First pick
Forêt de Puits Neuf
Wood or forest
98 ha
4.8 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Dileborn · CC BY-SA 4.09.8%woodland
Outdoors in La Garnache · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in La Garnache is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 15 km across La Garnache (0.2 km per km²). No protected area reaches La Garnache; the nearest, Marais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts (Natura 2000), is 6.1 km from the town center. 9.8% of La Garnache 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: Marais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts, 6.1 km
Woodland
9.8%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
15 km
0.2 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.2 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: Forêt de Puits Neuf
The sea
18 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.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is La Garnache?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected land nearbyMarais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts (Natura 2000) is 6.1 km from the town center.Few mapped footpaths0.2 km per km², against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets La Garnache apart: protected land close by. It is shorter on footpaths.
Against French towns
How La Garnache 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
Woodland9.8%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
39out of 100
Footpaths0.2 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
5out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
24out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
La Garnache has the 4th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,448 to 5,584 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Le Port-Marly (5.9 km per km²) to Noyant-Villages (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Le Port-Marly Yvelines | 5.9 | 13% | 0% | 138 km |
| 2 | Nouzonville Ardennes | 3 | 67% | 100% | 203 km |
| 3 | Chevreuse Yvelines | 2.9 | 50% | 100% | 147 km |
| 4 | Lardy Essonne | 2.7 | 46% | 0.1% | 173 km |
| 5 | Coublevie Isère | 2.7 | 18% | 73% | 220 km |
| 6 | Liverdun Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.6 | 72% | 0.1% | 355 km |
| 7 | Penmarch Finistère | 2.5 | 0% | 18% | On it |
| 8 | Beaurains Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 1.1% | 0% | 79 km |
| 9 | La Roque-d'Anthéron Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.3 | 36% | 51% | 39 km |
| 10 | Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent Eure | 2.2 | 35% | 0% | 71 km |
| 11 | Aussillon Tarn | 2 | 41% | 100% | 75 km |
| 12 | Le Boulou Pyrénées-Orientales | 2 | 19% | 7.4% | 18 km |
| 13 | Guînes Pas-de-Calais | 1.8 | 34% | 100% | 10 km |
| 14 | Baisieux Nord | 1.8 | 2.5% | 0% | 70 km |
| 15 | Saint-Gilles Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.7 | 6.4% | 0% | 40 km |
| 16 | Ollainville Essonne | 1.7 | 37% | 0% | 165 km |
| 17 | Rosheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 57% | 0% | 443 km |
| 18 | Nogent-sur-Seine Aube | 1.6 | 18% | 2.5% | 230 km |
| 19 | Wormhout Nord | 1.5 | 0.3% | 0% | 19 km |
| 20 | Ille-sur-Têt Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.4 | 7.9% | 0.1% | 34 km |
| 21 | Foulayronnes Lot-et-Garonne | 1.4 | 9.9% | 0% | 130 km |
| 22 | Pollestres Pyrénées-Orientales | 1.3 | 0.9% | 0% | 14 km |
| 23 | Ambazac Haute-Vienne | 1.2 | 50% | 8.1% | 177 km |
| 24 | Grans Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.2 | 13% | 43% | 22 km |
| 25 | Viarmes Val-d'Oise | 1.1 | 31% | 100% | 126 km |
| 26 | Quincy-Voisins Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 30% | 0% | 166 km |
| 27 | Neuville-de-Poitou Vienne | 1 | 0.3% | 26% | 114 km |
| 28 | Les Achards Vendée | 0.9 | 4.6% | 0% | 15 km |
| 29 | Drap Alpes-Maritimes | 0.8 | 33% | 0% | 4.8 km |
| 30 | La Ferrière Vendée | 0.7 | 9.6% | 0% | 38 km |
| 31 | Carbonne Haute-Garonne | 0.6 | 9.8% | 7.6% | 153 km |
| 32 | Chazelles-sur-Lyon Loire | 0.6 | 13% | 0% | 232 km |
| 33 | Étoile-sur-Rhône Drôme | 0.5 | 8.7% | 1.6% | 154 km |
| 34 | Roquemaure Gard | 0.3 | 12% | 13% | 66 km |
| 35 | Ernée Mayenne | 0.3 | 1.4% | 0.1% | 48 km |
| 36 | Servian Hérault | 0.3 | 7.4% | 0% | 17 km |
| 37 | Aubigny-sur-Nère Cher | 0.3 | 25% | 24% | 265 km |
| 38 | La Garnache Vendée | 0.2 | 9.8% | 0% | 18 km |
| 39 | Ludon-Médoc Gironde | 0.2 | 5.6% | 100% | 3.7 km |
| 40 | Nueil-les-Aubiers Deux-Sèvres | 0.2 | 4.2% | 0% | 83 km |
| 41 | Noyant-Villages Maine-et-Loire | 0.1 | 23% | 13% | 164 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 La Garnache
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Puits Neuf leads, at 98 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
L'Equaizière
Park or garden
14 ha1.9 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.9 km of path
0.6 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Marais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts is the nearest protected area, 6.1 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
Marais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts
6.1 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
15 km of footpaths cross La Garnache
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
15 km
0.2 km per km²
Hiking routes
0.2 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
9.8%
about 5.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
La GarnacheVendée medianFrance median
Footpaths0.2
Hiking routes0
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
La GarnacheVendée medianFrance median
Woodland9.8%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 95% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 61% 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 La Garnache is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Circuit de la Choltière2.8 km
Sentier du Petit Moulin2.8 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in La Garnache: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at St-Meme-Le-Tenu, 13 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 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 91 | 70 | 62 | 67 | 61 | 51 | 50 | 50 | 68 | 97 | 101 | 99 |
August is the driest month (50 mm) and the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 101 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 34 nights a year. The climate in La Garnache →
Neighbors
Next to La Garnache
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
ChallansSallertaineSaint-Christophe-du-LigneronSoullansMachecoul-Saint-MêmeSaint-GervaisLa Garnache
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Garnache | 0% | 9.8% | 0.2 | 18 km |
| Challans 22,943 · 6.7 km | 0.9% | 10% | 0.9 | 15 km |
| Sallertaine 3,518 · 8.6 km | 44% | 3.4% | 0.2 | 13 km |
| Saint-Christophe-du-Ligneron 2,727 · 9.8 km | 0% | 6.1% | 0.1 | 20 km |
| Soullans 4,654 · 12 km | 51% | 5.9% | 0.2 | 11 km |
| Machecoul-Saint-Même 7,689 · 12 km | 27% | 12% | 0.5 | 13 km |
| Saint-Gervais 2,781 · 12 km | 49% | 7.6% | 0.1 | 6.9 km |
Sallertaine, Soullans and Machecoul-Saint-Même have 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 La Garnache
Is La Garnache in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Marais Breton, baie de Bourgneuf, île de Noirmoutier et forêt de Monts, 6.1 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in La Garnache?
OpenStreetMap maps 15 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of La Garnache is woodland?
9.8% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is La Garnache near the sea?
No: the coast is 18 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in La Garnache?
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.