First pick
Parc Départemental des Hautes Bruyères
Park or garden · 40 m outside the commune
18 ha8.8 km of path
2 hto walk all 8.8 km of path
1.2 km eastfrom the center
Voie des Postes
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Damien94 & Ben · Public domain1.2%woodland
Outdoors in Cachan · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Cachan has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
32 km of footpaths cross Cachan (11.5 km per km²). Waymarked hiking routes add up to 3 km in Cachan. 1.2% of Cachan is mapped woodland. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Bassin de la Bièvre nature reserve, 6.3 km
Woodland
1.2%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
32 km
11.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.7 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
15
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Départemental des Hautes Bruyères
Throughout this page, the Val-de-Marne 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 Cachan?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths11.5 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyBassin de la Bièvre nature reserve is 6.3 km from the town center.Little mapped woodland1.2% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Cachan apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Cachan 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 areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland1.2%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
7out of 100
Footpaths11.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
100out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
82out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Cachan has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (29,778 to 32,465 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cachan (11.5 km per km²) to Carpentras (1.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cachan Val-de-Marne | 11.5 | 1.2% | 0% | 155 km |
| 2 | Montigny-le-Bretonneux Yvelines | 10 | 18% | 4.9% | 143 km |
| 3 | Guyancourt Yvelines | 8.9 | 22% | 0% | 145 km |
| 4 | Lyon 2e Rhône | 8.3 | 0% | 0% | 251 km |
| 5 | Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 8.1 | 18% | 0% | 367 km |
| 6 | Saint-Cloud Hauts-de-Seine | 7.8 | 27% | 0% | 145 km |
| 7 | Tournefeuille Haute-Garonne | 7.5 | 9.4% | 0% | 153 km |
| 8 | L'Haÿ-les-Roses Val-de-Marne | 7.5 | 4% | 0% | 156 km |
| 9 | Villiers-le-Bel Val-d'Oise | 7 | 5.1% | 0% | 138 km |
| 10 | Savigny-le-Temple Seine-et-Marne | 6.5 | 15% | 0% | 183 km |
| 11 | Paris 3e Paris | 6.4 | 0.1% | 0% | 149 km |
| 12 | Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt Yvelines | 6.3 | 21% | 0% | 144 km |
| 13 | Pontoise Val-d'Oise | 6.2 | 11% | 0.5% | 121 km |
| 14 | Malakoff Hauts-de-Seine | 5.6 | 0% | 0% | 151 km |
| 15 | Plaisir Yvelines | 5.5 | 26% | 0% | 135 km |
| 16 | Viry-Châtillon Essonne | 5.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 168 km |
| 17 | Bègles Gironde | 5.3 | 5.5% | 8.9% | 23 km |
| 18 | Liévin Pas-de-Calais | 4.7 | 5.2% | 0% | 74 km |
| 19 | Draveil Essonne | 4.6 | 47% | 0% | 168 km |
| 20 | Ris-Orangis Essonne | 4.6 | 7.7% | 0% | 171 km |
| 21 | Chatou Yvelines | 4.5 | 0.3% | 0% | 138 km |
| 22 | Nogent-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 4.4 | 2.8% | 0% | 157 km |
| 23 | Vigneux-sur-Seine Essonne | 4.3 | 21% | 0% | 167 km |
| 24 | Décines-Charpieu Rhône | 4.2 | 6.3% | 8.4% | 255 km |
| 25 | Aix-les-Bains Savoie | 3.9 | 14% | 20% | 246 km |
| 26 | Épinal Vosges | 3.7 | 67% | 0% | 413 km |
| 27 | Rillieux-la-Pape Rhône | 3.5 | 16% | 6.1% | 259 km |
| 28 | Menton Alpes-Maritimes | 3.5 | 32% | 20% | On it |
| 29 | Agde Hérault | 3.2 | 4.4% | 22% | On it |
| 30 | Cambrai Nord | 2.8 | 4.5% | 0% | 111 km |
| 31 | Herblay-sur-Seine Val-d'Oise | 2.7 | 10% | 0% | 128 km |
| 32 | Dreux Eure-et-Loir | 2.7 | 24% | 2.4% | 107 km |
| 33 | Bourgoin-Jallieu Isère | 2.7 | 13% | 0% | 240 km |
| 34 | Vienne Isère | 2.6 | 30% | 0.1% | 227 km |
| 35 | La Garenne-Colombes Hauts-de-Seine | 2.2 | 0% | 0% | 141 km |
| 36 | Saint-Laurent-du-Var Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 6.3% | 8.8% | On it |
| 37 | Mont-de-Marsan Landes | 2.1 | 33% | 4.9% | 70 km |
| 38 | Goussainville Val-d'Oise | 1.7 | 2.8% | 0% | 139 km |
| 39 | Châtellerault Vienne | 1.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 40 | Villemomble Seine-Saint-Denis | 1.4 | 0.7% | 0% | 154 km |
| 41 | Carpentras Vaucluse | 1.1 | 6% | 64% | 69 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 Cachan
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Départemental des Hautes Bruyères leads, at 18 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc Raspail
Park or garden
3 ha2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cachan
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Paul Vaillant-Couturier
Park or garden · 270 m outside the commune
1.3 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.2 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin panoramique du Coteau
Park or garden
1.5 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
