First pick
Parc des Berges de la Souchez
Park or garden
306 ha65.3 km of path
14 h 30 minto walk all 65.3 km of path
1.6 km westfrom the center
Chemin de HalageChemin des Bocquiaux
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Own work · CC BY-SA 3.011%woodland
Outdoors in Courrières · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Courrières has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
36 km of footpaths cross Courrières (4.1 km per km²). Courrières has 5 km of waymarked hiking routes. No protected area reaches Courrières; the nearest, Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe (Natura 2000), is 5.5 km from the town center. 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: Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe, 5.5 km
Woodland
11%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
36 km
4.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
5.4 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
93%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
Throughout this page, the Pas-de-Calais 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 Courrières?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths4.1 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyPelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe (Natura 2000) is 5.5 km from the town center.
What sets Courrières apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Courrières 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
Woodland11%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
44out of 100
Footpaths4.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
85out of 100
Hiking routes0.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
68out of 100
Green space nearby93%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
11out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Courrières has the 5th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (10,014 to 10,337 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Maxéville (5.5 km per km²) to Saint-Loubès (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxéville Meurthe-et-Moselle | 5.5 | 24% | 0% | 363 km |
| 2 | Mondeville Calvados | 5.2 | 5.4% | 0% | 13 km |
| 3 | Serris Seine-et-Marne | 5.1 | 2.1% | 0% | 168 km |
| 4 | Villerupt Meurthe-et-Moselle | 4.2 | 30% | 0% | 288 km |
| 5 | Courrières Pas-de-Calais | 4.1 | 11% | 0% | 76 km |
| 6 | Villebon-sur-Yvette Essonne | 3.8 | 23% | 0% | 159 km |
| 7 | Oignies Pas-de-Calais | 3.7 | 12% | 0% | 77 km |
| 8 | Cabriès Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.7 | 28% | 1.6% | 11 km |
| 9 | Grigny-sur-Rhône Rhône | 3.5 | 16% | 0% | 234 km |
| 10 | Feyzin Rhône | 3.4 | 12% | 0% | 242 km |
| 11 | Soyaux Charente | 3.3 | 35% | 9% | 78 km |
| 12 | Auchel Pas-de-Calais | 3.1 | 8.6% | 0% | 55 km |
| 13 | Marly Moselle | 3 | 4.4% | 0% | 332 km |
| 14 | Sainte-Savine Aube | 2.5 | 0.6% | 0% | 271 km |
| 15 | Beaumont-sur-Oise Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 26% | 35% | 121 km |
| 16 | Pierrelaye Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 20% | 0% | 126 km |
| 17 | Buxerolles Vienne | 2.3 | 10% | 0% | 119 km |
| 18 | Pfastatt Haut-Rhin | 2.2 | 22% | 0.1% | 443 km |
| 19 | Fillière Haute-Savoie | 2.1 | 49% | 20% | 266 km |
| 20 | Parthenay Deux-Sèvres | 2 | 3.8% | 0.1% | 78 km |
| 21 | Avranches Manche | 1.9 | 1.5% | 0% | 2.5 km |
| 22 | La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Seine-et-Marne | 1.9 | 30% | 0% | 172 km |
| 23 | Fuveau Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.9 | 36% | 0% | 21 km |
| 24 | Pont-Audemer Eure | 1.8 | 20% | 65% | 15 km |
| 25 | Jeumont Nord | 1.8 | 25% | 0.1% | 133 km |
| 26 | Ingré Loiret | 1.8 | 11% | 0% | 200 km |
| 27 | Le Muy Var | 1.7 | 35% | 46% | 16 km |
| 28 | Saint-Pierre-du-Mont Landes | 1.5 | 58% | 3.4% | 69 km |
| 29 | Le Beausset Var | 1.5 | 18% | 69% | 7.1 km |
| 30 | Lambesc Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.3 | 32% | 65% | 33 km |
| 31 | Apt Vaucluse | 1.2 | 29% | 100% | 58 km |
| 32 | Mazamet Tarn | 1.2 | 77% | 0.1% | 74 km |
| 33 | Ploërmel Morbihan | 1.1 | 15% | 0% | 39 km |
| 34 | La Farlède Var | 1.1 | 8.7% | 15% | 7.4 km |
| 35 | Couzeix Haute-Vienne | 1.1 | 21% | 0% | 163 km |
| 36 | Douchy-les-Mines Nord | 1 | 11% | 0% | 106 km |
| 37 | Borgo Haute-Corse | 0.8 | 11% | 28% | On it |
| 38 | Gerzat Puy-de-Dôme | 0.8 | 0.5% | 0% | 261 km |
| 39 | Lillers Pas-de-Calais | 0.5 | 7.8% | 0% | 53 km |
| 40 | Carentan-les-Marais Manche | 0.3 | 0.2% | 100% | On it |
| 41 | Saint-Loubès Gironde | 0.2 | 4% | 28% | 16 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 Courrières
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Berges de la Souchez leads, at 306 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de Loisirs Léo Lagrange
Park or garden
26 ha6 km of path
1 h 20 minto walk all 6 km of path
1.2 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois de Florimond
Park or garden
19 ha8.1 km of path
1 h 50 minto walk all 8.1 km of path
2.6 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin de la plaine du 7
Park or garden · 0 m outside the commune
0.5 ha
2 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
9 in 10 residents of Courrières live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
93% within 800 m6.5% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
CourrièresPas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Within 800 m93%
0%50%100%
About 700 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
Protected areas
Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe is the nearest protected area, 5.5 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe
5.5 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
Footpaths and woods in Courrières
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
36 km
4.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
5.4 km
waymarked: 0.6 km per km²
Woodland
11%
about 1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CourrièresPas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Footpaths4.1
Hiking routes0.6
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CourrièresPas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Woodland11%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 85% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 56% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Terril du Téléphérique - Terril 81A10 km
Béthune - Terril du Téléphérique2.9 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Courrières: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Douai, 11 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 Courrières →
Neighbors
Next to Courrières
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Montigny-en-GohelleHarnesDourgesCarvinOigniesFouquières-lès-LensCourrières
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courrières | 0% | 11% | 4.1 |
| Montigny-en-Gohelle 9,743 · 3.1 km | 0% | 7.7% | 3.1 |
| Harnes 12,247 · 3.4 km | 0% | 7.3% | 4.2 |
| Dourges 6,139 · 3.7 km | 0% | 11% | 3.9 |
| Carvin 17,909 · 3.8 km | 0% | 5.3% | 2.5 |
| Oignies 10,323 · 3.8 km | 0% | 12% | 3.7 |
| Fouquières-lès-Lens 6,087 · 4.4 km | 0% | 22% | 4.7 |
Fouquières-lès-Lens 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 Courrières
Is Courrières in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe, 5.5 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Courrières?
OpenStreetMap maps 36 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 4.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 5 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Courrières is woodland?
11% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Courrières near the sea?
No: the coast is 76 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Courrières?
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.