First pick
Forêt d'Halatte
Wood or forest
7,101 ha202.1 km of path
44 h 55 minto walk all 202.1 km of path
6.1 km eastfrom the center
Chemin de BrenouilleRoute des Blancs SablonsRoute de la Valroy+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 4.041%of the land protected
Outdoors in Creil · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Creil has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 64 km across Creil (5.8 km per km²). 41% of Creil’s land lies in protected areas. Mapped woodland covers 25% of Creil. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
41%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
25%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
64 km
5.8 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
7
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt d'Halatte
Throughout this page, the Oise 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 Creil?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths5.8 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected countryside41% of the land lies in protected areas.
What sets Creil apart: its footpaths, then its protected countryside.
Against French towns
How Creil 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 areas41%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland25%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
70out of 100
Footpaths5.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
93out 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
Creil has the 13th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (34,632 to 38,423 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Martin-d'Hères (10.1 km per km²) to Sainte-Marie (0.7 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Martin-d'Hères Isère | 10.1 | 14% | 0% | 203 km |
| 2 | Échirolles Isère | 9.9 | 11% | 0% | 200 km |
| 3 | Schiltigheim Bas-Rhin | 9 | 7.7% | 0.2% | 449 km |
| 4 | Annemasse Haute-Savoie | 8.3 | 2.4% | 0% | 286 km |
| 5 | Châtenay-Malabry Hauts-de-Seine | 8.2 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 6 | Franconville Val-d'Oise | 8.2 | 27% | 0% | 132 km |
| 7 | Lyon 4e Rhône | 7.8 | 6.8% | 0% | 253 km |
| 8 | Marseille 1er Bouches-du-Rhône | 7.5 | 0.1% | 0% | On it |
| 9 | Paris 8e Paris | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 146 km |
| 10 | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Val-de-Marne | 6.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 164 km |
| 11 | Romainville Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 11% | 0% | 151 km |
| 12 | Palaiseau Essonne | 5.9 | 18% | 0% | 158 km |
| 13 | Creil Oise | 5.8 | 25% | 41% | 117 km |
| 14 | Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Essonne | 5.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 15 | Chartres Eure-et-Loir | 5.5 | 2.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 16 | Marseille 7e Bouches-du-Rhône | 5.4 | 0.7% | 33% | On it |
| 17 | Vitrolles Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.9 | 8.9% | 33% | 9.7 km |
| 18 | Trappes Yvelines | 4.8 | 20% | 22% | 140 km |
| 19 | Les Mureaux Yvelines | 4.7 | 16% | 0% | 120 km |
| 20 | Athis-Mons Essonne | 4.6 | 4% | 0% | 165 km |
| 21 | Meyzieu Rhône | 4.2 | 13% | 26% | 256 km |
| 22 | Oullins-Pierre-Bénite Rhône | 4.2 | 2.3% | 0% | 246 km |
| 23 | Mâcon Saône-et-Loire | 4.2 | 17% | 0% | 311 km |
| 24 | Châtillon Hauts-de-Seine | 4.2 | 0.2% | 0% | 152 km |
| 25 | Six-Fours-les-Plages Var | 3.9 | 34% | 21% | On it |
| 26 | Saint-Raphaël Var | 3.8 | 60% | 61% | On it |
| 27 | Thonon-les-Bains Haute-Savoie | 3.8 | 17% | 8.5% | 299 km |
| 28 | Roanne Loire | 3.7 | 2.7% | 15% | 275 km |
| 29 | Le Perreux-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 3.4 | 1.2% | 0% | 157 km |
| 30 | Savigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 166 km |
| 31 | Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Yvelines | 3.2 | 3.8% | 0% | 126 km |
| 32 | Tremblay-en-France Seine-Saint-Denis | 3 | 3.9% | 0% | 151 km |
| 33 | Joué-lès-Tours Indre-et-Loire | 2.5 | 15% | 0% | 179 km |
| 34 | Bezons Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 137 km |
| 35 | Saint-Chamond Loire | 2.1 | 26% | 33% | 215 km |
| 36 | Villefranche-sur-Saône Rhône | 1.9 | 0.7% | 0% | 274 km |
| 37 | Auxerre Yonne | 1.8 | 15% | 0% | 298 km |
| 38 | La Possession Réunion | 1.6 | 67% | 88% | On it |
| 39 | Haguenau Bas-Rhin | 1 | 81% | 76% | 436 km |
| 40 | Saint-Leu Réunion | 0.9 | 23% | 17% | On it |
| 41 | Sainte-Marie Réunion | 0.7 | 50% | 60% | On it |
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 Creil
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt d'Halatte leads, at 7,101 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de l'Île Saint-Maurice
Park or garden
5.4 ha2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
0.7 km westfrom the center
Passerelle Nelson Mandela
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la Ville
Park or garden
5.2 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
Centralin the middle of Creil
Allée à CricriAllée Nelson
Directionsto a point inside
Plaine de Jeux Jean Moulin
Park or garden
1 ha0.2 km of path
1.3 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Espace sportif Henri Letien
Park or garden
0.9 ha0.1 km of path
1.2 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin du Musée
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Creil
Directionsto a point inside
Square Aristide Maillol
Park or garden
0.2 ha
0.8 km north-eastfrom the center
Square Aristide Maillol
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
41% of Creil 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
Oise-Pays de France Regional Nature Park
40% of the commune1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Coteaux de l’Oise autour de Creil
2.4% of the commune1.1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area41%
Regional nature park40%
Natura 2000 site2.4%
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.
41% of Creil’s land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Oise has 0.1%. 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
Footpaths and woods in Creil
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
64 km
5.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
25%
about 2.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CreilOise medianFrance median
Footpaths5.8
Hiking routes0
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CreilOise medianFrance median
Woodland25%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 93% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 70% 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 Creil 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
Grand Tour de Paris, Montagny-Prouvaire - La Ferté-Milon0.6 km
La Croix Méfroid0.4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Creil: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Creil, 3.3 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) | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 47 | 48 | 45 | 60 | 56 | 56 | 58 | 45 | 61 | 59 | 71 |
September is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 71 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 51 nights a year. The climate in Creil →
Neighbors
Next to Creil
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Nogent-sur-OiseMontataireVillers-Saint-PaulVerneuil-en-HalatteSaint-MaximinLaignevilleCreil
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creil | 41% | 25% | 5.8 |
| Nogent-sur-Oise 21,907 · 2 km | 0% | 19% | 3.3 |
| Montataire 14,257 · 3.1 km | 0.1% | 11% | 2.9 |
| Villers-Saint-Paul 6,480 · 3.6 km | 0% | 16% | 3.2 |
| Verneuil-en-Halatte 4,775 · 4.1 km | 58% | 49% | 1.3 |
| Saint-Maximin 3,335 · 4.4 km | 88% | 54% | 3 |
| Laigneville 4,926 · 5.1 km | 0% | 29% | 1.5 |
Saint-Maximin has at least twice as much protected land. Verneuil-en-Halatte and Saint-Maximin 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 Creil
Is Creil in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Creil lies in Oise-Pays de France Regional Nature Park (40% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Creil?
OpenStreetMap maps 64 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 5.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Creil is woodland?
25% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Creil near the sea?
No: the coast is 117 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Creil?
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 October 30, 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.