First pick
Les Bois Hauts
Wood or forest · 270 m outside the commune
17 ha
3.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: FrDr · CC BY-SA 4.014%woodland
Outdoors in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise is within 800 m of a park or wood
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 11 km in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise. No protected area reaches Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise; the nearest, Marais de la grenouillère (Natura 2000), is 16 km from the town center. 8 km of footpaths cross Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (1 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: Marais de la grenouillère, 16 km
Woodland
14%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
8.1 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
4
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Les Bois Hauts
The sea
47 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.
Against French towns
How Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise 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
Woodland14%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
51out of 100
Footpaths1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
32out of 100
Hiking routes1.4 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
90out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise has the 20th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,649 to 4,705 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Ban-Saint-Martin (4.6 km per km²) to Soullans (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Ban-Saint-Martin Moselle | 4.6 | 27% | 0% | 326 km |
| 2 | Bavilliers Territoire de Belfort | 4.6 | 16% | 0% | 430 km |
| 3 | La Tremblade Charente-Maritime | 4.3 | 72% | 89% | On it |
| 4 | Auzeville-Tolosane Haute-Garonne | 3.8 | 6.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 5 | L'Huisserie Mayenne | 3.8 | 16% | 0% | 80 km |
| 6 | Bièvres Essonne | 3.5 | 31% | 0% | 154 km |
| 7 | Sequedin Nord | 3.3 | 5.9% | 0% | 60 km |
| 8 | La Tour-de-Salvagny Rhône | 3.3 | 28% | 0% | 255 km |
| 9 | Le Trait Seine-Maritime | 3.1 | 63% | 100% | 33 km |
| 10 | Sangatte Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 1.7% | 99% | On it |
| 11 | Ribeauvillé Haut-Rhin | 2.7 | 72% | 100% | 461 km |
| 12 | Hallennes-lez-Haubourdin Nord | 2.7 | 1.3% | 0% | 61 km |
| 13 | Ascain Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 2.6 | 20% | 51% | 5.2 km |
| 14 | Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 2.3 | 5.8% | 0% | 258 km |
| 15 | Viuz-en-Sallaz Haute-Savoie | 1.5 | 40% | 0% | 278 km |
| 16 | Bar-sur-Aube Aube | 1.5 | 14% | 22% | 309 km |
| 17 | Blénod-lès-Pont-à-Mousson Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.3 | 20% | 11% | 343 km |
| 18 | Neufchâtel-en-Bray Seine-Maritime | 1.2 | 17% | 3.7% | 32 km |
| 19 | Saint-Paul-en-Jarez Loire | 1 | 18% | 97% | 217 km |
| 20 | Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Pas-de-Calais | 1 | 14% | 0% | 47 km |
| 21 | Mirecourt Vosges | 1 | 20% | 0% | 386 km |
| 22 | Soucieu-en-Jarrest Rhône | 1 | 15% | 0% | 240 km |
| 23 | Les Garennes sur Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.9 | 12% | 23% | 121 km |
| 24 | Graveson Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 10% | 0% | 45 km |
| 25 | Rognes Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.9 | 51% | 12% | 34 km |
| 26 | Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 3.1% | 0% | 12 km |
| 27 | La Charité-sur-Loire Nièvre | 0.8 | 9.6% | 13% | 319 km |
| 28 | Bédée Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.8 | 0.5% | 0% | 35 km |
| 29 | Flayosc Var | 0.8 | 36% | 0% | 32 km |
| 30 | Bourbon-Lancy Saône-et-Loire | 0.7 | 21% | 13% | 341 km |
| 31 | La Suze-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.6 | 31% | 0% | 132 km |
| 32 | La Bouëxière Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.6 | 35% | 0% | 48 km |
| 33 | Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas Gard | 0.6 | 4.6% | 0% | 59 km |
| 34 | Phalsbourg Moselle | 0.5 | 19% | 25% | 411 km |
| 35 | Beuzeville Eure | 0.4 | 2.8% | 0% | 10 km |
| 36 | Saint-Méen-le-Grand Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.4 | 13% | 0% | 36 km |
| 37 | Fumel Lot-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 33% | 0.1% | 135 km |
| 38 | Herrlisheim Bas-Rhin | 0.3 | 6.9% | 3.3% | 448 km |
| 39 | Samer Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 20% | 100% | 12 km |
| 40 | Saint-Georges-de-Reneins Rhône | 0.3 | 10% | 25% | 282 km |
| 41 | Soullans Vendée | 0.2 | 5.9% | 51% | 11 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 Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Les Bois Hauts leads, at 17 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc du Château
Park or garden
2.7 ha0.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
Directionsto a point inside
Le bois du Quesnoy
Wood or forest · 170 m outside the commune
3.5 ha
2 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Marais de la grenouillère is the nearest protected area, 16 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
Marais de la grenouillère
16 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
8 km of footpaths and 11 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
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
8.1 km
1 km per km²
Hiking routes
11 km
waymarked: 1.4 km per km²
Woodland
14%
about 1.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-Pol-sur-TernoisePas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Footpaths1
Hiking routes1.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-Pol-sur-TernoisePas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Woodland14%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 68% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 51% 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 Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
7 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Les Sources de la Ternoise11 km
Le Fossé Cagnu11 km
Tour du Ternois Sud11 km
Tour du Ternois Nord9.5 km
Le Vert Tilleul5.5 km
Le Moulin Blanc4 km
Sentier du Saint-Benoît3.5 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Fiefs, 14 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 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 104 | 87 | 76 | 64 | 76 | 74 | 81 | 85 | 83 | 101 | 113 | 126 |
April is the driest month (64 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). 126 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 53 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
FréventDivionCauchy-à-la-TourCalonne-RicouartHoudainAuchelSaint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | 0% | 14% | 1 | 47 km |
| Frévent 3,259 · 12 km | 0% | 13% | 0.7 | 44 km |
| Divion 6,766 · 16 km | 0% | 12% | 1.4 | 57 km |
| Cauchy-à-la-Tour 2,593 · 16 km | 0% | 0.4% | 0.1 | 54 km |
| Calonne-Ricouart 5,369 · 16 km | 0% | 1.5% | 1.8 | 56 km |
| Houdain 6,945 · 17 km | 0% | 7% | 1.7 | 60 km |
| Auchel 10,051 · 17 km | 0% | 8.6% | 3.1 | 55 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 Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
Is Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Marais de la grenouillère, 16 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
OpenStreetMap maps 8 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 Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise is woodland?
14% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise near the sea?
No: the coast is 47 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise?
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.