First pick
Parc du Clos Besson
Park or garden
1.3 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
Centralin the middle of Barby
Chemin des Écoliers
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.039%of the land protected
Outdoors in Barby · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Barby has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 17 km across Barby (6.7 km per km²). Barby has 5 km of waymarked hiking routes. 39% of Barby’s land lies in protected areas. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
39%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
35%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
17 km
6.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
5 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: Parc du Clos Besson
Throughout this page, the Savoie 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 Barby?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths6.7 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected countryside39% of the land lies in protected areas.A wooded commune35% mapped woodland, more than in 82% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Barby apart: its footpaths, then its protected countryside.
Against French towns
How Barby 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 areas39%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland35%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
82out of 100
Footpaths6.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
96out of 100
Hiking routes2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
96out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Barby has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,740 to 3,804 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Barby (6.7 km per km²) to Courtenay (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barby Savoie | 6.7 | 35% | 39% | 232 km |
| 2 | Bruyères-le-Châtel Essonne | 4.2 | 64% | 0.1% | 163 km |
| 3 | Doussard Haute-Savoie | 2.7 | 53% | 100% | 244 km |
| 4 | Bouliac Gironde | 2.6 | 13% | 4.7% | 22 km |
| 5 | Montmerle-sur-Saône Ain | 2.4 | 13% | 20% | 286 km |
| 6 | Grand-Aigueblanche Savoie | 2.4 | 63% | 0.1% | 208 km |
| 7 | Les Rousses Jura | 2.3 | 52% | 100% | 321 km |
| 8 | Sospel Alpes-Maritimes | 2 | 57% | 100% | 12 km |
| 9 | Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise Rhône | 1.9 | 1.9% | 0% | 232 km |
| 10 | Saint-Mihiel Meuse | 1.8 | 66% | 7.4% | 314 km |
| 11 | Charlieu Loire | 1.7 | 5.4% | 0% | 289 km |
| 12 | Malville Loire-Atlantique | 1.7 | 17% | 1.9% | 24 km |
| 13 | La Bazoge Sarthe | 1.6 | 25% | 0% | 126 km |
| 14 | Alénya Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.5 | 0.1% | 5.7% | 4.4 km |
| 15 | Torreilles Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.5 | 0.4% | 20% | On it |
| 16 | Ploubezre Côtes-d'Armor | 1.3 | 17% | 6.5% | 3.3 km |
| 17 | Saint-Ay Loiret | 1.3 | 6.3% | 10% | 203 km |
| 18 | Varennes-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 1.7% | 38% | 218 km |
| 19 | Échillais Charente-Maritime | 1.2 | 9% | 8.5% | On it |
| 20 | Saint-Clair-du-Rhône Isère | 1.2 | 19% | 0.2% | 216 km |
| 21 | Rœulx Nord | 1.2 | 0.4% | 0% | 103 km |
| 22 | Saïx Tarn | 0.9 | 12% | 3.3% | 93 km |
| 23 | Saint-Martin-la-Plaine Loire | 0.9 | 11% | 0% | 224 km |
| 24 | Brantôme en Périgord Dordogne | 0.8 | 48% | 20% | 104 km |
| 25 | Bapaume Pas-de-Calais | 0.8 | 0.9% | 0% | 84 km |
| 26 | Pujols Lot-et-Garonne | 0.8 | 12% | 0% | 123 km |
| 27 | Bouxwiller Bas-Rhin | 0.7 | 11% | 0.3% | 418 km |
| 28 | Bénesse-Maremne Landes | 0.7 | 42% | 0.1% | 6.6 km |
| 29 | Lavernose-Lacasse Haute-Garonne | 0.7 | 2.6% | 0% | 153 km |
| 30 | Pannes Loiret | 0.7 | 8.9% | 0% | 233 km |
| 31 | Fougerolles-Saint-Valbert Haute-Saône | 0.7 | 36% | 100% | 429 km |
| 32 | Sartène Corse-du-Sud | 0.4 | 17% | 39% | On it |
| 33 | Labastide-Saint-Pierre Tarn-et-Garonne | 0.4 | 3.4% | 1.5% | 169 km |
| 34 | Puiseux-en-France Val-d'Oise | 0.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 138 km |
| 35 | Chauconin-Neufmontiers Seine-et-Marne | 0.3 | 4.2% | 0% | 158 km |
| 36 | Plémet Côtes-d'Armor | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | 35 km |
| 37 | Nazelles-Négron Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 17% | 4.5% | 202 km |
| 38 | Terres-de-Haute-Charente Charente | 0.3 | 23% | 0% | 116 km |
| 39 | Montreuil-Bellay Maine-et-Loire | 0.2 | 8.5% | 100% | 119 km |
| 40 | Val de Virvée Gironde | 0.1 | 12% | 0% | 16 km |
| 41 | Courtenay Loiret | 0 | 20% | 0% | 253 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 Barby
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc du Clos Besson leads, at 1.3 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Malatray
Park or garden
1 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Barby
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
39% of Barby lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Massif des Bauges Regional Nature Park
39% of the commune0.3 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area39%
Regional nature park39%
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.
39% of Barby’s land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Savoie has 4.7%. 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
Footpaths and woods in Barby
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
17 km
6.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
5 km
waymarked: 2 km per km²
Woodland
35%
about 0.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BarbySavoie medianFrance median
Footpaths6.7
Hiking routes2
048 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BarbySavoie medianFrance median
Woodland35%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 96% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 82% 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 Barby 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
Circuit de la Miat5.3 km
Tour du Mont Peney5.2 km
Boucle du Marais des Chassettes3.4 km
Grande cascade de la Doria2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Barby: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Challes les Eaux, 1 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) | 6 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 23 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 95 | 74 | 87 | 83 | 100 | 97 | 93 | 100 | 97 | 101 | 108 | 112 |
February is the driest month (74 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 112 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 80 nights a year. The climate in Barby →
Neighbors
Next to Barby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
La RavoireSaint-Alban-LeysseChalles-les-EauxBarberazBassensSaint-BaldophBarby
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barby | 39% | 35% | 6.7 |
| La Ravoire 9,332 · 1.7 km | 0% | 14% | 5.3 |
| Saint-Alban-Leysse 6,734 · 1.9 km | 75% | 44% | 4.2 |
| Challes-les-Eaux 5,630 · 2.6 km | 40% | 32% | 3.9 |
| Barberaz 5,306 · 2.9 km | 50% | 26% | 4.4 |
| Bassens 5,175 · 3.1 km | 0.1% | 18% | 6.2 |
| Saint-Baldoph 2,949 · 4.8 km | 100% | 45% | 2.5 |
Saint-Baldoph has at least twice as much protected land.
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 Barby
Is Barby in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Barby lies in Massif des Bauges Regional Nature Park (39% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Barby?
OpenStreetMap maps 17 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 6.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 5 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Barby is woodland?
35% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Barby near the sea?
No: the coast is 232 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Barby?
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 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.