Photo: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0Gargas lies inside Luberon Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Gargas’ land. 23% of Gargas is mapped woodland. Gargas has 8 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Vaucluse median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
How Gargas 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Gargas has the 16th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,006 to 3,065 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Margency (7.4 km per km²) to La Roche-Chalais (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margency Val-d'Oise | 7.4 | 0.9% | 0% | 134 km |
| 2 | Montlignon Val-d'Oise | 5.5 | 50% | 0% | 133 km |
| 3 | Albigny-sur-Saône Rhône | 4.8 | 25% | 0% | 263 km |
| 4 | Brax Haute-Garonne | 3.4 | 29% | 0% | 162 km |
| 5 | Feucherolles Yvelines | 3.2 | 33% | 0% | 133 km |
| 6 | La Turbie Alpes-Maritimes | 3.1 | 32% | 18% | 2 km |
| 7 | Saint-Nazaire-les-Eymes Isère | 3 | 37% | 30% | 206 km |
| 8 | Pont-à-Vendin Pas-de-Calais | 2.9 | 13% | 0% | 72 km |
| 9 | Emmerin Nord | 2.8 | 6.3% | 0% | 64 km |
| 10 | Pont-à-Marcq Nord | 2.6 | 1% | 0% | 75 km |
| 11 | Chapareillan Isère | 2.2 | 57% | 98% | 221 km |
| 12 | Drumettaz-Clarafond Savoie | 2.1 | 42% | 5% | 243 km |
| 13 | Gandrange Moselle | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 313 km |
| 14 | Courcelles-Chaussy Moselle | 1.9 | 37% | 0% | 340 km |
| 15 | Paimbœuf Loire-Atlantique | 1.9 | 0.6% | 70% | 10 km |
| 16 | Gargas Vaucluse | 1.8 | 23% | 100% | 60 km |
| 17 | Agon-Coutainville Manche | 1.7 | 1.1% | 15% | On it |
| 18 | Belleville-sur-Meuse Meuse | 1.6 | 42% | 39% | 288 km |
| 19 | Gruchet-le-Valasse Seine-Maritime | 1.4 | 53% | 0% | 16 km |
| 20 | Retournac Haute-Loire | 1.3 | 55% | 85% | 184 km |
| 21 | Valmont Moselle | 1.2 | 28% | 0% | 357 km |
| 22 | Yenne Savoie | 1.2 | 35% | 19% | 252 km |
| 23 | Villeneuve-de-Berg Ardèche | 1.2 | 5.9% | 0% | 116 km |
| 24 | Aubusson Creuse | 1 | 42% | 0% | 235 km |
| 25 | Saint-Ouen Loir-et-Cher | 0.9 | 14% | 0% | 186 km |
| 26 | Gasny Eure | 0.8 | 35% | 9.7% | 98 km |
| 27 | Commelle-Vernay Loire | 0.7 | 6.3% | 34% | 271 km |
| 28 | Nontron Dordogne | 0.7 | 37% | 100% | 110 km |
| 29 | Port-Saint-Père Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 9.5% | 16% | 20 km |
| 30 | Breuillet Charente-Maritime | 0.7 | 20% | 13% | On it |
| 31 | Senonches Eure-et-Loir | 0.7 | 68% | 100% | 109 km |
| 32 | Pommeuse Seine-et-Marne | 0.6 | 19% | 0% | 179 km |
| 33 | Lapeyrouse-Fossat Haute-Garonne | 0.5 | 14% | 0% | 146 km |
| 34 | Boisseuil Haute-Vienne | 0.5 | 21% | 0% | 166 km |
| 35 | Châtillon-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.4 | 15% | 9.3% | 271 km |
| 36 | Crouy Aisne | 0.3 | 23% | 0% | 148 km |
| 37 | Brienon-sur-Armançon Yonne | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | 281 km |
| 38 | Cintegabelle Haute-Garonne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 1.4% | 128 km |
| 39 | Gémozac Charente-Maritime | 0.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 13 km |
| 40 | Montesquieu-Volvestre Haute-Garonne | 0.1 | 22% | 0% | 151 km |
| 41 | La Roche-Chalais Dordogne | 0.1 | 56% | 6.7% | 50 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Protected land in and around Gargas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Luberon Regional Nature Park
Ocres de Roussillon et de Gignac - Marnes de Perreal
Share of the commune’s land
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 Gargas’ land is protected, more than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Vaucluse has 14%. 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.
28 km of footpaths and 8 km of hiking routes cross Gargas
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is more than in 54% 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 Gargas is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
11 named hiking routes within 2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Gargas: April to June
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Apt-Viton, 5.3 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 29 | 33 | 32 | 27 | 21 | 15 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 69 | 44 | 47 | 75 | 69 | 38 | 27 | 37 | 85 | 98 | 114 | 69 |
July is the driest month (27 mm) and the warmest (highs of 33 °C). 114 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 73 nights a year. Summer highs reach 33 °C, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gargas →
Next to Gargas
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gargas | 100% | 23% | 1.8 | 60 km |
| Apt 10,143 · 4 km | 100% | 29% | 1.2 | 58 km |
| Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt 3,004 · 4.3 km | 100% | 68% | 1.9 | 64 km |
| Lauris 3,921 · 17 km | 100% | 41% | 1.8 | 43 km |
| Cadenet 4,363 · 18 km | 100% | 28% | 1.1 | 42 km |
| Robion 4,816 · 20 km | 100% | 24% | 1.8 | 48 km |
| La Roque-d'Anthéron 5,459 · 20 km | 51% | 36% | 2.3 | 39 km |
Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, Lauris and La Roque-d'Anthéron are more wooded.
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 Gargas
Is Gargas in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Gargas lies in Luberon Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Gargas?
OpenStreetMap maps 28 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 8 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Gargas is woodland?
23% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Gargas near the sea?
No: the coast is 60 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Gargas?
April to June: 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.