First pick
Forêt sectionale des Cheix de Valcivières
Wood or forest
238 ha3.3 km of path
45 minto walk all 3.3 km of path
5.1 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Communauté de communes Ambert Livradois Forez · CC BY-SA 2.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Ambert · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Ambert lies inside Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Ambert’s land. Mapped woodland covers 44% of Ambert. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 42 km in Ambert. 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
44%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
43 km
0.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
42 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
7
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt sectionale des Cheix de Valcivières
Throughout this page, the Puy-de-Dôme 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 Ambert?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune44% mapped woodland, more than in 88% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Ambert apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Ambert 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
96out of 100
Woodland44%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
88out of 100
Footpaths0.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
22out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
72out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Ambert has the 11th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (6,471 to 6,563 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From La Montagne (5.6 km per km²) to Le Mené (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Montagne Loire-Atlantique | 5.6 | 18% | 9.4% | 28 km |
| 2 | Champigneulles Meurthe-et-Moselle | 4.7 | 77% | 0% | 361 km |
| 3 | La Mulatière Rhône | 4 | 9.1% | 0% | 248 km |
| 4 | Vezin-le-Coquet Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.9 | 3.6% | 0% | 45 km |
| 5 | Marange-Silvange Moselle | 3.4 | 52% | 0% | 317 km |
| 6 | Saint-Priest-en-Jarez Loire | 3.3 | 0.6% | 0% | 214 km |
| 7 | Longpont-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.2 | 15% | 0% | 166 km |
| 8 | Villers-Saint-Paul Oise | 3.2 | 16% | 0% | 115 km |
| 9 | Limours Essonne | 3.1 | 22% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 10 | Saint-Alban Haute-Garonne | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 152 km |
| 11 | Cormontreuil Marne | 2.9 | 6.1% | 1.5% | 202 km |
| 12 | L'Arbresle Rhône | 2.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 256 km |
| 13 | Calvisson Gard | 2.7 | 27% | 0% | 27 km |
| 14 | Ondres Landes | 2.5 | 59% | 5.2% | On it |
| 15 | La Bouilladisse Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.4 | 40% | 0% | 21 km |
| 16 | Marignier Haute-Savoie | 2.3 | 56% | 3.3% | 268 km |
| 17 | Changé Mayenne | 2.3 | 2.7% | 0% | 73 km |
| 18 | Neuves-Maisons Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.2 | 5.8% | 0% | 365 km |
| 19 | Eaunes Haute-Garonne | 1.9 | 15% | 0% | 146 km |
| 20 | Gouesnou Finistère | 1.7 | 7.4% | 0% | 6.2 km |
| 21 | Grézieu-la-Varenne Rhône | 1.7 | 9.3% | 0% | 248 km |
| 22 | Ploudalmézeau Finistère | 1.7 | 3.4% | 4.3% | On it |
| 23 | Bon-Encontre Lot-et-Garonne | 1.6 | 8.4% | 0% | 134 km |
| 24 | Le Perray-en-Yvelines Yvelines | 1.6 | 33% | 100% | 137 km |
| 25 | Saint-Pathus Seine-et-Marne | 1.4 | 1.7% | 0% | 147 km |
| 26 | Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds Loire | 1.4 | 12% | 0% | 212 km |
| 27 | Champagne-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 66% | 0% | 210 km |
| 28 | Rives Isère | 1.1 | 13% | 0% | 217 km |
| 29 | Eu Seine-Maritime | 1 | 24% | 0.6% | 3.3 km |
| 30 | La Chevrolière Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 16% | 11% | 29 km |
| 31 | Ambert Puy-de-Dôme | 0.7 | 44% | 100% | 223 km |
| 32 | Brioude Haute-Loire | 0.7 | 7.1% | 1.6% | 200 km |
| 33 | Chatuzange-le-Goubet Drôme | 0.6 | 11% | 0% | 175 km |
| 34 | Arès Gironde | 0.6 | 87% | 1.3% | On it |
| 35 | Gueugnon Saône-et-Loire | 0.5 | 17% | 0% | 338 km |
| 36 | Sainte-Rose Réunion | 0.5 | 48% | 100% | On it |
| 37 | Estaires Nord | 0.4 | 0.7% | 0% | 50 km |
| 38 | Condom Gers | 0.4 | 11% | 0% | 136 km |
| 39 | Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot Lot-et-Garonne | 0.3 | 2.4% | 0.2% | 115 km |
| 40 | Lezoux Puy-de-Dôme | 0.2 | 19% | 5.3% | 258 km |
| 41 | Le Mené Côtes-d'Armor | 0.2 | 12% | 0% | 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 Ambert
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt sectionale des Cheix de Valcivières leads, at 238 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Base de loisirs Val Dore
Park or garden
11 ha2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
1 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois de Boulogne
Wood or forest
12 ha2.4 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.4 km of path
1.3 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt sectionale de la Chaux
Wood or forest
14 ha
2.9 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Forêt sectionale de la Collange
Wood or forest
8.3 ha0.4 km of path
3.3 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin Chabrier
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Ambert
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Ambert
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Dore et affluents
14% of the commune0.4 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Monts du Forez
6.7 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site14%
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 Ambert’s land is protected, more than in 96% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Puy-de-Dôme has 3.2%. 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
43 km of footpaths and 42 km of hiking routes cross Ambert
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
43 km
0.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
42 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
44%
about 26.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AmbertPuy-de-Dôme medianFrance median
Footpaths0.7
Hiking routes0.7
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AmbertPuy-de-Dôme medianFrance median
Woodland44%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 78% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 88% 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 Ambert is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
16 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Tour de Pays en Livradois-Forez31 km
Le Ruisseau des Escures12 km
d'Ambert au Monestier11 km
Le long du Batifol9.9 km
Sur les pas de Gaspard des Montagnes8.1 km
Saint-Martin Des Olmes8.1 km
Les Communaux de l'Achant8 km
Le Sentier de la Vaisse7.5 km
d'Ambert à Champétières7.4 km
Le sentier des Papetiers6.8 km
d'Ambert à Saint-Férréol-des-Côtes5.8 km
La Vallée de Billeyre5.5 km
+4 more
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Ambert: April, June, August and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Ambert, 3.6 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 48 | 47 | 65 | 90 | 79 | 90 | 87 | 81 | 77 | 81 | 58 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 90 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 99 nights a year. The climate in Ambert →
Neighbors
Next to Ambert
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
MontbrisonSavigneuxCourpièreAmbert
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambert | 100% | 44% | 0.7 |
| Montbrison 16,123 · 26 km | 4.8% | 5.7% | 1.3 |
| Savigneux 3,509 · 27 km | 66% | 3% | 0.6 |
| Courpière 4,166 · 28 km | 100% | 36% | 0.2 |
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 Ambert
Is Ambert in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Ambert lies in Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Ambert?
OpenStreetMap maps 43 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 42 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Ambert is woodland?
44% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Ambert near the sea?
No: the coast is 223 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Ambert?
April, June, August and 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 8, 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.