Photo: Pierre André Leclercq · CC BY-SA 4.0Almost every home in Mérignies is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 23 km across Mérignies (2.6 km per km²). No protected area reaches Mérignies; the nearest, Les "Cinq Tailles" (Natura 2000), is 4.1 km from the town center. Mapped woodland covers 7.7% of Mérignies. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
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.
How Mérignies 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Mérignies has the 5th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,510 to 3,545 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Bergues (12 km per km²) to Dun-sur-Auron (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bergues Nord | 12 | 18% | 0% | 8.9 km |
| 2 | Deauville Calvados | 5.5 | 1.1% | 0% | On it |
| 3 | Danjoutin Territoire de Belfort | 3.3 | 33% | 0% | 429 km |
| 4 | Quissac Gard | 2.8 | 46% | 0% | 39 km |
| 5 | Mérignies Nord | 2.6 | 7.7% | 0% | 76 km |
| 6 | Bellignat Ain | 2.5 | 65% | 0% | 311 km |
| 7 | Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.4 | 82% | 1.8% | 32 km |
| 8 | Allennes-les-Marais Nord | 2.2 | 7.5% | 0% | 68 km |
| 9 | La Bernerie-en-Retz Loire-Atlantique | 2.1 | 2.2% | 0.8% | On it |
| 10 | Rubelles Seine-et-Marne | 2 | 19% | 0% | 190 km |
| 11 | Crémieu Isère | 1.9 | 36% | 24% | 254 km |
| 12 | Montalieu-Vercieu Isère | 1.9 | 25% | 4.2% | 266 km |
| 13 | Portiragnes Hérault | 1.9 | 5% | 80% | On it |
| 14 | Sorède Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.6 | 68% | 43% | 7.9 km |
| 15 | Lécousse Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.5 | 1.4% | 0% | 31 km |
| 16 | Fargues-Saint-Hilaire Gironde | 1.4 | 23% | 1.7% | 24 km |
| 17 | Cerny Essonne | 1.2 | 41% | 100% | 179 km |
| 18 | Saint-Didier-en-Velay Haute-Loire | 1.1 | 35% | 0% | 194 km |
| 19 | Pleumeleuc Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.9 | 1.9% | 0% | 35 km |
| 20 | Vertaizon Puy-de-Dôme | 0.9 | 9% | 2.1% | 253 km |
| 21 | Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche Isère | 0.9 | 18% | 0% | 234 km |
| 22 | Béligneux Ain | 0.9 | 14% | 6.3% | 268 km |
| 23 | Marssac-sur-Tarn Tarn | 0.8 | 4.6% | 0% | 124 km |
| 24 | Carcès Var | 0.7 | 51% | 25% | 39 km |
| 25 | Rieumes Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 22% | 0% | 164 km |
| 26 | Vrigne aux Bois Ardennes | 0.7 | 60% | 46% | 215 km |
| 27 | Varangéville Meurthe-et-Moselle | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | 377 km |
| 28 | Saint-Soupplets Seine-et-Marne | 0.7 | 9.4% | 0% | 151 km |
| 29 | Le Breuil Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 17% | 0% | 362 km |
| 30 | Bellac Haute-Vienne | 0.6 | 20% | 0.4% | 158 km |
| 31 | Saint-Maur Indre | 0.5 | 33% | 2.1% | 220 km |
| 32 | Gallardon Eure-et-Loir | 0.5 | 8.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 33 | Clamecy Nièvre | 0.5 | 34% | 3% | 321 km |
| 34 | Capestang Hérault | 0.5 | 0.9% | 18% | 20 km |
| 35 | Montmirail Marne | 0.4 | 27% | 0% | 198 km |
| 36 | Gramat Lot | 0.4 | 39% | 100% | 185 km |
| 37 | Espira-de-l'Agly Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.4 | 11% | 3.9% | 17 km |
| 38 | Sallertaine Vendée | 0.2 | 3.4% | 44% | 13 km |
| 39 | Isigny-sur-Mer Calvados | 0.2 | 1.4% | 75% | 5 km |
| 40 | Weyersheim Bas-Rhin | 0.2 | 14% | 0% | 444 km |
| 41 | Dun-sur-Auron Cher | 0.1 | 5.4% | 17% | 291 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Les "Cinq Tailles" is the nearest protected area, 4.1 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Les "Cinq Tailles"
Share of the commune’s land
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.
23 km of footpaths cross Mérignies
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is more than in 69% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 67% 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 Mérignies is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR 121B passes within 2 km of Mérignies.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Mérignies: April to July and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Cappelle-En-Pev, 4.4 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) | 8.5 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 50 | 53 | 41 | 57 | 66 | 70 | 72 | 58 | 63 | 73 | 75 |
April is the driest month (41 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 75 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 44 nights a year. The climate in Mérignies →
Next to Mérignies
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mérignies | 0% | 7.7% | 2.6 |
| Pont-à-Marcq 3,016 · 1.6 km | 0% | 1% | 2.6 |
| Avelin 2,561 · 4.3 km | 0% | 6.1% | 0.6 |
| Templeuve-en-Pévèle 7,202 · 4.5 km | 0% | 11% | 1.4 |
| Thumeries 4,170 · 5.4 km | 12% | 37% | 3.3 |
| Fretin 3,214 · 5.7 km | 0% | 3.1% | 1.8 |
| Wahagnies 2,613 · 6.7 km | 0% | 30% | 1.9 |
Thumeries has at least twice as much protected land. Thumeries and Wahagnies are more wooded.
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 Mérignies
Is Mérignies in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Les "Cinq Tailles", 4.1 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Mérignies?
OpenStreetMap maps 23 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Mérignies is woodland?
7.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Mérignies near the sea?
No: the coast is 76 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Mérignies?
April 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.