First pick
Les Grandes Prairies
Park or garden
21 ha4.2 km of path
55 minto walk all 4.2 km of path
0.8 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Floflo62 · CC BY-SA 4.06.1%woodland
Outdoors in Sainte-Catherine · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Sainte-Catherine is within 800 m of a park or wood
15 km of footpaths cross Sainte-Catherine (3.3 km per km²). No protected area reaches Sainte-Catherine; the nearest, Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe (Natura 2000), is 22 km from the town center. 6.1% of Sainte-Catherine is mapped woodland. 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, 22 km
Woodland
6.1%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
15 km
3.3 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.4 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 Grandes Prairies
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 Sainte-Catherine 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
Woodland6.1%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
27out of 100
Footpaths3.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
78out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
48out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Sainte-Catherine has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,441 to 3,500 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Sainte-Catherine (3.3 km per km²) to Crèvecœur-le-Grand (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sainte-Catherine Pas-de-Calais | 3.3 | 6.1% | 0% | 78 km |
| 2 | Moûtiers Savoie | 3.1 | 52% | 0% | 204 km |
| 3 | Lapugnoy Pas-de-Calais | 3 | 42% | 0% | 60 km |
| 4 | Verquin Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 5.5% | 0% | 62 km |
| 5 | Barbazan-Debat Hautes-Pyrénées | 2.6 | 47% | 0% | 136 km |
| 6 | Choisy-au-Bac Oise | 2.5 | 62% | 56% | 119 km |
| 7 | La Buisse Isère | 2.4 | 35% | 61% | 218 km |
| 8 | Haucourt-Moulaine Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2 | 34% | 0% | 278 km |
| 9 | Vals-les-Bains Ardèche | 2 | 73% | 100% | 125 km |
| 10 | Ligugé Vienne | 1.8 | 38% | 0% | 114 km |
| 11 | Culoz-Béon Ain | 1.8 | 57% | 22% | 267 km |
| 12 | Taninges Haute-Savoie | 1.8 | 57% | 28% | 268 km |
| 13 | Aubin Aveyron | 1.7 | 49% | 2.3% | 166 km |
| 14 | La Boisse Ain | 1.7 | 16% | 0% | 265 km |
| 15 | La Chapelle-Heulin Loire-Atlantique | 1.6 | 15% | 17% | 51 km |
| 16 | Lampertheim Bas-Rhin | 1.6 | 1.2% | 0% | 443 km |
| 17 | Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan Charente-Maritime | 1.6 | 16% | 16% | On it |
| 18 | Mauriac Cantal | 1.4 | 22% | 17% | 227 km |
| 19 | Les Belleville Savoie | 1.4 | 15% | 71% | 194 km |
| 20 | Saint-Jeoire Haute-Savoie | 1.3 | 64% | 0% | 275 km |
| 21 | Langeac Haute-Loire | 1.1 | 48% | 100% | 176 km |
| 22 | Saint-Ambroix Gard | 1 | 30% | 100% | 78 km |
| 23 | Artix Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.9 | 15% | 38% | 76 km |
| 24 | Ruffec Charente | 0.9 | 30% | 0% | 91 km |
| 25 | Bourcefranc-le-Chapus Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 7.9% | 46% | On it |
| 26 | Ruaudin Sarthe | 0.9 | 34% | 0% | 142 km |
| 27 | Bréhal Manche | 0.8 | 3.9% | 1.8% | 2.8 km |
| 28 | Mirande Gers | 0.8 | 20% | 0% | 150 km |
| 29 | Saint-Cyr-en-Val Loiret | 0.7 | 33% | 36% | 214 km |
| 30 | Val-de-Cognac Charente | 0.7 | 23% | 8.1% | 45 km |
| 31 | Chanceaux-sur-Choisille Indre-et-Loire | 0.6 | 17% | 0% | 190 km |
| 32 | Varilhes Ariège | 0.6 | 17% | 2.6% | 116 km |
| 33 | Moult-Chicheboville Calvados | 0.5 | 8.3% | 6% | 19 km |
| 34 | Saint-Éloy-les-Mines Puy-de-Dôme | 0.5 | 23% | 0% | 290 km |
| 35 | Bournezeau Vendée | 0.3 | 9.3% | 0% | 35 km |
| 36 | Le Porge Gironde | 0.3 | 89% | 100% | On it |
| 37 | Le Mérévillois Essonne | 0.3 | 8.2% | 0% | 178 km |
| 38 | Hornaing Nord | 0.3 | 8.8% | 99% | 98 km |
| 39 | Villeneuve-la-Guyard Yonne | 0.2 | 18% | 0.2% | 227 km |
| 40 | Steenwerck Nord | 0.2 | 0.8% | 0% | 47 km |
| 41 | Crèvecœur-le-Grand Oise | 0.1 | 4.3% | 0% | 70 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 Sainte-Catherine
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Les Grandes Prairies leads, at 21 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de la Pècherie
Park or garden
4.7 ha1.3 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Sainte-Catherine
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin Minelle
Park or garden · 330 m outside the commune
1.7 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
1.4 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe is the nearest protected area, 22 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
22 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
15 km of footpaths cross Sainte-Catherine
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
15 km
3.3 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.4 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
6.1%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Sainte-CatherinePas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Footpaths3.3
Hiking routes0.3
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Sainte-CatherinePas-de-Calais medianFrance median
Woodland6.1%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 78% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 73% 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 Sainte-Catherine 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 1218.2 km
GR 1451.2 km
Loué - Arras6.6 km
Via Francigena France 01, Calais - Arras5 km
Arras - Bavincourt2.5 km
2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Sainte-Catherine: GR 121 and GR 145.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Sainte-Catherine: May to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Arras, 9.6 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 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 57 | 49 | 50 | 43 | 61 | 61 | 65 | 63 | 58 | 65 | 64 | 76 |
April is the driest month (43 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 24 °C). 76 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Sainte-Catherine →
Neighbors
Next to Sainte-Catherine
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Anzin-Saint-AubinSaint-NicolasArrasSaint-Laurent-BlangyDainvilleAchicourtSainte-Catherine
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Catherine | 0% | 6.1% | 3.3 |
| Anzin-Saint-Aubin 2,833 · 1.6 km | 0% | 6.2% | 1.7 |
| Saint-Nicolas 4,494 · 1.6 km | 0% | 2.8% | 4.8 |
| Arras 42,875 · 2 km | 0% | 3.4% | 6.5 |
| Saint-Laurent-Blangy 6,459 · 3 km | 0% | 7.9% | 3.8 |
| Dainville 5,683 · 3.5 km | 0% | 4.1% | 2 |
| Achicourt 7,873 · 4 km | 0% | 4% | 3.6 |
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 Sainte-Catherine
Is Sainte-Catherine in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Pelouses métallicoles de la plaine de la Scarpe, 22 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Sainte-Catherine?
OpenStreetMap maps 15 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 1 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Sainte-Catherine is woodland?
6.1% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Sainte-Catherine near the sea?
No: the coast is 78 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Sainte-Catherine?
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.