First pick
Parc du Millenium Jean Montois
Park or garden
1.2 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
Centralin the middle of Orchies
Parc du Millenium Jean Montois
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.01.7%woodland
Outdoors in Orchies · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Orchies is within 800 m of a park or wood
1.7% of Orchies is mapped woodland. No protected area reaches Orchies; the nearest, Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, is 0.9 km from the town center. 21 km of footpaths cross Orchies (1.9 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.7%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park, 0.9 km
Woodland
1.7%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
21 km
1.9 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
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc du Millenium Jean Montois
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 Orchies?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected land nearbyScarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park is 0.9 km from the town center.Little mapped woodland1.7% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Orchies apart: protected land close by. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Orchies 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 areas0.7%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
55out of 100
Woodland1.7%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
9out of 100
Footpaths1.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
56out 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
Orchies has the 18th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (8,268 to 8,519 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From La Grande-Motte (6 km per km²) to Gennes-Val-de-Loire (0.3 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Grande-Motte Hérault | 6 | 4% | 53% | On it |
| 2 | Le Plessis-Bouchard Val-d'Oise | 5.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 132 km |
| 3 | Bihorel Seine-Maritime | 5.5 | 4.8% | 0% | 51 km |
| 4 | Larmor-Plage Morbihan | 5.3 | 17% | 0% | On it |
| 5 | Groslay Val-d'Oise | 4.3 | 15% | 0% | 138 km |
| 6 | Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie Vendée | 4.3 | 3.1% | 5.4% | On it |
| 7 | La Salvetat-Saint-Gilles Haute-Garonne | 4.3 | 12% | 0% | 158 km |
| 8 | Harfleur Seine-Maritime | 4.1 | 14% | 0% | 6.6 km |
| 9 | Bouaye Loire-Atlantique | 3.4 | 20% | 9% | 26 km |
| 10 | Pignan Hérault | 3.2 | 1.7% | 34% | 13 km |
| 11 | Venelles Bouches-du-Rhône | 3 | 41% | 10% | 29 km |
| 12 | Guilers Finistère | 2.9 | 11% | 0% | 5.1 km |
| 13 | Pérenchies Nord | 2.5 | 0.9% | 0% | 56 km |
| 14 | Carbon-Blanc Gironde | 2.5 | 0.5% | 0% | 14 km |
| 15 | Trégueux Côtes-d'Armor | 2.4 | 5.5% | 0% | 4.1 km |
| 16 | Coutances Manche | 2.4 | 5.6% | 0% | 5.7 km |
| 17 | Ballan-Miré Indre-et-Loire | 2.2 | 30% | 0% | 176 km |
| 18 | Orchies Nord | 1.9 | 1.7% | 0.7% | 84 km |
| 19 | Bassens Gironde | 1.9 | 0.3% | 10% | 13 km |
| 20 | Pont-l'Abbé Finistère | 1.9 | 13% | 2% | On it |
| 21 | Noyal-Châtillon-sur-Seiche Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.8 | 4.5% | 0% | 56 km |
| 22 | Hirson Aisne | 1.8 | 66% | 66% | 167 km |
| 23 | Saint-Claude Jura | 1.7 | 78% | 100% | 318 km |
| 24 | Uzès Gard | 1.6 | 6.9% | 0% | 57 km |
| 25 | Saint-Pierre-lès-Elbeuf Seine-Maritime | 1.5 | 5.4% | 1.3% | 53 km |
| 26 | Trignac Loire-Atlantique | 1.5 | 0.1% | 65% | 1.7 km |
| 27 | Unieux Loire | 1.5 | 23% | 16% | 205 km |
| 28 | Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf Seine-Maritime | 1.4 | 4.8% | 0.5% | 50 km |
| 29 | Peymeinade Alpes-Maritimes | 1.4 | 31% | 20% | 13 km |
| 30 | Reignier-Ésery Haute-Savoie | 1.1 | 26% | 3.1% | 279 km |
| 31 | Éguilles Bouches-du-Rhône | 1 | 12% | 54% | 23 km |
| 32 | Theix-Noyalo Morbihan | 0.9 | 11% | 98% | On it |
| 33 | Tournan-en-Brie Seine-et-Marne | 0.8 | 17% | 0% | 178 km |
| 34 | Feurs Loire | 0.8 | 6.8% | 37% | 243 km |
| 35 | Marguerittes Gard | 0.7 | 11% | 33% | 44 km |
| 36 | Marseillan Hérault | 0.7 | 0.9% | 52% | On it |
| 37 | Talmont-Saint-Hilaire Vendée | 0.6 | 6.9% | 8.5% | On it |
| 38 | Tonnay-Charente Charente-Maritime | 0.6 | 3.3% | 17% | 6.9 km |
| 39 | Saint-Vallier Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 19% | 0% | 344 km |
| 40 | Onnaing Nord | 0.5 | 16% | 1.1% | 105 km |
| 41 | Gennes-Val-de-Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 29% | 100% | 134 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 Orchies
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc du Millenium Jean Montois leads, at 1.2 ha. Directions go to 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, 0.9 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
0.7% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.7%
Regional nature park0.7%
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
21 km of footpaths cross Orchies
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
21 km
1.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
1.7%
about 0.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
OrchiesNord medianFrance median
Footpaths1.9
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
OrchiesNord medianFrance median
Woodland1.7%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 56% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less 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 Orchies is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Les Chapelles de Coutiches4.4 km
Circuit des Oiseaux1.7 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Orchies: April to July and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Cappelle-En-Pev, 5.4 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 | 15.4 | 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 Orchies →
Neighbors
Next to Orchies
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Beuvry-la-ForêtNomainLandasCoutichesGenechFlines-lez-RachesOrchies
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orchies | 0.7% | 1.7% | 1.9 |
| Beuvry-la-Forêt 2,861 · 3.1 km | 100% | 25% | 1.7 |
| Nomain 2,651 · 3.2 km | 0% | 2% | 0.4 |
| Landas 2,518 · 3.4 km | 100% | 2.9% | 0.4 |
| Coutiches 3,436 · 4.3 km | 100% | 5.4% | 0.5 |
| Genech 2,803 · 6.7 km | 0% | 12% | 1.1 |
| Flines-lez-Raches 5,745 · 6.9 km | 100% | 21% | 0.6 |
Beuvry-la-Forêt, Landas and Coutiches have at least twice as much protected land. Beuvry-la-Forêt and Flines-lez-Raches are 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 Orchies
Is Orchies in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Orchies lies in Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park (0.7% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Orchies?
OpenStreetMap maps 21 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Orchies is woodland?
1.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Orchies near the sea?
No: the coast is 84 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Orchies?
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.