First pick
Rivièr'Alp
Park or garden
6.9 ha1.7 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.7 km of path
0.9 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Les Échelles · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Les Échelles lies inside Chartreuse Regional Nature Park
100% of Les Échelles’ land lies in protected areas. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 6 km in Les Échelles. 16% of Les Échelles is mapped woodland. 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
16%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
6.4 km
1.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
6.4 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
1
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Rivièr'Alp
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 Les Échelles?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Chartreuse Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.On waymarked routes6 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.
What sets Les Échelles apart: the regional nature park around it, then its hiking routes.
Against French towns
How Les Échelles 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
99out of 100
Woodland16%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
56out of 100
Footpaths1.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
51out of 100
Hiking routes1.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
94out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Les Échelles has the 11th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (1,286 to 2,582 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From École-Valentin (3.9 km per km²) to Bouligny (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | École-Valentin Doubs | 3.9 | 16% | 0% | 405 km |
| 2 | Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Gironde | 3.7 | 0% | 8.7% | 66 km |
| 3 | Mers-les-Bains Somme | 3.5 | 10% | 100% | On it |
| 4 | Villejust Essonne | 2.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 160 km |
| 5 | Sainte-Feyre Creuse | 2.1 | 30% | 0% | 222 km |
| 6 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 7 | Sain-Bel Rhône | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 253 km |
| 8 | La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur Calvados | 1.8 | 14% | 29% | On it |
| 9 | Fareins Ain | 1.8 | 8.8% | 0.1% | 279 km |
| 10 | Entzheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 449 km |
| 11 | Les Échelles Savoie | 1.7 | 16% | 100% | 228 km |
| 12 | Mornas Vaucluse | 1.5 | 35% | 5% | 84 km |
| 13 | Watten Nord | 1.4 | 24% | 100% | 18 km |
| 14 | Rantigny Oise | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 109 km |
| 15 | Beautor Aisne | 1.3 | 3.6% | 40% | 133 km |
| 16 | Conques-sur-Orbiel Aude | 1.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 60 km |
| 17 | Barcelonnette Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.3 | 46% | 100% | 91 km |
| 18 | Granges-Aumontzey Vosges | 1.1 | 70% | 90% | 436 km |
| 19 | Cattenom Moselle | 1.1 | 37% | 0% | 308 km |
| 20 | Prayssac Lot | 1 | 42% | 0% | 151 km |
| 21 | Chatte Isère | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 190 km |
| 22 | Arelaune-en-Seine Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 69% | 100% | 29 km |
| 23 | La Croix-en-Touraine Indre-et-Loire | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 199 km |
| 24 | Criel-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 4.9% | 7% | On it |
| 25 | Lusignan Vienne | 0.7 | 17% | 0% | 97 km |
| 26 | Avelin Nord | 0.6 | 6.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 27 | Civray Vienne | 0.5 | 19% | 0% | 101 km |
| 28 | Le Cailar Gard | 0.4 | 2% | 68% | 17 km |
| 29 | Vervins Aisne | 0.4 | 1.1% | 0% | 164 km |
| 30 | Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt Dordogne | 0.4 | 13% | 2.1% | 65 km |
| 31 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 32 | Toucy Yonne | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 288 km |
| 33 | Auxi-le-Château Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 25% | 1% | 31 km |
| 34 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 35 | Nogent-sur-Vernisson Loiret | 0.2 | 46% | 0.3% | 249 km |
| 36 | Eymet Dordogne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 0.4% | 86 km |
| 37 | Athies-sous-Laon Aisne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 0% | 159 km |
| 38 | Val-de-Scie Seine-Maritime | 0.1 | 18% | 0% | 23 km |
| 39 | Noyen-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.1 | 28% | 0% | 126 km |
| 40 | Chalamont Ain | 0.1 | 20% | 69% | 284 km |
| 41 | Bouligny Meuse | 0.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 293 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 Les Échelles
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Rivièr'Alp leads, at 6.9 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Les Échelles
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Chartreuse Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
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 Les Échelles’ land is protected, more than in 99% 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
6 km of footpaths and 6 km of hiking routes cross Les Échelles
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
6.4 km
1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
6.4 km
waymarked: 1.7 km per km²
Woodland
16%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Les ÉchellesSavoie medianFrance median
Footpaths1.7
Hiking routes1.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Les ÉchellesSavoie medianFrance median
Woodland16%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 51% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 56% 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 Les Échelles is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Chemin de Szombathely, Pontcharra - Saint-Pierre de Paladru9.3 km
Chemin d'Assise, Cluny - Montcenis9.1 km
Circuit Béatrice de Savoie4.4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Les Échelles: April and June to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Pont-De-Beauvoisin, 11 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 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 28 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 69 | 84 | 93 | 115 | 103 | 94 | 89 | 111 | 117 | 113 | 94 |
February is the driest month (69 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 29 °C). 117 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 83 nights a year. The climate in Les Échelles →
Neighbors
Next to Les Échelles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Laurent-du-PontSaint-Étienne-de-CrosseyLe Pont-de-BeauvoisinCoublevieVoironLa BuisseLes Échelles
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Les Échelles | 100% | 16% | 1.7 |
| Saint-Laurent-du-Pont 4,490 · 5.5 km | 100% | 67% | 2.3 |
| Saint-Étienne-de-Crossey 2,619 · 11 km | 100% | 33% | 2.8 |
| Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin 3,602 · 12 km | 0% | 8.4% | 0.5 |
| Coublevie 5,520 · 14 km | 73% | 18% | 2.7 |
| Voiron 21,847 · 15 km | 0% | 28% | 3.3 |
| La Buisse 3,500 · 15 km | 61% | 35% | 2.4 |
Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, Saint-Étienne-de-Crossey and Voiron are 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 Les Échelles
Is Les Échelles in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Les Échelles lies in Chartreuse Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Les Échelles?
OpenStreetMap maps 6 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 6 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Les Échelles is woodland?
16% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Les Échelles near the sea?
No: the coast is 228 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Les Échelles?
April and June to August: 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.