0.9 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Promenade Esther Tyzelmann
Park or garden
1 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cachan
Directionsto a point inside
Square Erik Satie
Park or garden · 370 m outside the commune
1 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
1.2 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square André Meunier
Park or garden · 350 m outside the commune
0.7 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
1.6 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin Le Vallon
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.5 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cachan
Directionsto a point inside
All 15 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc Départemental des Hautes BruyèresPark or garden · 18 ha · 8.8 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc RaspailPark or garden · 3 ha · 2.1 km of path
DirectionsParc Paul Vaillant-CouturierPark or garden · 1.3 ha · 1 km of path · just outside
DirectionsJardin panoramique du CoteauPark or garden · 1.5 ha · 0.7 km of path
DirectionsPromenade Esther TyzelmannPark or garden · 1 ha · 0.7 km of path
DirectionsSquare Erik SatiePark or garden · 1 ha · 0.7 km of path · just outside
DirectionsSquare André MeunierPark or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.5 km of path · just outside
DirectionsJardin Le VallonPark or garden · 0.6 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsJardin du Commandant SimonninPark or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.3 km of path
DirectionsJardin CourbetPark or garden · 0.6 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsParc ThieulinPark or garden · 0.7 ha · just outside
DirectionsJardin Belle du BerryPark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsSquare René-Louis LafforguePark or garden · 0.2 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsEsplanade de la FraternitéPark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsSquare du 19 Mars 1962Park or garden · 0.3 ha · just outside
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Bassin de la Bièvre nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 6.3 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Bassin de la Bièvre nature reserve
6.3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
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.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Cachan
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
32 km
11.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
2.7 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
1.2%
about 0 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
CachanVal-de-Marne medianFrance median
Footpaths11.5
Hiking routes1
0714 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
CachanVal-de-Marne medianFrance median
Woodland1.2%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 99% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 93% 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 Cachan is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
8 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR 119.3 km
PR 2511 km
PR 96 km
PR 85.6 km
PR 103.3 km
PR 52.6 km
Boucle de 27,7 km depuis la gare RER Sceaux6.7 km
Chemin de Trèves, Claye-Souilly - Igny4.5 km
GR 11 passes within 2 km of Cachan.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Cachan: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Paris-Montsouris, 3.3 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 48 | 42 | 45 | 46 | 69 | 51 | 59 | 58 | 45 | 55 | 54 | 62 |
February is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 69 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 21 nights a year. The climate in Cachan →
Gardens
2 gardens to visit in Cachan
Named gardens in the commune.
Jardin du Commandant SimonninIn Cachan
DirectionsJardin partagé de la Fontaine CouverteIn Cachan
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Cachan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BagneuxBourg-la-ReineArcueilL'Haÿ-les-RosesVillejuifGentillyCachan
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cachan | 0% | 1.2% | 11.5 |
| Bagneux 44,572 · 1.5 km | 0% | 1.1% | 9.6 |
| Bourg-la-Reine 21,019 · 1.6 km | 0% | 0% | 3.1 |
| Arcueil 22,200 · 1.6 km | 0% | 3.2% | 8.8 |
| L'Haÿ-les-Roses 31,188 · 1.8 km | 0% | 4% | 7.5 |
| Villejuif 60,183 · 2.2 km | 0% | 1% | 7.4 |
| Gentilly 19,963 · 2.7 km | 0% | 1.8% | 8 |
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 Cachan
Is Cachan in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Bassin de la Bièvre nature reserve, 6.3 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Cachan?
OpenStreetMap maps 32 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 11.5 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Cachan is woodland?
1.2% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Cachan near the sea?
No: the coast is 155 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Cachan?
April and June 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.