First pick
Parc des Gunchères
Park or garden
1.1 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
Centralin the middle of Châtel-Guyon
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Joël DAMASE · CC BY-SA 3.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Châtel-Guyon · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Châtel-Guyon lies inside Volcans d’Auvergne Regional Nature Park
100% of Châtel-Guyon’s land lies in protected areas. 41% of Châtel-Guyon is mapped woodland. Footpaths add up to 50 km across Châtel-Guyon (3.5 km per km²). 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
41%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
50 km
3.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
3
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc des Gunchères
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 Châtel-Guyon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Volcans d’Auvergne Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune41% mapped woodland, more than in 86% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.A place of footpaths3.5 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.On waymarked routes14 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Châtel-Guyon apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Châtel-Guyon 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
93out of 100
Woodland41%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
86out of 100
Footpaths3.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
80out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
83out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Châtel-Guyon has the 6th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (6,234 to 6,367 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Ambilly (6.6 km per km²) to Fleurance (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambilly Haute-Savoie | 6.6 | 1.9% | 0% | 287 km |
| 2 | Nandy Seine-et-Marne | 5.7 | 64% | 0% | 183 km |
| 3 | Le Mesnil-le-Roi Yvelines | 3.9 | 13% | 0% | 133 km |
| 4 | Wimereux Pas-de-Calais | 3.9 | 3.6% | 100% | On it |
| 5 | Jassans-Riottier Ain | 3.9 | 9.6% | 0% | 274 km |
| 6 | Châtel-Guyon Puy-de-Dôme | 3.5 | 41% | 100% | 273 km |
| 7 | Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 3.3 | 15% | 0% | 255 km |
| 8 | Dompierre-sur-Mer Charente-Maritime | 2.8 | 6.2% | 0% | 7 km |
| 9 | Pont-de-Chéruy Isère | 2.8 | 12% | 0% | 257 km |
| 10 | Thyez Haute-Savoie | 2.7 | 29% | 2.7% | 267 km |
| 11 | Lallaing Nord | 2.7 | 16% | 98% | 89 km |
| 12 | Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Mesmin Loiret | 2.7 | 7% | 20% | 206 km |
| 13 | Louvroil Nord | 2.7 | 5.6% | 0% | 131 km |
| 14 | Cuges-les-Pins Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.6 | 37% | 100% | 10 km |
| 15 | Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 2.4 | 21% | 0% | 257 km |
| 16 | Solliès-Toucas Var | 2.4 | 61% | 56% | 11 km |
| 17 | Homécourt Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.3 | 28% | 0% | 311 km |
| 18 | Avallon Yonne | 1.9 | 45% | 100% | 340 km |
| 19 | Pluneret Morbihan | 1.8 | 19% | 100% | On it |
| 20 | Plescop Morbihan | 1.8 | 6.3% | 100% | 4.6 km |
| 21 | Bonchamp-lès-Laval Mayenne | 1.7 | 1.2% | 0% | 79 km |
| 22 | Châtenoy-le-Royal Saône-et-Loire | 1.5 | 16% | 0% | 364 km |
| 23 | Vaugneray Rhône | 1.5 | 31% | 0% | 246 km |
| 24 | Givet Ardennes | 1.5 | 23% | 100% | 179 km |
| 25 | Milhaud Gard | 1.4 | 30% | 8% | 31 km |
| 26 | Mornant Rhône | 1.3 | 6.3% | 0% | 233 km |
| 27 | Arpajon-sur-Cère Cantal | 1.2 | 24% | 0.2% | 192 km |
| 28 | Vouneuil-sous-Biard Vienne | 1.2 | 28% | 0% | 112 km |
| 29 | Migné-Auxances Vienne | 1.1 | 7.4% | 16% | 116 km |
| 30 | Esvres Indre-et-Loire | 1 | 31% | 0% | 183 km |
| 31 | Mazan Vaucluse | 1 | 13% | 100% | 70 km |
| 32 | Loches Indre-et-Loire | 0.9 | 17% | 5% | 186 km |
| 33 | Bellevigny Vendée | 0.9 | 7.1% | 0% | 38 km |
| 34 | Baud Morbihan | 0.8 | 37% | 0% | 17 km |
| 35 | Noyal-sur-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.8 | 6.9% | 0% | 55 km |
| 36 | Mer Loir-et-Cher | 0.8 | 8.5% | 22% | 211 km |
| 37 | Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx Landes | 0.7 | 51% | 33% | 9.2 km |
| 38 | Bons-en-Chablais Haute-Savoie | 0.7 | 38% | 5.3% | 290 km |
| 39 | Villemur-sur-Tarn Haute-Garonne | 0.5 | 12% | 1.2% | 156 km |
| 40 | Belin-Béliet Gironde | 0.4 | 86% | 100% | 26 km |
| 41 | Fleurance Gers | 0.4 | 10% | 0% | 161 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 Châtel-Guyon
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Gunchères leads, at 1.1 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Forêt communale de Châtel-Guyon
Wood or forest
4.5 ha0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
0.7 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin de la Mouniaude
Park or garden
0.5 ha
0.7 km eastfrom the center
Jardin de la Mouniaude
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 Châtel-Guyon
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Volcans d’Auvergne Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Vallées et côteaux thermophiles au nord de Clermont-Ferrand
1.7 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site0.2%
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 Châtel-Guyon’s land is protected, more than in 93% 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
50 km of footpaths and 14 km of hiking routes cross Châtel-Guyon
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
50 km
3.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
41%
about 5.8 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Châtel-GuyonPuy-de-Dôme medianFrance median
Footpaths3.5
Hiking routes1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Châtel-GuyonPuy-de-Dôme medianFrance median
Woodland41%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 80% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 86% 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 Châtel-Guyon is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
8 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
La Vallee des Prades11 km
Le tour du puy de Gramont9.4 km
Les Vignes de Ronchalon8.8 km
Le Sentier des Trois Clochers4.6 km
La Vallée du Sans-Souci4.5 km
Les Gorges d'Enval1.4 km
De Saint-Ours à Volvic1.4 km
Les Sources de Volvic0.5 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Châtel-Guyon: April to June, August and September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Sayat_Sapc, 9.2 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 48 | 50 | 73 | 74 | 71 | 78 | 67 | 66 | 60 | 69 | 64 |
February is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 78 mm of rain falls in July, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 56 nights a year. The climate in Châtel-Guyon →
Neighbors
Next to Châtel-Guyon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
MozacRiomVolvicChâteaugaySayatBlanzatChâtel-Guyon
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
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 Châtel-Guyon
Is Châtel-Guyon in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Châtel-Guyon lies in Volcans d’Auvergne Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Châtel-Guyon?
OpenStreetMap maps 50 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 14 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Châtel-Guyon is woodland?
41% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Châtel-Guyon near the sea?
No: the coast is 273 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Châtel-Guyon?
April to 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 4, 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.