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
6.2 km northfrom the center
Chemin de BrenouilleRoute des Blancs SablonsRoute de la Valroy+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Clément Luce · CC BY-SA 4.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Senlis · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Senlis lies inside Oise-Pays de France Regional Nature Park
100% of Senlis’ land lies in protected areas. Mapped woodland covers 48% of Senlis. Senlis has 22 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
48%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
51 km
2.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
22 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
9
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 Senlis?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Oise-Pays de France Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune48% mapped woodland, more than in 91% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes22 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Senlis apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Senlis 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
93out of 100
Woodland48%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
91out of 100
Footpaths2.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
60out of 100
Hiking routes0.9 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
81out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Senlis has the 15th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (14,732 to 15,583 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Paris 1er (17.1 km per km²) to Saint-Gilles (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris 1er Paris | 17.1 | 0% | 0% | 148 km |
| 2 | Lognes Seine-et-Marne | 9.3 | 14% | 0% | 164 km |
| 3 | Verrières-le-Buisson Essonne | 8.5 | 52% | 3.9% | 156 km |
| 4 | Laxou Meurthe-et-Moselle | 6.9 | 74% | 0% | 364 km |
| 5 | Haubourdin Nord | 6.6 | 10% | 0% | 62 km |
| 6 | Ramonville-Saint-Agne Haute-Garonne | 5.6 | 9.9% | 0% | 141 km |
| 7 | Fontainebleau Seine-et-Marne | 5.3 | 94% | 94% | 205 km |
| 8 | Castanet-Tolosan Haute-Garonne | 5.1 | 12% | 0% | 138 km |
| 9 | Avrillé Maine-et-Loire | 4.9 | 9.1% | 0% | 117 km |
| 10 | Le Vésinet Yvelines | 4.9 | 0.1% | 0% | 137 km |
| 11 | Montargis Loiret | 4.8 | 5.7% | 0% | 237 km |
| 12 | Dinan Côtes-d'Armor | 4.7 | 17% | 100% | 5.6 km |
| 13 | Montmagny Val-d'Oise | 4.4 | 25% | 0% | 139 km |
| 14 | Saint-Avertin Indre-et-Loire | 4.3 | 14% | 0% | 184 km |
| 15 | Wattignies Nord | 3.5 | 1.5% | 0% | 66 km |
| 16 | Bouc-Bel-Air Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.5 | 29% | 0% | 12 km |
| 17 | Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt Val-d'Oise | 3.3 | 24% | 0% | 137 km |
| 18 | Vesoul Haute-Saône | 3.1 | 3.3% | 3.6% | 434 km |
| 19 | Woippy Moselle | 3.1 | 12% | 0% | 325 km |
| 20 | Saint-Avold Moselle | 2.5 | 53% | 2.9% | 356 km |
| 21 | Saint-Jean-de-Luz Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2.4 | 28% | 7.6% | On it |
| 22 | Roquebrune-sur-Argens Var | 2.4 | 40% | 25% | On it |
| 23 | Morlaix Finistère | 2.3 | 18% | 3.8% | On it |
| 24 | Carrières-sur-Seine Yvelines | 2.2 | 5% | 0% | 138 km |
| 25 | Fameck Moselle | 2.2 | 32% | 0% | 309 km |
| 26 | Guipavas Finistère | 2.2 | 11% | 0.4% | On it |
| 27 | Senlis Oise | 2.1 | 48% | 100% | 126 km |
| 28 | Montivilliers Seine-Maritime | 2 | 6.9% | 0% | 6.8 km |
| 29 | Château-Thierry Aisne | 1.9 | 18% | 0% | 176 km |
| 30 | Illzach Haut-Rhin | 1.9 | 2.6% | 0% | 443 km |
| 31 | Rive-de-Gier Loire | 1.7 | 13% | 0.1% | 222 km |
| 32 | Wittenheim Haut-Rhin | 1.6 | 32% | 0% | 447 km |
| 33 | Arnouville Val-d'Oise | 1.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 141 km |
| 34 | Issoire Puy-de-Dôme | 1.4 | 8% | 3.4% | 229 km |
| 35 | La Flèche Sarthe | 1.3 | 34% | 11% | 140 km |
| 36 | Elbeuf Seine-Maritime | 1 | 75% | 0% | 49 km |
| 37 | Tarascon Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 16% | 13% | 41 km |
| 38 | Le Raincy Seine-Saint-Denis | 0.8 | 0% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 39 | Romilly-sur-Seine Aube | 0.8 | 35% | 4.2% | 237 km |
| 40 | Bailleul Nord | 0.7 | 0.9% | 0% | 42 km |
| 41 | Saint-Gilles Gard | 0.4 | 2.5% | 18% | 25 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 Senlis
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.
