First pick
Le Bois du Pally
Wood or forest
380 ha7 km of path
1 h 35 minto walk all 7 km of path
3.1 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Tirand · CC BY-SA 4.012%woodland
Outdoors in Chantonnay · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Chantonnay is within 800 m of a park or wood
45 km of footpaths cross Chantonnay (0.5 km per km²). No protected area reaches Chantonnay; the nearest, Plaine calcaire du sud Vendée (Natura 2000), is 18 km from the town center. 12% of Chantonnay 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: Plaine calcaire du sud Vendée, 18 km
Woodland
12%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
45 km
0.5 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
30 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Le Bois du Pally
The sea
42 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 Chantonnay 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
Woodland12%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
47out of 100
Footpaths0.5 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
15out 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
Chantonnay has the 4th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (8,469 to 8,650 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Plessis-Bouchard (5.8 km per km²) to Mauléon (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Plessis-Bouchard Val-d'Oise | 5.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 132 km |
| 2 | Crolles Isère | 4.6 | 26% | 19% | 207 km |
| 3 | La Salvetat-Saint-Gilles Haute-Garonne | 4.3 | 12% | 0% | 158 km |
| 4 | Rouvroy Pas-de-Calais | 3.3 | 5% | 0% | 81 km |
| 5 | Saint-Renan Finistère | 2.9 | 5% | 0% | 8 km |
| 6 | Marcoussis Essonne | 2.7 | 34% | 0% | 163 km |
| 7 | Vendin-le-Vieil Pas-de-Calais | 2.7 | 11% | 0% | 72 km |
| 8 | Varces-Allières-et-Risset Isère | 2.4 | 33% | 32% | 194 km |
| 9 | Sautron Loire-Atlantique | 2.3 | 16% | 0% | 34 km |
| 10 | Ballan-Miré Indre-et-Loire | 2.2 | 30% | 0% | 176 km |
| 11 | Privas Ardèche | 2.1 | 32% | 1.6% | 136 km |
| 12 | Bormes-les-Mimosas Var | 2.1 | 38% | 8.3% | On it |
| 13 | Pont-l'Abbé Finistère | 1.9 | 13% | 2% | On it |
| 14 | Puget-sur-Argens Var | 1.9 | 9.8% | 54% | 6.5 km |
| 15 | Vif Isère | 1.8 | 48% | 7% | 189 km |
| 16 | Ergué-Gabéric Finistère | 1.8 | 21% | 0% | 6.3 km |
| 17 | Hirson Aisne | 1.8 | 66% | 66% | 167 km |
| 18 | Aulnoye-Aymeries Nord | 1.7 | 1.2% | 100% | 132 km |
| 19 | Lillebonne Seine-Maritime | 1.6 | 18% | 0% | 16 km |
| 20 | Le Grau-du-Roi Gard | 1.6 | 3.9% | 89% | On it |
| 21 | Uzès Gard | 1.6 | 6.9% | 0% | 57 km |
| 22 | Unieux Loire | 1.5 | 23% | 16% | 205 km |
| 23 | Peymeinade Alpes-Maritimes | 1.4 | 31% | 20% | 13 km |
| 24 | Isbergues Pas-de-Calais | 1.1 | 0.8% | 0% | 47 km |
| 25 | Sérignan Hérault | 1.1 | 0.2% | 34% | On it |
| 26 | Éguilles Bouches-du-Rhône | 1 | 12% | 54% | 23 km |
| 27 | Theix-Noyalo Morbihan | 0.9 | 11% | 98% | On it |
| 28 | Talmont-Saint-Hilaire Vendée | 0.6 | 6.9% | 8.5% | On it |
| 29 | Roussillon Isère | 0.6 | 12% | 0% | 209 km |
| 30 | Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône | 0.6 | 1.2% | 81% | On it |
| 31 | Châteauneuf-sur-Loire Loiret | 0.6 | 49% | 22% | 222 km |
| 32 | Le Loroux-Bottereau Loire-Atlantique | 0.6 | 6.4% | 8.8% | 53 km |
| 33 | Saint-Vallier Saône-et-Loire | 0.6 | 19% | 0% | 344 km |
| 34 | Souleuvre en Bocage Calvados | 0.6 | 10% | 21% | 45 km |
| 35 | Janzé Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.6 | 2.9% | 0% | 70 km |
| 36 | Thaon-les-Vosges Vosges | 0.6 | 41% | 0% | 406 km |
| 37 | Domérat Allier | 0.5 | 8.5% | 0% | 275 km |
| 38 | Chantonnay Vendée | 0.5 | 12% | 0% | 42 km |
| 39 | Onnaing Nord | 0.5 | 16% | 1.1% | 105 km |
| 40 | Le Poiré-sur-Vie Vendée | 0.4 | 4.9% | 0% | 32 km |
| 41 | Mauléon Deux-Sèvres | 0.4 | 6.8% | 0% | 76 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 Chantonnay
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Le Bois du Pally leads, at 380 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
La Coulée Verte
Park or garden
8.7 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
1.7 km northfrom the center
Coulée Verte
Directionsto a point inside
Bois de la Mouhée
Wood or forest
13 ha0.1 km of path
0.7 km south-westfrom the center
Chemin de Bois Carré
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Clémenceau
Park or garden
1.3 ha0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Chantonnay
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Plaine calcaire du sud Vendée is the nearest protected area, 18 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Plaine calcaire du sud Vendée
18 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
45 km of footpaths and 30 km of hiking routes cross Chantonnay
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
45 km
0.5 km per km²
Hiking routes
30 km
waymarked: 0.4 km per km²
Woodland
12%
about 10.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ChantonnayVendée medianFrance median
Footpaths0.5
Hiking routes0.4
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ChantonnayVendée medianFrance median
Woodland12%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 85% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 53% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Chantonnay’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
3 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Du Tablier à Chantonnay20 km
Boucle du Lac de Rochereau17 km
Le Lac de Rochereau5.2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Chantonnay: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at La Roche sur Yon, 26 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 95 | 71 | 64 | 66 | 62 | 45 | 48 | 52 | 72 | 99 | 108 | 104 |
June is the driest month (45 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 108 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Chantonnay →
Neighbors
Next to Chantonnay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BournezeauMouchampsSaint-Martin-des-NoyersSaint-Jean-d'HermineLe BoupèreEssarts-en-BocageChantonnay
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chantonnay | 0% | 12% | 0.5 | 42 km |
| Bournezeau 3,452 · 10 km | 0% | 9.3% | 0.3 | 35 km |
| Mouchamps 3,015 · 11 km | 0% | 12% | 0.3 | 53 km |
| Saint-Martin-des-Noyers 2,560 · 12 km | 0% | 11% | 0.1 | 43 km |
| Saint-Jean-d'Hermine 3,611 · 15 km | 2.4% | 9.2% | 0.4 | 27 km |
| Le Boupère 3,151 · 15 km | 0% | 5.6% | 0.2 | 56 km |
| Essarts-en-Bocage 6,851 · 18 km | 0% | 4.1% | 0.3 | 46 km |
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 Chantonnay
Is Chantonnay in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Plaine calcaire du sud Vendée, 18 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Chantonnay?
OpenStreetMap maps 45 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); 30 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Chantonnay is woodland?
12% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Chantonnay near the sea?
No: the coast is 42 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Chantonnay?
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 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.