First pick
Parc des Argales (Ensemble minier)
Park or garden · 210 m outside the commune
112 ha17.2 km of path
3 h 50 minto walk all 17.2 km of path
3.2 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Mairie de Somain · CC BY-SA 4.01.3%of the land protected
Outdoors in Somain · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Somain is within 800 m of a park or wood
5.2% of Somain is mapped woodland. Footpaths add up to 17 km across Somain (1.4 km per km²). 1.3% of Somain’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
1.3%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
5.2%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
17 km
1.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.3 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: Parc des Argales (Ensemble minier)
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.
Against French towns
How Somain 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 areas1.3%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
57out of 100
Woodland5.2%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
24out of 100
Footpaths1.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
43out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
26out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Somain has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (11,507 to 12,037 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 Baugé-en-Anjou (0.4 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 | Talant Côte-d'Or | 8 | 5.6% | 0% | 399 km |
| 3 | Seyssinet-Pariset Isère | 6.6 | 60% | 57% | 203 km |
| 4 | Villecresnes Val-de-Marne | 6.5 | 27% | 0% | 170 km |
| 5 | Valbonne Alpes-Maritimes | 6.4 | 53% | 0% | 8.4 km |
| 6 | Le Relecq-Kerhuon Finistère | 4.8 | 7.6% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Ifs Calvados | 4.6 | 3.9% | 0% | 17 km |
| 8 | Sassenage Isère | 4.6 | 48% | 50% | 205 km |
| 9 | Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Alpes-Maritimes | 4.3 | 23% | 36% | On it |
| 10 | Saint-Pierre-du-Perray Essonne | 4.2 | 25% | 0% | 178 km |
| 11 | Hœnheim Bas-Rhin | 3.7 | 0.5% | 0% | 448 km |
| 12 | Beausoleil Alpes-Maritimes | 3.6 | 11% | 2.9% | 0.7 km |
| 13 | Dugny Seine-Saint-Denis | 3.5 | 6.8% | 9.5% | 144 km |
| 14 | Arpajon Essonne | 3.3 | 2.4% | 0% | 167 km |
| 15 | Maizières-lès-Metz Moselle | 3.2 | 8.6% | 0% | 319 km |
| 16 | Plan-de-Cuques Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.2 | 0.6% | 59% | 8.8 km |
| 17 | Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon Essonne | 3 | 16% | 0% | 167 km |
| 18 | Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer Var | 2.9 | 30% | 25% | On it |
| 19 | Saint-Estève Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.8 | 2.8% | 0.5% | 16 km |
| 20 | Septèmes-les-Vallons Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.5 | 49% | 20% | 5.5 km |
| 21 | Ploufragan Côtes-d'Armor | 2.5 | 13% | 0.2% | 5.7 km |
| 22 | Villepreux Yvelines | 2.5 | 8.4% | 0% | 137 km |
| 23 | Nœux-les-Mines Pas-de-Calais | 2.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 66 km |
| 24 | Ancenis-Saint-Géréon Loire-Atlantique | 2.4 | 10% | 27% | 71 km |
| 25 | Vedène Vaucluse | 2.4 | 4% | 0% | 58 km |
| 26 | Marly Nord | 2.3 | 1.5% | 0% | 107 km |
| 27 | Barentin Seine-Maritime | 2.2 | 11% | 0% | 38 km |
| 28 | Pacé Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.2 | 3.6% | 0% | 41 km |
| 29 | Bruay-sur-l'Escaut Nord | 2.1 | 14% | 98% | 102 km |
| 30 | Méricourt Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 4.3% | 0% | 79 km |
| 31 | Les Avirons Réunion | 1.7 | 47% | 78% | On it |
| 32 | Provins Seine-et-Marne | 1.6 | 6.6% | 0% | 215 km |
| 33 | Bolbec Seine-Maritime | 1.5 | 7.1% | 0% | 17 km |
| 34 | Dammartin-en-Goële Seine-et-Marne | 1.4 | 24% | 0% | 144 km |
| 35 | Somain Nord | 1.4 | 5.2% | 1.3% | 96 km |
| 36 | Chauny Aisne | 1.2 | 5.7% | 10% | 127 km |
| 37 | Thiers Puy-de-Dôme | 1 | 43% | 100% | 259 km |
| 38 | Florange Moselle | 0.9 | 24% | 0% | 309 km |
| 39 | Pia Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.5 | 0.2% | 0% | 10 km |
| 40 | Vauvert Gard | 0.4 | 3.1% | 71% | 20 km |
| 41 | Baugé-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.4 | 31% | 0.5% | 151 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 Somain
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Argales (Ensemble minier) leads, at 112 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Anne Frank
Park or garden
17 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
2 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Site naturel Antoine Mercier
Park or garden
1.8 ha
1 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du Caniveau
Park or garden · 190 m outside the commune
0.8 ha0.3 km of path
2.5 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
1.3% of Somain lies in protected areas
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
1.3% of the commune1.1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Vallée de la Scarpe et de l’Escaut
2.2 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area1.3%
Regional nature park1.3%
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.
1.3% of Somain’s land is protected, more than in 57% 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
17 km of footpaths cross Somain
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
17 km
1.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.3 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
5.2%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
SomainNord medianFrance median
Footpaths1.4
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
SomainNord medianFrance median
Woodland5.2%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 57% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 76% 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 Somain is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
5 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 12111 km
Boucle 5 - Au cœur de l'héritage religieux et minier de l'Ostrevent12 km
La Chapelle du Marais8.2 km
Le Marais des Onze Villes7 km
Circuit des Anciennes Carrières4.8 km
GR 121 passes within 2 km of Somain.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Somain: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Douai, 15 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 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 51 | 53 | 42 | 57 | 63 | 68 | 68 | 61 | 64 | 71 | 73 |
April is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 73 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Somain →
Neighbors
Next to Somain
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
FenainAbsconAnicheHornaingAuberchicourtPecquencourtSomain
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somain | 1.3% | 5.2% | 1.4 |
| Fenain 5,441 · 1.8 km | 99% | 10% | 1 |
| Abscon 4,108 · 3.4 km | 0% | 6.4% | 1.6 |
| Aniche 9,963 · 3.8 km | 0.1% | 6.8% | 1.4 |
| Hornaing 3,496 · 4.2 km | 99% | 8.8% | 0.3 |
| Auberchicourt 4,626 · 4.6 km | 0.3% | 2% | 1.9 |
| Pecquencourt 6,092 · 4.6 km | 9.5% | 24% | 4 |
Fenain and Hornaing have at least twice as much protected land. Pecquencourt 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 Somain
Is Somain in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Somain lies in Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park (1.3% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Somain?
OpenStreetMap maps 17 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Somain is woodland?
5.2% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Somain near the sea?
No: the coast is 96 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Somain?
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 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.