Photo: Sébastien Thébault · CC BY-SA 3.0

37%woodland

Outdoors in Smarves · protected areas, woods and footpaths

37% of Smarves is woodland, more than in 8 in 10 French towns

No protected area reaches Smarves; the nearest, Forêt de Moulière, landes du Pinail, bois du Défens, du Fou et de la Roche de Bran (Natura 2000), is 13 km from the town center. Footpaths add up to 46 km across Smarves (2.3 km per km²). Smarves has 4 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.

37%woodland 46km of footpaths

Protected areas

of the commune’s land

Nearest: Forêt de Moulière, landes du Pinail, bois du Défens, du Fou et de la Roche de Bran, 13 km

Woodland

37%

of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap

Compared town: 13%

Footpaths

46 km

2.3 km per km²

Compared town: 1.7 km per km²

Hiking routes

3.7 km

waymarked, GR and others

Compared town: 0.3 km per km²

Parks & woods

named, in or within 400 m of the commune

First: Bois de Saint-Pierre

Throughout this page, the Vienne 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 Smarves 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

Woodland37%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap

83out of 100

Footpaths2.3 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune

62out of 100

Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune

36out of 100

Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.

Towns its size

Smarves has the 4th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size

The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (2,911 to 2,972 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.

Smarves 2.3

GorcySancoins

024 km per km²

From Gorcy (3.6 km per km²) to Sancoins (0.1 km per km²).

Every town in the comparison

	Town	Paths (km/km²)	Woodland	Protected	Coast
1	Gorcy Meurthe-et-Moselle	3.6	37%	0%	269 km
2	Gevrey-Chambertin Côte-d'Or	3.4	39%	30%	408 km
3	Saint-Étienne-de-Fontbellon Ardèche	3	30%	0.6%	118 km
4	Smarves Vienne	2.3	37%	0%	116 km
5	Tourrettes Var	1.5	64%	1.8%	21 km
6	Montblanc Hérault	1.5	18%	0.1%	12 km
7	Bruyères Vosges	1.4	70%	2.4%	428 km
8	Abrest Allier	1.4	19%	14%	286 km
9	Péron Ain	1.3	56%	100%	295 km
10	Drocourt Pas-de-Calais	1.3	2.3%	0%	82 km
11	Willems Nord	1.3	7.6%	0%	69 km
12	Châteauneuf-du-Rhône Drôme	1.2	16%	0.8%	116 km
13	Hésingue Haut-Rhin	1.2	17%	0%	421 km
14	Sérignan-du-Comtat Vaucluse	1.2	28%	1.7%	82 km
15	Mauléon-Licharre Pyrénées-Atlantiques	1.1	35%	2.8%	62 km
16	Contrexéville Vosges	1.1	34%	0%	379 km
17	Ottange Moselle	1	53%	0%	294 km
18	Bertrange Moselle	0.9	21%	0%	313 km
19	Tourouvre au Perche Orne	0.8	43%	98%	93 km
20	Grandvillars Territoire de Belfort	0.8	45%	11%	419 km
21	Port-sur-Saône Haute-Saône	0.7	52%	13%	423 km
22	Joinville Haute-Marne	0.7	61%	0%	317 km
23	Montmeyran Drôme	0.7	5.3%	0%	154 km
24	Balbigny Loire	0.6	12%	5.8%	251 km
25	Diémoz Isère	0.5	9.8%	0%	238 km
26	Allonnes Maine-et-Loire	0.5	20%	100%	141 km
27	Mortain-Bocage Manche	0.5	15%	54%	31 km
28	Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne Ain	0.4	7.4%	4%	297 km
29	Saint-Calais Sarthe	0.4	2.9%	0%	165 km
30	La Ferté-en-Ouche Orne	0.4	13%	1.4%	65 km
31	Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon Deux-Sèvres	0.4	10%	100%	35 km
32	Lalinde Dordogne	0.4	44%	2.8%	106 km
33	Saint-Lyé Aube	0.3	13%	0%	264 km
34	Dompierre-sur-Besbre Allier	0.3	13%	46%	330 km
35	Thiant Nord	0.3	13%	0%	107 km
36	Broons Côtes-d'Armor	0.2	9.2%	0%	26 km
37	Rouillac Charente	0.2	11%	7%	66 km
38	Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan Deux-Sèvres	0.2	2.1%	100%	45 km
39	Fresnay-sur-Sarthe Sarthe	0.2	6.9%	0%	112 km
40	Dangé-Saint-Romain Vienne	0.1	20%	0%	150 km
41	Sancoins Cher	0.1	11%	0%	315 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 Smarves

Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de Saint-Pierre leads, at 463 ha. Directions go to a point inside.

