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Le site minier de Wallers-Arenberg (3)Photo: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ · CC BY-SA 4.0
99%of the land protected
Outdoors in Wallers · protected areas, woods and footpaths

Wallers lies inside Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park

99% of Wallers’ land lies in protected areas. Mapped woodland covers 28% of Wallers. Footpaths add up to 16 km across Wallers (0.8 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.

Protected areas
99%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
28%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
16 km
0.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Raismes-Saint-Amand-Wallers

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 Wallers 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 areas99%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
NoneMedian 0.1%100
92out of 100
Woodland28%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
Median 13%0100
74out of 100
Footpaths0.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
Median 1.7 km per km²08+
24out of 100
Hiking routes0.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
NoneMedian 0.3 km per km²3+
66out of 100

Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.

Towns its size

Wallers has the 7th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size

The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,576 to 5,695 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.

Wallers 0.8
RungisLudon-Médoc
03.57 km per km²

From Rungis (6.2 km per km²) to Ludon-Médoc (0.2 km per km²).

Every town in the comparison
TownPaths (km/km²)WoodlandProtectedCoast
1Rungis Val-de-Marne6.23.6%0%159 km
2Challes-les-Eaux Savoie3.932%40%229 km
3Saint-Martin-d'Uriage Isère3.865%9.9%197 km
4Cancale Ille-et-Vilaine3.810%22%On it
5Mourenx Pyrénées-Atlantiques3.620%9.2%73 km
6L'Isle-d'Espagnac Charente3.413%0%78 km
7Santes Nord311%0%62 km
8La Ville-aux-Dames Indre-et-Loire2.919%13%189 km
9Lèves Eure-et-Loir2.724%0%135 km
10Ternay Rhône2.718%0%234 km
11Saint-Georges-d'Orques Hérault2.70.3%0%14 km
12Liverdun Meurthe-et-Moselle2.672%0.1%355 km
13Longueau Somme2.60.4%4%60 km
14Parmain Val-d'Oise2.145%100%120 km
15La Roquette-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes2.122%0%4.6 km
16Dainville Pas-de-Calais24.1%0%75 km
17Delle Territoire de Belfort1.832%20%416 km
18Rocbaron Var1.853%0%24 km
19Saint-Gilles Ille-et-Vilaine1.76.4%0%40 km
20Altkirch Haut-Rhin1.623%0%427 km
21Wormhout Nord1.50.3%0%19 km
22Sainghin-en-Weppes Nord1.54.8%0%64 km
23Caumont-sur-Durance Vaucluse1.416%18%50 km
24Genay Rhône1.29%0%266 km
25Montrond-les-Bains Loire1.23.1%17%231 km
26Pouzauges Vendée1.18.4%0%57 km
27Sauvian Hérault10.4%0.3%6 km
28Sausheim Haut-Rhin130%25%445 km
29Montval-sur-Loir Sarthe15.9%0%168 km
30Sigean Aude0.96.3%98%7.1 km
31Saint-Xandre Charente-Maritime0.91.2%7.3%5.2 km
32La Gorgue Nord0.80.8%0%51 km
33Bohain-en-Vermandois Aisne0.812%0%129 km
34Gannat Allier0.813%0%290 km
35Wallers Nord0.828%99%99 km
36La Crèche Deux-Sèvres0.63.7%0%63 km
37Gan Pyrénées-Atlantiques0.538%4.7%97 km
38Cloyes-les-Trois-Rivières Eure-et-Loir0.316%1.8%173 km
39Bédarrides Vaucluse0.35.1%6.2%65 km
40Rives-du-Loir-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire0.317%26%131 km
41Ludon-Médoc Gironde0.25.6%100%3.7 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.

1
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 Wallers

Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Raismes-Saint-Amand-Wallers leads, at 4,667 ha. Directions go to a point inside.

First pick

Forêt de Raismes-Saint-Amand-Wallers

Wood or forest
4,667 ha124 km of path
27 h 35 minto walk all 124 km of path
8.8 km north-eastfrom the center
Drève des Boules d'HérinSingle de la Mare GoriauxDrève de Raismes+5 paths
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 Wallers

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

99% of the commune
Nature reserve

Mare à Goriaux nature reserve

1.6% of the commune2.2 km from the center
Natura 2000 site

Vallée de la Scarpe et de l’Escaut

22% of the commune1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site

Forêts de Raismes / Saint Amand / Wallers et Marchiennes et plaine alluviale de la Scarpe

3.2% of the commune2 km from the center

Share of the commune’s land

Any protected area99%
Regional nature park99%
Nature reserve1.6%
Natura 2000 site22%

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.

99% of Wallers’ land is protected, more than in 92% 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

16 km of footpaths and 12 km of hiking routes cross Wallers

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
16 km
0.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked: 0.6 km per km²
Woodland
28%
about 6 km² of mapped woods

Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap

WallersNord medianFrance median
Footpaths0.8
Hiking routes0.6
01.53 km per km²

Share of the land · mapped woods and forest

WallersNord medianFrance median
Woodland28%
0%50%100%

That is less than in 76% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 74% 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 Wallers is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.

3 named hiking routes within 2 km

GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 12115 km
Circuit de la Mare à Goriaux6.7 km
Circuit des Anciennes Carrières1 km

GR 121 passes within 2 km of Wallers.

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).

When to get out

The best walking months in Wallers: April to September

Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Valenciennes, 6.7 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)8.510.011.713.715.416.416.014.512.510.68.98.0
High (°C)681115192224242016107
Rain (mm)544751425863666852606469

April is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 69 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Wallers →

Neighbors

Next to Wallers

The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.

HaveluyHérinHasnonHornaingPetite-ForêtDenainWallers
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
TownProtectedWoodlandPaths (km/km²)
Wallers99%28%0.8
Haveluy
3,222 · 2.6 km
99%4.2%0.8
Hérin
4,169 · 4.2 km
99%1%0.9
Hasnon
3,849 · 4.7 km
100%47%0.8
Hornaing
3,496 · 5 km
99%8.8%0.3
Petite-Forêt
5,054 · 5.3 km
1.4%1.8%1.3
Denain
20,665 · 5.6 km
0.1%5.9%3.2

Hasnon 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 Wallers

Is Wallers in a national or regional nature park?

Yes: Wallers lies in Scarpe-Escaut Regional Nature Park (99% of the commune).

Are there good walks in Wallers?

OpenStreetMap maps 16 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 12 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.

How much of Wallers is woodland?

28% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.

Is Wallers near the sea?

No: the coast is 99 km from the town center, as the crow flies.

When is the best time for walking in Wallers?

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.