First pick
Parc des Eperlecques
Park or garden
0.4 ha
Centralin the middle of Desvres
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jewome62~commonswiki · CC BY-SA 3.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Desvres · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Desvres lies inside Caps et Marais d’Opale Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Desvres’ land. 56% of Desvres is mapped woodland. Desvres has 11 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
56%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
9.2 km
1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
11 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: Parc des Eperlecques
The sea
18 km
from the town center to the coast
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 Desvres?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Caps et Marais d’Opale Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune56% mapped woodland, more than in 94% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.On waymarked routes11 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Desvres apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Desvres 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
99out of 100
Woodland56%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
94out of 100
Footpaths1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
31out of 100
Hiking routes1.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
87out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Desvres has the 21st fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,789 to 4,868 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Rosières-près-Troyes (4 km per km²) to Bonneval (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosières-près-Troyes Aube | 4 | 9.4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 2 | Phalempin Nord | 4 | 32% | 0% | 72 km |
| 3 | Ceyreste Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.7 | 42% | 49% | 2.9 km |
| 4 | La Turballe Loire-Atlantique | 2.7 | 13% | 24% | On it |
| 5 | Die Drôme | 2.4 | 60% | 100% | 150 km |
| 6 | Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Haut-Rhin | 2 | 76% | 100% | 450 km |
| 7 | Paron Yonne | 2 | 26% | 1.2% | 249 km |
| 8 | L'Horme Loire | 2 | 3.4% | 0% | 217 km |
| 9 | Plateau d'Hauteville Ain | 1.9 | 65% | 1.2% | 284 km |
| 10 | Robion Vaucluse | 1.8 | 24% | 100% | 48 km |
| 11 | Charly Rhône | 1.7 | 0.2% | 0% | 239 km |
| 12 | Rilhac-Rancon Haute-Vienne | 1.6 | 33% | 0% | 170 km |
| 13 | La Voulte-sur-Rhône Ardèche | 1.5 | 15% | 33% | 149 km |
| 14 | Bourgbarré Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.5 | 5.3% | 0% | 62 km |
| 15 | Saint-Martin-de-Valgalgues Gard | 1.3 | 49% | 0% | 67 km |
| 16 | Le Coudray-Montceaux Essonne | 1.2 | 19% | 0% | 182 km |
| 17 | Cléon Seine-Maritime | 1.1 | 16% | 2% | 51 km |
| 18 | Cerizay Deux-Sèvres | 1.1 | 3.5% | 0% | 67 km |
| 19 | Blendecques Pas-de-Calais | 1.1 | 18% | 84% | 32 km |
| 20 | Pignans Var | 1 | 50% | 43% | 20 km |
| 21 | Desvres Pas-de-Calais | 1 | 56% | 100% | 18 km |
| 22 | Milizac-Guipronvel Finistère | 0.9 | 6.1% | 0% | 9.1 km |
| 23 | Cysoing Nord | 0.8 | 26% | 0% | 74 km |
| 24 | Tinchebray-Bocage Orne | 0.8 | 4.9% | 0% | 48 km |
| 25 | Maraussan Hérault | 0.6 | 1.3% | 0% | 17 km |
| 26 | Fagnières Marne | 0.5 | 0.4% | 0% | 235 km |
| 27 | Écommoy Sarthe | 0.5 | 28% | 0.2% | 151 km |
| 28 | Cazères Haute-Garonne | 0.4 | 4.1% | 11% | 162 km |
| 29 | Ruy-Montceau Isère | 0.4 | 21% | 12% | 240 km |
| 30 | Conches-en-Ouche Eure | 0.4 | 51% | 0% | 68 km |
| 31 | Billom Puy-de-Dôme | 0.4 | 7.1% | 100% | 247 km |
| 32 | Saint-Jean-de-Bournay Isère | 0.4 | 15% | 0% | 229 km |
| 33 | Monnaie Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 28% | 0% | 197 km |
| 34 | Bornel Oise | 0.3 | 33% | 0.1% | 112 km |
| 35 | Vic-en-Bigorre Hautes-Pyrénées | 0.3 | 20% | 2.2% | 125 km |
| 36 | Saverdun Ariège | 0.2 | 13% | 0.7% | 123 km |
| 37 | Bazas Gironde | 0.2 | 30% | 2.9% | 69 km |
| 38 | Legé Loire-Atlantique | 0.2 | 7.2% | 0% | 33 km |
| 39 | Salbris Loir-et-Cher | 0.2 | 81% | 100% | 256 km |
| 40 | Vitry-en-Artois Pas-de-Calais | 0.2 | 5.6% | 0% | 90 km |
| 41 | Bonneval Eure-et-Loir | 0.1 | 9.3% | 30% | 159 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 Desvres
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Eperlecques leads, at 0.4 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Desvres
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Caps et Marais d’Opale Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Nature reserve
Basse Forêt 1 nature reserve
0.5% of the commune2 km from the center
Nature reserve
Basse Forêt 2 nature reserve
2.5 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Forêts de Desvres et de Boulogne et bocage prairial humide du Bas-Boulonnais
31% of the commune1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Pelouses et bois neutrocalcicoles de la cuesta sud du Boulonnais
4.5% of the commune1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Nature reserve0.8%
Natura 2000 site35%
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 Desvres’ land is protected, more than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Pas-de-Calais 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
9 km of footpaths and 11 km of hiking routes cross Desvres
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
9.2 km
1 km per km²
Hiking routes
11 km
waymarked: 1.2 km per km²
Woodland
56%
about 5.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
DesvresPas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Footpaths1
Hiking routes1.2
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
DesvresPas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Woodland56%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 69% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 94% 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 Desvres is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
5 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Les Hauts de Desvres14 km
Les Haillures13 km
Tour du Haut Pays d'Artois13 km
Tour du Boulonnais13 km
Le Champ Lart2.3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Desvres: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Licques, 15 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 | 16.5 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 104 | 85 | 72 | 61 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 93 | 94 | 127 | 143 | 146 |
April is the driest month (61 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 146 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Desvres →
Neighbors
Next to Desvres
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
SamerSaint-LéonardSaint-Étienne-au-MontSaint-Martin-BoulogneNeufchâtel-HardelotRinxentDesvres
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desvres | 100% | 56% | 1 | 18 km |
| Samer 4,704 · 7 km | 100% | 20% | 0.3 | 12 km |
| Saint-Léonard 3,353 · 15 km | 0.2% | 7.5% | 0.9 | 4 km |
| Saint-Étienne-au-Mont 5,029 · 15 km | 100% | 35% | 2.8 | On it |
| Saint-Martin-Boulogne 10,888 · 16 km | 0.1% | 8.3% | 1.7 | 2.1 km |
| Neufchâtel-Hardelot 4,115 · 16 km | 100% | 27% | 2.5 | On it |
| Rinxent 2,987 · 16 km | 100% | 11% | 0.2 | 9 km |
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 Desvres
Is Desvres in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Desvres lies in Caps et Marais d’Opale Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Desvres?
OpenStreetMap maps 9 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 11 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Desvres is woodland?
56% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Desvres near the sea?
No: the coast is 18 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Desvres?
May 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.