First pick
Bois de Saint-Jean
Wood or forest
65 ha
3.8 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Shagshag · CC BY 2.08.4%woodland
Outdoors in Pouzauges · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Pouzauges is within 800 m of a park or wood
Pouzauges has 33 km of waymarked hiking routes. No protected area reaches Pouzauges; the nearest, Vallée de l Autize (Natura 2000), is 28 km from the town center. 8.4% of Pouzauges 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: Vallée de l Autize, 28 km
Woodland
8.4%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
41 km
1.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
33 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
7
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois de Saint-Jean
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 Pouzauges 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
Woodland8.4%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
35out of 100
Footpaths1.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
35out of 100
Hiking routes0.9 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
80out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Pouzauges has the 17th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,630 to 5,713 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Montbonnot-Saint-Martin (4.6 km per km²) to Missillac (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montbonnot-Saint-Martin Isère | 4.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 205 km |
| 2 | Carry-le-Rouet Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.3 | 19% | 59% | On it |
| 3 | Challes-les-Eaux Savoie | 3.9 | 32% | 40% | 229 km |
| 4 | Cancale Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.8 | 10% | 22% | On it |
| 5 | Mourenx Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.6 | 20% | 9.2% | 73 km |
| 6 | L'Isle-d'Espagnac Charente | 3.4 | 13% | 0% | 78 km |
| 7 | Santes Nord | 3 | 11% | 0% | 62 km |
| 8 | Lèves Eure-et-Loir | 2.7 | 24% | 0% | 135 km |
| 9 | Saint-Georges-d'Orques Hérault | 2.7 | 0.3% | 0% | 14 km |
| 10 | Longueau Somme | 2.6 | 0.4% | 4% | 60 km |
| 11 | Saleilles Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.3 | 1.4% | 0% | 7.1 km |
| 12 | Parmain Val-d'Oise | 2.1 | 45% | 100% | 120 km |
| 13 | La Roquette-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes | 2.1 | 22% | 0% | 4.6 km |
| 14 | Dainville Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 4.1% | 0% | 75 km |
| 15 | Rocbaron Var | 1.8 | 53% | 0% | 24 km |
| 16 | Altkirch Haut-Rhin | 1.6 | 23% | 0% | 427 km |
| 17 | Sainghin-en-Weppes Nord | 1.5 | 4.8% | 0% | 64 km |
| 18 | Saint-Privat-des-Vieux Gard | 1.4 | 24% | 0% | 65 km |
| 19 | Caumont-sur-Durance Vaucluse | 1.4 | 16% | 18% | 50 km |
| 20 | Montrond-les-Bains Loire | 1.2 | 3.1% | 17% | 231 km |
| 21 | Mondelange Moselle | 1.2 | 2% | 0% | 316 km |
| 22 | Lannilis Finistère | 1.2 | 5.5% | 14% | On it |
| 23 | Marcheprime Gironde | 1.2 | 83% | 100% | 14 km |
| 24 | Marolles-en-Hurepoix Essonne | 1.2 | 14% | 0% | 172 km |
| 25 | Pouzauges Vendée | 1.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 57 km |
| 26 | Cugand-la-Bernardière Vendée | 1 | 7.5% | 0% | 55 km |
| 27 | Sausheim Haut-Rhin | 1 | 30% | 25% | 445 km |
| 28 | Montval-sur-Loir Sarthe | 1 | 5.9% | 0% | 168 km |
| 29 | Sigean Aude | 0.9 | 6.3% | 98% | 7.1 km |
| 30 | Saint-Xandre Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 1.2% | 7.3% | 5.2 km |
| 31 | Wallers Nord | 0.8 | 28% | 99% | 99 km |
| 32 | Aimargues Gard | 0.7 | 1.6% | 19% | 17 km |
| 33 | La Crèche Deux-Sèvres | 0.6 | 3.7% | 0% | 63 km |
| 34 | Gan Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.5 | 38% | 4.7% | 97 km |
| 35 | Tournus Saône-et-Loire | 0.4 | 9.6% | 6.5% | 340 km |
| 36 | Bédarrides Vaucluse | 0.3 | 5.1% | 6.2% | 65 km |
| 37 | Valdahon Doubs | 0.3 | 28% | 0% | 385 km |
| 38 | Rives-du-Loir-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 17% | 26% | 131 km |
| 39 | Valdallière Calvados | 0.2 | 2% | 12% | 52 km |
| 40 | Saint-Martin-la-Pallu Vienne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 11% | 117 km |
| 41 | Missillac Loire-Atlantique | 0 | 19% | 100% | 16 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 Pouzauges
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de Saint-Jean leads, at 65 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
L'Espérance
Park or garden
13 ha1.8 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.8 km of path
1.3 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Bois de la Folie
Wood or forest
17 ha4 km of path
55 minto walk all 4 km of path
1.2 km north-westfrom the center
Allée des sapinsSentier des meuniers
Directionsto a point inside
Domaine du Puy Trumeau
Park or garden
3.5 ha0.2 km of path
0.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Domaine des Bouchorelles
Park or garden
1.8 ha
Centralin the middle of Pouzauges
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Vallée de l Autize is the nearest protected area, 28 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
Vallée de l Autize
28 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
41 km of footpaths and 33 km of hiking routes cross Pouzauges
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
41 km
1.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
33 km
waymarked: 0.9 km per km²
Woodland
8.4%
about 3.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
PouzaugesVendée medianFrance median
Footpaths1.1
Hiking routes0.9
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PouzaugesVendée medianFrance median
Woodland8.4%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 65% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 65% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 98% of Pouzauges’ residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Boucle des Fiefs23 km
Boucle des Puys23 km
Les Flâneurs5.3 km
Chapelle de Maison Pré2.4 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Pouzauges: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Bressuire, 25 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) | 8 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 92 | 68 | 65 | 64 | 67 | 52 | 51 | 51 | 59 | 97 | 89 | 98 |
July is the driest month (51 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 98 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 40 nights a year. The climate in Pouzauges →
Neighbors
Next to Pouzauges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
SèvremontLe BoupèreLes EpessesCerizayLa ChâtaigneraieLes HerbiersPouzauges
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pouzauges | 0% | 8.4% | 1.1 | 57 km |
| Sèvremont 6,385 · 6.2 km | 0% | 5.3% | 0.3 | 62 km |
| Le Boupère 3,151 · 7.2 km | 0% | 5.6% | 0.2 | 56 km |
| Les Epesses 2,983 · 13 km | 0% | 6.6% | 1.7 | 66 km |
| Cerizay 4,793 · 13 km | 0% | 3.5% | 1.1 | 67 km |
| La Châtaigneraie 2,600 · 16 km | 0% | 4.5% | 0.6 | 48 km |
| Les Herbiers 16,521 · 17 km | 0% | 6.5% | 1.1 | 62 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 Pouzauges
Is Pouzauges in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Vallée de l Autize, 28 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Pouzauges?
OpenStreetMap maps 41 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 33 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Pouzauges is woodland?
8.4% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Pouzauges near the sea?
No: the coast is 57 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Pouzauges?
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 8, 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.