First pick
Bridlewood Wetlands
Park or garden · 290 m outside town
9.5 ha1.4 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.4 km of path
1.2 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
3.1%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Shawnessy · parks, protected land & trails
9 beaches lie within 5 km of Shawnessy
Fish Creek Provincial Park is the closest provincial park, at 1.0 km. The largest named area nearby is Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area, 1,943 ha, 8.3 km away. The closest of Canada’s national parks is Banff National Park, at 83 km.
Protected land
3.1%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
2
within 10 km, 2 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
83 km
Banff National Park
Nearest provincial park
1.0 km
Fish Creek Provincial Park
Beaches
9
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Against other towns
How Shawnessy compares with other Canadian towns
Each figure against the 2,611 Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (not city hubs or reserves), with the town marked and the typical one’s line. No letter: the outdoors is described for Canadian towns, not graded.
Protected within 10 km3.1%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town0%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas2Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes0Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches9Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Shawnessy comes 16th of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (9,488 to 9,913 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Protected within 10 km
Shawnessy3.1%
Towns its size2.1%
Towns in Alberta0.4%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Shawnessy2
Towns its size4
Towns in Alberta2
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Shawnessy0
Towns its size0
Towns in Alberta0
Typical Canadian town0
Against towns its size, Shawnessy does best for protected land nearby: 15 of the other 39 have more. It trails them for public protected areas, where 23 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electoral Area C (Puntledge - Black Creek), Comox Valley BC | 22% | 12% | 74 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | Shawnigan BC | 22% | 6.4% | 66 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | Shediac NB | 18% | 5.4% | 20 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Lac-Deschênes QC | 14% | 49% | 32 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Manor Park ON | 11% | 4.1% | 41 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | Antigonish County, Subdivision A NS | 11% | 9.3% | 128 | 1 | 17 |
| 7 | South Cambie BC | 8.6% | 0% | 13 | 2 | 49 |
| 8 | M-Section (bramalea) ON | 5.4% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Lakelands Village ON | 5.2% | 0% | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Silverado AB | 4.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 11 | Qualicum Beach BC | 4.4% | 1.2% | 24 | 0 | 7 |
| 12 | Elizabethtown-Kitley ON | 4.2% | 1.7% | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Glastonbury AB | 4.2% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Charlesbourg QC | 3.9% | 0% | 17 | 1 | 6 |
| 15 | Northeast SK | 3.7% | 0% | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Shawnessy AB | 3.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 | Richmond ON | 2.5% | 0.2% | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Laurentian Valley ON | 2.4% | 0.9% | 21 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 | Guildwood ON | 2.2% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 6 |
| 20 | Rosenberg ON | 2.2% | 9.1% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | North London ON | 1.9% | 0% | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Lorraine QC | 1.6% | 0.2% | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Avalon SK | 1.6% | 0.7% | 21 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills ON | 1.5% | 3.9% | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | Daniel McIntyre MB | 1.5% | 0% | 21 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier QC | 1.4% | 0.1% | 27 | 0 | 16 |
| 27 | Wiarton ON | 1.4% | 2.4% | 64 | 3 | 55 |
| 28 | Notre-Dame-des-Prairies QC | 1.2% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Willowgrove SK | 0.8% | 0% | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| 30 | Roberval QC | 0.6% | 0.1% | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| 31 | Thamesford ON | 0.5% | 0.4% | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| 32 | Rustic ON | 0.3% | 0% | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Aspen Woods AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Springbank Hill AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | Plympton-Wyoming ON | 0.2% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Devonshire ON | 0.2% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Mineola ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 38 | Saint-Rémi QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Coaldale AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Olds AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Shawnessy
The neighbourhood’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
Green: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, playing fields and woods. Hatched: CPCAD protected areas.© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); CPCAD (OGL-Canada)
Places to walk
2 named parks and woods to walk in near Shawnessy
Largest first: Bridlewood Wetlands leads with 9.5 ha. Numbers match the map.
Lake Sundance
Park or garden · 400 m outside town
7.3 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
2.5 km eastfrom the centre
Lake Sundance Walking PathSundace Lake Walking PathSundance Lake Walking Path
Directionsto a point inside
Source: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, commons and woods with a name, in the town or within 400 m, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Sizes are the mapped outline’s.
