First pick
Forêt de Bareilles
Wood or forest · 380 m outside the commune
443 ha
8.7 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Duch.gege · CC BY-SA 4.07.6%of the land protected
Outdoors in Le Lude · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Le Lude is within 800 m of a park or wood
35 km of footpaths cross Le Lude (0.5 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 23% of Le Lude. Protected areas cover 7.6% of Le Lude’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
7.6%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
23%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
35 km
0.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
25 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Bareilles
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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 Le Lude 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 areas7.6%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
69out of 100
Woodland23%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
67out of 100
Footpaths0.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
14out of 100
Hiking routes0.4 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
51out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Le Lude has the 8th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,957 to 4,009 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Vaulnaveys-le-Haut (2.2 km per km²) to Aiguillon (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vaulnaveys-le-Haut Isère | 2.2 | 67% | 0% | 195 km |
| 2 | Erdeven Morbihan | 2.1 | 14% | 22% | On it |
| 3 | Allevard Isère | 2 | 55% | 0% | 211 km |
| 4 | Pujaut Gard | 2 | 10% | 0% | 62 km |
| 5 | Condrieu Rhône | 2 | 20% | 100% | 219 km |
| 6 | Mozac Puy-de-Dôme | 2 | 1.7% | 0% | 270 km |
| 7 | Toufflers Nord | 1.9 | 0.4% | 0% | 65 km |
| 8 | Pléneuf-Val-André Côtes-d'Armor | 1.8 | 10% | 2.6% | On it |
| 9 | Oberhoffen-sur-Moder Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 25% | 11% | 442 km |
| 10 | Hondschoote Nord | 1.6 | 0% | 0% | 12 km |
| 11 | Argences Calvados | 1.5 | 16% | 0% | 18 km |
| 12 | Rives-en-Seine Seine-Maritime | 1.4 | 42% | 100% | 28 km |
| 13 | Le Plessis-Belleville Oise | 1.4 | 1.5% | 0.1% | 143 km |
| 14 | Porte-de-Savoie Savoie | 1.4 | 18% | 86% | 224 km |
| 15 | Erquy Côtes-d'Armor | 1.4 | 6.8% | 15% | On it |
| 16 | Duclair Seine-Maritime | 1.3 | 8.1% | 100% | 37 km |
| 17 | Boos Seine-Maritime | 1.2 | 21% | 0% | 60 km |
| 18 | Rousies Nord | 1.2 | 20% | 100% | 132 km |
| 19 | Ingwiller Bas-Rhin | 1.2 | 61% | 100% | 414 km |
| 20 | La Gacilly Morbihan | 1.1 | 27% | 4.9% | 34 km |
| 21 | Fourchambault Nièvre | 1.1 | 16% | 11% | 332 km |
| 22 | Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu Loire-Atlantique | 1.1 | 30% | 19% | 29 km |
| 23 | Plouvien Finistère | 1 | 9.4% | 0.6% | 3.9 km |
| 24 | Propriano Corse-du-Sud | 1 | 19% | 3.7% | On it |
| 25 | Fontaine-le-Comte Vienne | 0.9 | 20% | 0% | 110 km |
| 26 | Semur-en-Auxois Côte-d'Or | 0.9 | 21% | 0% | 357 km |
| 27 | Masny Nord | 0.9 | 4% | 0% | 95 km |
| 28 | Cires-lès-Mello Oise | 0.8 | 36% | 0% | 112 km |
| 29 | Sailly-sur-la-Lys Pas-de-Calais | 0.8 | 1.3% | 0.9% | 51 km |
| 30 | Le Bignon Loire-Atlantique | 0.8 | 14% | 0% | 37 km |
| 31 | Raimbeaucourt Nord | 0.7 | 16% | 99% | 83 km |
| 32 | Villeveyrac Hérault | 0.6 | 7% | 85% | 12 km |
| 33 | Gourin Morbihan | 0.6 | 12% | 1.7% | 34 km |
| 34 | Le Lude Sarthe | 0.5 | 23% | 7.6% | 157 km |
| 35 | Saint-Fulgent Vendée | 0.5 | 5.8% | 0% | 57 km |
| 36 | Châtelaudren-Plouagat Côtes-d'Armor | 0.5 | 4.2% | 0% | 14 km |
| 37 | Les Villages Vovéens Eure-et-Loir | 0.4 | 7.4% | 5% | 159 km |
| 38 | Poligny Jura | 0.4 | 77% | 0.1% | 368 km |
| 39 | Salses-le-Château Pyrénées-Orientales | 0.3 | 4.1% | 34% | 10 km |
| 40 | Grand Bourgtheroulde Eure | 0.3 | 4.2% | 0% | 40 km |
| 41 | Aiguillon Lot-et-Garonne | 0.1 | 1.4% | 2.5% | 108 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 Le Lude
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Bareilles leads, at 443 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardins du Château
Park or garden
46 ha8 km of path
1 h 45 minto walk all 8 km of path
0.8 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
7.6% of Le Lude lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Vallée du Loir de Vaas à Bazouges
7.6% of the commune0.8 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area7.6%
Natura 2000 site7.6%
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.
7.6% of Le Lude’s land is protected, more than in 69% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Sarthe has 0%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
35 km of footpaths and 25 km of hiking routes cross Le Lude
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
35 km
0.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
25 km
waymarked: 0.4 km per km²
Woodland
23%
about 15.8 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Le LudeSarthe medianFrance median
Footpaths0.5
Hiking routes0.4
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Le LudeSarthe medianFrance median
Woodland23%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 86% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 67% 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 Le Lude is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
du Lude à Rochefort16 km
De la Manche aux Pyrénées 08, Le Lude - Saumur11 km
De la Manche aux Pyrénées 07, Saint-Mars-d'Outillé - Le Lude10 km
de Château-du-Loir au Lude8.7 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Le Lude: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Thoree les Pins, 10 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 71 | 57 | 54 | 54 | 58 | 51 | 56 | 52 | 61 | 75 | 75 | 81 |
June is the driest month (51 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 81 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 44 nights a year. The climate in Le Lude →
Neighbors
Next to Le Lude
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Noyant-VillagesMayetLa FlècheMontval-sur-LoirCérans-FoulletourteBaugé-en-AnjouLe Lude
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Lude | 7.6% | 23% | 0.5 |
| Noyant-Villages 5,448 · 15 km | 13% | 23% | 0.1 |
| Mayet 3,187 · 16 km | 40% | 38% | 0.5 |
| La Flèche 14,947 · 18 km | 11% | 34% | 1.3 |
| Montval-sur-Loir 5,641 · 21 km | 0% | 5.9% | 1 |
| Cérans-Foulletourte 3,341 · 22 km | 0% | 34% | 0.2 |
| Baugé-en-Anjou 11,712 · 22 km | 0.5% | 31% | 0.4 |
Mayet has at least twice as much protected land. Mayet is more wooded.
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 Le Lude
Is Le Lude in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 7.6% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Le Lude?
OpenStreetMap maps 35 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 25 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Le Lude is woodland?
23% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Le Lude near the sea?
No: the coast is 157 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Le Lude?
April 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 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.