First pick

Bois de Saint-Pierre

Wood or forest

463 ha27.3 km of path

6 h 5 minto walk all 27.3 km of path

1.9 km eastfrom the center

Chemin Rural de Saint-Pierre au Moulin des BordesChemin Rural de la Croisée de Fontfrère au Gué de ValtrecAllée de Montierneuf+1 path

Directionsto a point inside

Forêt communale de Ligugé

Wood or forest · 50 m outside the commune

870 ha24.5 km of path

5 h 25 minto walk all 24.5 km of path

3.4 km north-westfrom the center

Allée des HêtresAllée des CèdresAllée des Dolines+5 paths

Directionsto a point inside

Bois de la Celle

Wood or forest

135 ha1.6 km of path

20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path

2.7 km north-eastfrom the center

Directionsto a point inside

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.

Protected areas

Forêt de Moulière, landes du Pinail, bois du Défens, du Fou et de la Roche de Bran is the nearest protected area, 13 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

Forêt de Moulière, landes du Pinail, bois du Défens, du Fou et de la Roche de Bran

13 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

46 km of footpaths cross Smarves

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

46 km

2.3 km per km²

Hiking routes

3.7 km

waymarked: 0.2 km per km²

Woodland

37%

about 7.5 km² of mapped woods

Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap

SmarvesVienne medianFrance median

Footpaths2.3

Hiking routes0.2

01.53 km per km²

Share of the land · mapped woods and forest

SmarvesVienne medianFrance median

Woodland37%

0%50%100%

That is more than in 62% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 83% 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 Smarves is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.

4 named hiking routes within 2 km

Other named walk

Via Sancti Martini - Chemin de l'Évêque11 km

De La Chapelle-aux-Lys à La Roche-Posay10 km

Via Sancti Martini - Chemin de Ligugé6.7 km

Via Sancti Martini - Camino de Zaragoza / Chemin de Saragosse2.4 km

When to get out

The best walking months in Smarves: April to September

Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Poitiers-Biard, 9.6 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)	9.0	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	10	13	16	20	24	26	26	23	18	12	9
Rain (mm)	61	47	49	53	64	60	46	43	53	72	75	73

August is the driest month (43 mm) and the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 75 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Smarves →

Neighbors

Next to Smarves

The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.

LigugéIteuilSaint-BenoîtNouaillé-MaupertuisMignaloux-BeauvoirFontaine-le-ComteSmarves

Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+

Town	Protected	Woodland	Paths (km/km²)
Smarves	0%	37%	2.3
Ligugé 3,444 · 2.8 km	0%	38%	1.8
Iteuil 2,989 · 4.4 km	0%	23%	0.5
Saint-Benoît 7,375 · 4.8 km	0%	25%	3.3
Nouaillé-Maupertuis 2,975 · 4.9 km	0%	34%	1
Mignaloux-Beauvoir 5,229 · 5.8 km	0%	17%	0.9
Fontaine-le-Comte 3,972 · 7.3 km	0%	20%	0.9

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 Smarves

Is Smarves in a national or regional nature park?

No. The nearest protected area is Forêt de Moulière, landes du Pinail, bois du Défens, du Fou et de la Roche de Bran, 13 km from the town center.

Are there good walks in Smarves?

OpenStreetMap maps 46 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.3 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 4 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.

How much of Smarves is woodland?

37% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.

Is Smarves near the sea?

No: the coast is 116 km from the town center, as the crow flies.

When is the best time for walking in Smarves?

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.