First pick
Espace Rambouillet
Wood or forest
245 ha3.7 km of path
50 minto walk all 3.7 km of path
4.2 km northfrom the center
Domaine des CerfsCircuit des Volières
Directionsto a point inside
100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Sonchamp · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Sonchamp lies inside Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park
100% of Sonchamp’s land lies in protected areas. 30% of Sonchamp is mapped woodland. Sonchamp has 32 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
30%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
73 km
1.6 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 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: Espace Rambouillet
Throughout this page, the Yvelines 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 Sonchamp?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune30% mapped woodland, more than in 76% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Sonchamp apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Sonchamp 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
95out of 100
Woodland30%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
76out of 100
Footpaths1.6 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
48out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
71out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Sonchamp has the 11th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (1,678 to 2,582 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From École-Valentin (3.9 km per km²) to Bouligny (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | École-Valentin Doubs | 3.9 | 16% | 0% | 405 km |
| 2 | Sainte-Foy-la-Grande Gironde | 3.7 | 0% | 8.7% | 66 km |
| 3 | Mers-les-Bains Somme | 3.5 | 10% | 100% | On it |
| 4 | Villejust Essonne | 2.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 160 km |
| 5 | Sainte-Feyre Creuse | 2.1 | 30% | 0% | 222 km |
| 6 | Camiers Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 30% | 32% | On it |
| 7 | Sain-Bel Rhône | 1.9 | 12% | 0% | 253 km |
| 8 | La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur Calvados | 1.8 | 14% | 29% | On it |
| 9 | Fareins Ain | 1.8 | 8.8% | 0.1% | 279 km |
| 10 | Entzheim Bas-Rhin | 1.7 | 1.5% | 0% | 449 km |
| 11 | Sonchamp Yvelines | 1.6 | 30% | 100% | 145 km |
| 12 | Mornas Vaucluse | 1.5 | 35% | 5% | 84 km |
| 13 | Watten Nord | 1.4 | 24% | 100% | 18 km |
| 14 | Rantigny Oise | 1.4 | 18% | 0% | 109 km |
| 15 | Beautor Aisne | 1.3 | 3.6% | 40% | 133 km |
| 16 | Conques-sur-Orbiel Aude | 1.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 60 km |
| 17 | Barcelonnette Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 1.3 | 46% | 100% | 91 km |
| 18 | Granges-Aumontzey Vosges | 1.1 | 70% | 90% | 436 km |
| 19 | Cattenom Moselle | 1.1 | 37% | 0% | 308 km |
| 20 | Prayssac Lot | 1 | 42% | 0% | 151 km |
| 21 | Chatte Isère | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 190 km |
| 22 | Arelaune-en-Seine Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 69% | 100% | 29 km |
| 23 | La Croix-en-Touraine Indre-et-Loire | 0.7 | 24% | 0% | 199 km |
| 24 | Criel-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime | 0.7 | 4.9% | 7% | On it |
| 25 | Lusignan Vienne | 0.7 | 17% | 0% | 97 km |
| 26 | Avelin Nord | 0.6 | 6.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 27 | Civray Vienne | 0.5 | 19% | 0% | 101 km |
| 28 | Le Cailar Gard | 0.4 | 2% | 68% | 17 km |
| 29 | Vervins Aisne | 0.4 | 1.1% | 0% | 164 km |
| 30 | Port-Sainte-Foy-et-Ponchapt Dordogne | 0.4 | 13% | 2.1% | 65 km |
| 31 | Frans Ain | 0.4 | 4% | 0% | 275 km |
| 32 | Toucy Yonne | 0.4 | 24% | 0% | 288 km |
| 33 | Auxi-le-Château Pas-de-Calais | 0.3 | 25% | 1% | 31 km |
| 34 | Vivy Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 100% | 140 km |
| 35 | Nogent-sur-Vernisson Loiret | 0.2 | 46% | 0.3% | 249 km |
| 36 | Eymet Dordogne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 0.4% | 86 km |
| 37 | Athies-sous-Laon Aisne | 0.2 | 8.9% | 0% | 159 km |
| 38 | Val-de-Scie Seine-Maritime | 0.1 | 18% | 0% | 23 km |
| 39 | Noyen-sur-Sarthe Sarthe | 0.1 | 28% | 0% | 126 km |
| 40 | Chalamont Ain | 0.1 | 20% | 69% | 284 km |
| 41 | Bouligny Meuse | 0.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 293 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 Sonchamp
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Espace Rambouillet leads, at 245 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Sonchamp
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Massif de Rambouillet et zones humides proches
13% of the commune2.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Tourbières et prairies tourbeuses de la forêt d’Yveline
4.6 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site13%
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 Sonchamp’s land is protected, more than in 95% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Yvelines has 0%. 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.
Footpaths and woods
73 km of footpaths and 32 km of hiking routes cross Sonchamp
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
73 km
1.6 km per km²
Hiking routes
32 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
30%
about 13.8 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
SonchampYvelines medianFrance median
Footpaths1.6
Hiking routes0.7
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
SonchampYvelines medianFrance median
Woodland30%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 52% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 76% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Sonchamp’s residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
9 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)PR (local walk)Other named walk
GR655 OT14 km
PR 774.2 km
Chemin de Trèves, Rambouillet - Chartres16 km
Circuit de Jarrieux5.5 km
Circuit de Louareux5.3 km
Circuit du Château de Pinceloup5.3 km
Chemin de Trèves, Igny - Rambouillet4.7 km
Forêt et Villages hors du temps0.3 km
PR820.3 km
GR655 OT passes within 2 km of Sonchamp.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Sonchamp: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Dourdan, 11 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 48 | 50 | 44 | 69 | 54 | 52 | 57 | 48 | 55 | 61 | 66 |
April is the driest month (44 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 69 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 51 nights a year. The climate in Sonchamp →
Neighbors
Next to Sonchamp
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Arnoult-en-YvelinesRambouilletAblisLe Perray-en-YvelinesDourdanAuneau-Bleury-Saint-SymphorienSonchamp
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonchamp | 100% | 30% | 1.6 |
| Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines 5,875 · 5 km | 0.1% | 50% | 3.7 |
| Rambouillet 27,724 · 7.3 km | 74% | 48% | 2.6 |
| Ablis 3,913 · 8.1 km | 0% | 8.6% | 0.5 |
| Le Perray-en-Yvelines 6,480 · 12 km | 100% | 33% | 1.6 |
| Dourdan 11,415 · 12 km | 0% | 58% | 2.8 |
| Auneau-Bleury-Saint-Symphorien 6,419 · 14 km | 1% | 12% | 0.3 |
Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, Rambouillet and Dourdan are more wooded.
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 Sonchamp
Is Sonchamp in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Sonchamp lies in Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Sonchamp?
OpenStreetMap maps 73 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 32 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Sonchamp is woodland?
30% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Sonchamp near the sea?
No: the coast is 145 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Sonchamp?
April and June 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.