Forêt de Chantilly
Wood or forest
2,654 ha109 km of path
24 h 15 minto walk all 109 km of path
8.1 km south-westfrom the center
Route MillardChaussée BrunehautVieille Route+5 paths
Directionsto a point inside
Parc écologique de Bon Secours
Park or garden
15 ha2.6 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.6 km of path
1.3 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de l'Aunette
Park or garden
3.7 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
0.8 km northfrom the center
Allée de l'Aunette
Directionsto a point inside
Cours Thoré-Montmorency
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Senlis
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du Château Royal
Park or garden
1 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Senlis
Directionsto a point inside
All 9 named parks, gardens and woods
Forêt d'HalatteWood or forest · 7,101 ha · 202.1 km of path
DirectionsForêt de ChantillyWood or forest · 2,654 ha · 109 km of path
DirectionsParc écologique de Bon SecoursPark or garden · 15 ha · 2.6 km of path
DirectionsParc de l'AunettePark or garden · 3.7 ha · 0.6 km of path
DirectionsCours Thoré-MontmorencyPark or garden · 2.1 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsParc du Château RoyalPark or garden · 1 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsPelouse de la GatellièrePark or garden · 1 ha
DirectionsSquare Le BouteillerPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsPelousePark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Senlis
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
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Forêts picardes : massif des trois forêts et bois du Roi
18% of the commune1.3 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Massifs forestiers d’Halatte, de Chantilly et d’Ermenonville
6.2% of the commune2.2 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site18%
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.
100% of Senlis’ land is protected, more than in 93% 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
51 km of footpaths and 22 km of hiking routes cross Senlis
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
51 km
2.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
22 km
waymarked: 0.9 km per km²
Woodland
48%
about 11.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
SenlisOise medianFrance median
Footpaths2.1
Hiking routes0.9
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
SenlisOise medianFrance median
Woodland48%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 60% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more 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 Senlis 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 12B4.9 km
Via Sancti Martini - Chemin d'Utrecht14 km
Grand Tour de Paris, Montagny-Prouvaire - La Ferté-Milon13 km
Chemin Royal5.5 km
Route d'Osmond1.3 km
GR 12B passes within 2 km of Senlis.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Senlis: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Creil, 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.
| 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 Senlis →
Neighbors
Next to Senlis
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ChantillyVerneuil-en-HalatteOrry-la-VilleCreilLa Chapelle-en-ServalSaint-MaximinSenlis
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senlis | 100% | 48% | 2.1 |
| Chantilly 10,591 · 9 km | 100% | 70% | 6.8 |
| Verneuil-en-Halatte 4,775 · 9.3 km | 58% | 49% | 1.3 |
| Orry-la-Ville 3,583 · 9.6 km | 100% | 58% | 3.3 |
| Creil 36,301 · 9.7 km | 41% | 25% | 5.8 |
| La Chapelle-en-Serval 3,084 · 9.8 km | 100% | 45% | 2.9 |
| Saint-Maximin 3,335 · 10 km | 88% | 54% | 3 |
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 Senlis
Is Senlis in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Senlis lies in Oise-Pays de France Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Senlis?
OpenStreetMap maps 51 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 22 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Senlis is woodland?
48% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Senlis near the sea?
No: the coast is 126 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Senlis?
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.