7 | 47% | 78% | On it |
| 30 | Fourmies Nord | 1.6 | 48% | 100% | 157 km |
| 31 | Provins Seine-et-Marne | 1.6 | 6.6% | 0% | 215 km |
| 32 | Bolbec Seine-Maritime | 1.5 | 7.1% | 0% | 17 km |
| 33 | Chauny Aisne | 1.2 | 5.7% | 10% | 127 km |
| 34 | Villefranche-de-Rouergue Aveyron | 1.2 | 30% | 0.5% | 159 km |
| 35 | Biganos Gironde | 1.1 | 71% | 100% | On it |
| 36 | Thiers Puy-de-Dôme | 1 | 43% | 100% | 259 km |
| 37 | La Hague Manche | 1 | 5.5% | 14% | On it |
| 38 | Saint-Junien Haute-Vienne | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 139 km |
| 39 | Pontchâteau Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 9.4% | 24% | 16 km |
| 40 | Le Luc Var | 0.5 | 19% | 10% | 25 km |
| 41 | Pia Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.5 | 0.2% | 0% | 10 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 Fourmies
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt communale de Hirson leads, at 2,684 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt Communale de Glageon
Wood or forest
233 ha2.4 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.4 km of path
3.4 km north-eastfrom the center
Chemin des MinesSingle du Pré Ruelle
Directionsto a point inside
Place Verte
Park or garden
1.4 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Fourmies
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 Fourmies
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Avesnois Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Forêt, bocage, étangs de Thiérache
33% of the commune1.6 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Forêts, bois, étangs et bocage herbager de la Fagne et du plateau d’Anor
2.9% of the commune2.1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Forêts de Thiérache : Hirson et Saint-Michel
3.5 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site33%
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.
100% of Fourmies’ land is protected, more than in 96% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Nord 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
36 km of footpaths and 17 km of hiking routes cross Fourmies
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
36 km
1.6 km per km²
Hiking routes
17 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
48%
about 11.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
FourmiesNord medianFrance median
Footpaths1.6
Hiking routes0.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
FourmiesNord medianFrance median
Woodland48%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 52% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 91% 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 Fourmies is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
13 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Le Camp de Giblou12 km
Circuit des Gabelous6.8 km
Circuit des Marroux5.7 km
Circuit de Milourd5.5 km
Les Etangs des Moines4.1 km
Circuit des Contrebandiers3.9 km
Les Forges3.9 km
Le Bocage de Mondrepuis3.6 km
Les Chapelles et Les Ailles3.5 km
Cicuit des Chapelles des Anorelles2.9 km
Sentier Architecture de Wignehies2.6 km
Sentier Pays et Nature de Wignehies1.5 km
+1 more
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Fourmies: May to July and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Fontaine-Les-Vv, 24 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 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.1 |
| High (°C) | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 75 | 62 | 62 | 50 | 63 | 67 | 71 | 81 | 59 | 71 | 74 | 92 |
April is the driest month (50 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 92 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Fourmies →
Neighbors
Next to Fourmies
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
WignehiesAnorTrélonSains-du-NordHirsonSaint-MichelFourmies
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fourmies | 100% | 48% | 1.6 |
| Wignehies 2,804 · 3 km | 100% | 0.5% | 0.1 |
| Anor 3,099 · 4.9 km | 100% | 37% | 0.8 |
| Trélon 2,604 · 5.9 km | 100% | 78% | 0.6 |
| Sains-du-Nord 2,755 · 8.8 km | 100% | 34% | 0.1 |
| Hirson 8,469 · 11 km | 66% | 66% | 1.8 |
| Saint-Michel 3,199 · 13 km | 62% | 55% | 3.4 |
Trélon is 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 Fourmies
Is Fourmies in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Fourmies lies in Avesnois Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Fourmies?
OpenStreetMap maps 36 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 17 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Fourmies is woodland?
48% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Fourmies near the sea?
No: the coast is 157 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Fourmies?
May to July and 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.