First pick
Le Puythouck
Park or garden · 280 m outside the commune
137 ha13 km of path
2 h 55 minto walk all 13 km of path
4.1 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Antoinel~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 3.02.6%woodland
Outdoors in Loon-Plage · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Loon-Plage is on the coast
Mapped woodland covers 2.6% of Loon-Plage. No protected area reaches Loon-Plage; the nearest, Grande-Synthe nature reserve, is 3.4 km from the town center. 57 km of footpaths cross Loon-Plage (1.3 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.2%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Grande-Synthe nature reserve, 3.4 km
Woodland
2.6%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
57 km
1.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 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: Le Puythouck
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 2.5 km from its center
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 Loon-Plage?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 2.5 km from its center.Protected land nearbyGrande-Synthe nature reserve is 3.4 km from the town center.Little mapped woodland2.6% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Loon-Plage apart: the sea, then protected land close by. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Loon-Plage 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 areas0.2%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
51out of 100
Woodland2.6%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
13out of 100
Footpaths1.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
42out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Loon-Plage has the 18th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,886 to 6,019 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Clapiers (9.8 km per km²) to Saint-Denis-de-Pile (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clapiers Hérault | 9.8 | 42% | 3.1% | 14 km |
| 2 | Ablon-sur-Seine Val-de-Marne | 5.8 | 6.2% | 0% | 165 km |
| 3 | La Verrière Yvelines | 5.3 | 14% | 1.3% | 139 km |
| 4 | Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer Var | 3.9 | 35% | 0% | On it |
| 5 | Villennes-sur-Seine Yvelines | 3.7 | 17% | 0% | 128 km |
| 6 | Fleury-sur-Orne Calvados | 3.6 | 3.3% | 0% | 17 km |
| 7 | Noyelles-Godault Pas-de-Calais | 3.5 | 6.9% | 0.2% | 81 km |
| 8 | Tain-l'Hermitage Drôme | 3.1 | 0.9% | 0% | 179 km |
| 9 | Roost-Warendin Nord | 2.9 | 22% | 7.5% | 85 km |
| 10 | Quiévrechain Nord | 2.5 | 13% | 97% | 107 km |
| 11 | Raon-l'Étape Vosges | 2.4 | 69% | 2% | 421 km |
| 12 | Trith-Saint-Léger Nord | 2.1 | 6.9% | 0% | 106 km |
| 13 | Lavelanet Ariège | 2 | 40% | 0% | 97 km |
| 14 | Marnaz Haute-Savoie | 2 | 51% | 9.8% | 265 km |
| 15 | Saint-Pierre-d'Irube Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2 | 27% | 13% | 8.6 km |
| 16 | Benfeld Bas-Rhin | 2 | 24% | 20% | 460 km |
| 17 | Hombourg-Haut Moselle | 1.9 | 48% | 0% | 357 km |
| 18 | Ciboure Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.8 | 30% | 16% | On it |
| 19 | Sains-en-Gohelle Pas-de-Calais | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 20 | Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.7 | 26% | 5.4% | 34 km |
| 21 | Saint-André-de-la-Roche Alpes-Maritimes | 1.6 | 28% | 0% | 4.4 km |
| 22 | Saint-Girons Ariège | 1.5 | 36% | 100% | 155 km |
| 23 | Fontenilles Haute-Garonne | 1.4 | 13% | 0% | 163 km |
| 24 | Loon-Plage Nord | 1.3 | 2.6% | 0.2% | On it |
| 25 | Vias Hérault | 1.3 | 5.5% | 44% | On it |
| 26 | Donzère Drôme | 1.2 | 22% | 8.5% | 110 km |
| 27 | Naintré Vienne | 1.1 | 33% | 0% | 134 km |
| 28 | Aixe-sur-Vienne Haute-Vienne | 1 | 12% | 0% | 153 km |
| 29 | Grand-Champ Morbihan | 0.9 | 17% | 0% | 11 km |
| 30 | Montdidier Somme | 0.8 | 5.3% | 0% | 87 km |
| 31 | Blanzy Saône-et-Loire | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 349 km |
| 32 | Condé-en-Normandie Calvados | 0.7 | 8.1% | 18% | 52 km |
| 33 | Corbie Somme | 0.6 | 16% | 4.5% | 66 km |
| 34 | Commentry Allier | 0.5 | 13% | 0% | 288 km |
| 35 | Fontenay-Trésigny Seine-et-Marne | 0.5 | 25% | 0% | 185 km |
| 36 | Aubignan Vaucluse | 0.5 | 3.8% | 42% | 73 km |
| 37 | Bellevigne-en-Layon Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 14% | 0.1% | 113 km |
| 38 | Bricquebec-en-Cotentin Manche | 0.4 | 13% | 0% | 13 km |
| 39 | Vexin-sur-Epte Eure | 0.3 | 16% | 2.2% | 91 km |
| 40 | Nègrepelisse Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.2 | 13% | 1% | 167 km |
| 41 | Saint-Denis-de-Pile Gironde | 0.2 | 11% | 14% | 31 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 Loon-Plage
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Le Puythouck leads, at 137 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin des Saules
Park or garden · 380 m outside the commune
0.6 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
3.6 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc des Tourelles
Park or garden
1 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Loon-Plage
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Grande-Synthe nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 3.4 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Grande-Synthe nature reserve
3.4 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Bancs des Flandres
4.6 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Bancs des Flandres
5.1 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.2%
Natura 2000 site0.2%
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
57 km of footpaths cross Loon-Plage
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
57 km
1.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
2.6%
about 1.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Loon-PlageNord medianFrance median
Footpaths1.3
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Loon-PlageNord medianFrance median
Woodland2.6%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 58% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 87% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Loon-Plage’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)
E23.8 km
GR 1203.8 km
2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Loon-Plage: E2 and GR 120.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Loon-Plage: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Dunkerque, 11 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 45 | 42 | 37 | 46 | 55 | 59 | 64 | 65 | 73 | 80 | 73 |
April is the driest month (37 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). 80 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 17 nights a year. The climate in Loon-Plage →
Neighbors
Next to Loon-Plage
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BourbourgGrande-SyntheGravelinesGrand-Fort-PhilippeCappelle-la-GrandeDunkerqueLoon-Plage
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loon-Plage | 0.2% | 2.6% | 1.3 | On it |
| Bourbourg 6,931 · 5.6 km | 0% | 0.3% | 1.4 | 6.1 km |
| Grande-Synthe 20,239 · 6.2 km | 7.4% | 5.3% | 2.8 | On it |
| Gravelines 11,430 · 6.2 km | 0% | 7.7% | 3.9 | On it |
| Grand-Fort-Philippe 4,887 · 7.9 km | 0% | 0.1% | 4.5 | On it |
| Cappelle-la-Grande 7,839 · 11 km | 0% | 0.2% | 2 | 4.6 km |
| Dunkerque 86,263 · 12 km | 1.5% | 1.8% | 4.8 | On it |
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 Loon-Plage
Is Loon-Plage in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Grande-Synthe nature reserve, 3.4 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Loon-Plage?
OpenStreetMap maps 57 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Loon-Plage is woodland?
2.6% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Loon-Plage near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 2.5 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Loon-Plage?
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.