First pick
Base de Loisirs des Six Bonniers
Park or garden
6.7 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
1.6 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Codepem · CC BY-SA 3.07.6%woodland
Outdoors in Willems · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Willems is within 800 m of a park or wood
No protected area reaches Willems; the nearest, Le Héron nature reserve, is 3.7 km from the town center. Mapped woodland covers 7.6% of Willems. 7 km of footpaths cross Willems (1.3 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Le Héron nature reserve, 3.7 km
Woodland
7.6%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
7.4 km
1.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.8 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: Base de Loisirs des Six Bonniers
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 Willems 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%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland7.6%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
33out of 100
Footpaths1.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
40out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
47out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Willems has the 11th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,911 to 2,972 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Gorcy (3.6 km per km²) to Sancoins (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorcy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 3.6 | 37% | 0% | 269 km |
| 2 | Gevrey-Chambertin Côte-d'Or | 3.4 | 39% | 30% | 408 km |
| 3 | Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon Ardèche | 3 | 30% | 0.6% | 118 km |
| 4 | Smarves Vienne | 2.3 | 37% | 0% | 116 km |
| 5 | Tourrettes Var | 1.5 | 64% | 1.8% | 21 km |
| 6 | Montblanc Hérault | 1.5 | 18% | 0.1% | 12 km |
| 7 | Bruyères Vosges | 1.4 | 70% | 2.4% | 428 km |
| 8 | Abrest Allier | 1.4 | 19% | 14% | 286 km |
| 9 | Péron Ain | 1.3 | 56% | 100% | 295 km |
| 10 | Drocourt Pas-de-Calais | 1.3 | 2.3% | 0% | 82 km |
| 11 | Willems Nord | 1.3 | 7.6% | 0% | 69 km |
| 12 | Châteauneuf-du-Rhône Drôme | 1.2 | 16% | 0.8% | 116 km |
| 13 | Hésingue Haut-Rhin | 1.2 | 17% | 0% | 421 km |
| 14 | Sérignan-du-Comtat Vaucluse | 1.2 | 28% | 1.7% | 82 km |
| 15 | Mauléon-Licharre Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 1.1 | 35% | 2.8% | 62 km |
| 16 | Contrexéville Vosges | 1.1 | 34% | 0% | 379 km |
| 17 | Ottange Moselle | 1 | 53% | 0% | 294 km |
| 18 | Bertrange Moselle | 0.9 | 21% | 0% | 313 km |
| 19 | Tourouvre au Perche Orne | 0.8 | 43% | 98% | 93 km |
| 20 | Grandvillars Territoire de Belfort | 0.8 | 45% | 11% | 419 km |
| 21 | Port-sur-Saône Haute-Saône | 0.7 | 52% | 13% | 423 km |
| 22 | Joinville Haute-Marne | 0.7 | 61% | 0% | 317 km |
| 23 | Montmeyran Drôme | 0.7 | 5.3% | 0% | 154 km |
| 24 | Balbigny Loire | 0.6 | 12% | 5.8% | 251 km |
| 25 | Diémoz Isère | 0.5 | 9.8% | 0% | 238 km |
| 26 | Allonnes Maine-et-Loire | 0.5 | 20% | 100% | 141 km |
| 27 | Mortain-Bocage Manche | 0.5 | 15% | 54% | 31 km |
| 28 | Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne Ain | 0.4 | 7.4% | 4% | 297 km |
| 29 | Saint-Calais Sarthe | 0.4 | 2.9% | 0% | 165 km |
| 30 | La Ferté-en-Ouche Orne | 0.4 | 13% | 1.4% | 65 km |
| 31 | Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon Deux-Sèvres | 0.4 | 10% | 100% | 35 km |
| 32 | Lalinde Dordogne | 0.4 | 44% | 2.8% | 106 km |
| 33 | Saint-Lyé Aube | 0.3 | 13% | 0% | 264 km |
| 34 | Dompierre-sur-Besbre Allier | 0.3 | 13% | 46% | 330 km |
| 35 | Thiant Nord | 0.3 | 13% | 0% | 107 km |
| 36 | Broons Côtes-d'Armor | 0.2 | 9.2% | 0% | 26 km |
| 37 | Rouillac Charente | 0.2 | 11% | 7% | 66 km |
| 38 | Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan Deux-Sèvres | 0.2 | 2.1% | 100% | 45 km |
| 39 | Fresnay-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.2 | 6.9% | 0% | 112 km |
| 40 | Dangé-Saint-Romain Vienne | 0.1 | 20% | 0% | 150 km |
| 41 | Sancoins Cher | 0.1 | 11% | 0% | 315 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 Willems
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Base de Loisirs des Six Bonniers leads, at 6.7 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Le Héron nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 3.7 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Le Héron nature reserve
3.7 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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
7 km of footpaths cross Willems
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
7.4 km
1.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.8 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
7.6%
about 0.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
WillemsNord medianFrance median
Footpaths1.3
Hiking routes0.3
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
WillemsNord medianFrance median
Woodland7.6%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 60% 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 Willems 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 121B4.3 km
Boucle des Bonniers9.2 km
Menen - Libercourt4.4 km
GR 121B passes within 2 km of Willems.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Willems: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Lille-Lesquin, 12 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 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 51 | 52 | 45 | 62 | 64 | 68 | 71 | 57 | 64 | 75 | 73 |
April is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 75 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 37 nights a year. The climate in Willems →
Neighbors
Next to Willems
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BaisieuxChérengToufflersCamphin-en-PévèleHemLys-lez-LannoyWillems
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willems | 0% | 7.6% | 1.3 |
| Baisieux 5,545 · 1.8 km | 0% | 2.5% | 1.8 |
| Chéreng 3,078 · 3 km | 0% | 11% | 2.5 |
| Toufflers 3,957 · 3.4 km | 0% | 0.4% | 1.9 |
| Camphin-en-Pévèle 2,518 · 4.4 km | 0% | 2.7% | 0.7 |
| Hem 18,582 · 4.8 km | 0% | 5.1% | 3 |
| Lys-lez-Lannoy 14,050 · 5 km | 0% | 3.9% | 4.2 |
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 Willems
Is Willems in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Le Héron nature reserve, 3.7 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Willems?
OpenStreetMap maps 7 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); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Willems is woodland?
7.6% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Willems near the sea?
No: the coast is 69 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Willems?
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.