Close to home
About 9 in 10 of Shawnessy’s residents are a short walk from a park
Residents of each 2021 dissemination area, at a point inside it, within 400 m (about a 5-minute walk) of a park or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap.
Within 400 m (89%)Further (11%)
Shawnessy89%
Towns in Alberta100%
Typical Canadian town83%
Around 1,100 residents are further than 400 m from a park. It is above the typical Canadian town (83%).
Protected areas
Around Shawnessy, protected areas make up 3.1%
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Shawnessy0%
Within 10 km3.1%
Towns in Alberta0.4%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Each of the 2 is held by a public body. At 1,943 ha, Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area is the largest.
Fish Creek Provincial ParkProvincial park · 1,361 ha · 1.0 km from the edge of town
Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation AreaNature reserve · 1,943 ha · 8.3 km from the edge of town
Source: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
National & provincial parks
83 km to Banff National Park
National parks (Parks Canada) and provincial or territorial parks by direction and distance from the town’s edge: every one within 10 km, and the nearest of each within 100 km.
National parkProvincial park
Provincial park
Fish Creek Provincial Park
1.0 km north-west14 km²since 1975
National park
Banff National Park
83 km north-west6,641 km²since 1885
Closer to home, Fish Creek Provincial Park is 1.0 km away.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Paths to walk: 100 km in and around Shawnessy
OpenStreetMap footpaths, paths, bridleways and steps, and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it; woods as mapped (landuse=forest, natural=wood).
Footpaths
100 km
in and around the town (34.6 km²)
Woodland
1.7%
about 0.6 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
ShawnessyTowns in AlbertaTypical Canadian town
Footpaths2.9
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ShawnessyTowns in AlbertaTypical Canadian town
Woodland1.7%
0%50%100%
76% of Canadian towns are more wooded. Paths are denser here than in 70% of Canadian towns.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Walking routes
No mapped walking route near Shawnessy
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
OpenStreetMap has no named walking route within 2 km of the neighbourhood. Trails may exist without being mapped as routes.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
Walking season in Shawnessy: May and July to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Calgary (Airport), 24 km away). Good months: long days, highs of 15–30 °C, light rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | -2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 0 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 10 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 61 | 113 | 66 | 54 | 37 | 17 | 16 | 13 |
Highs peak near 24 °C in July and fall to -2 °C in January. Most rain and snow falls in June, 113 mm; January sees 10 mm. Snow totals about 139 cm a year. The climate in Shawnessy →
Beaches
Beaches near Shawnessy
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Sikome Lake Southsand · 2.0 km from town
DirectionsSikome Lake Westsand · 2.0 km from town
DirectionsSikome Lake Northsand · 2.2 km from town
DirectionsThe map adds 6 unnamed stretches of beach. 3 are mapped as sand. No open data on beach water quality covers every province, so check with public health before a swim.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Viewpoints and waterfalls near Shawnessy: 2 and 2
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
There are 146 playgrounds, more than of anything else.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 2
Plus 2 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 4
Glennfield Day Use Area1.6 km from town
DirectionsBlackbird Group Use Site1.6 km from town
DirectionsAspen Group Use Site1.7 km from town
DirectionsPicnic Area1.9 km from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 146
Janet Johnstone Playgroundin town
DirectionsWalden Terrace Playground0.5 km from town
DirectionsTree House Indoor Playground0.5 km from town
DirectionsLegacy Orange Playground0.7 km from town
DirectionsSpider Web Park1.1 km from town
DirectionsDivision 21.2 km from town
DirectionsYorkville Park Playground1.3 km from town
DirectionsDivision 11.3 km from town
DirectionsPlus 138 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Yorkville Dog Park1.3 km from town
DirectionsSlipways 2
Plus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Gardens to visit
2 gardens within reach of Shawnessy
Gardens and arboretums within 15 km of the town’s edge, and the historic gardens, parks and estates in the town itself, nearest first.
Devonian GardensGarden or park · 15 km from town
DirectionsOlympic PlazaGarden or park · 15 km from town
DirectionsSources: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, and Wikidata (CC0), as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic places from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places and Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel.
Next door
Next to Shawnessy
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
SomersetMillriseFish Creek ParkMidnaporeBridlewoodEvergreenShawnessy
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawnessy | 3.1% | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Somerset 0.9 km | 4.6% | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Millrise 1.5 km | 4.1% | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Fish Creek Park 2.0 km | 3.2% | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Midnapore 2.0 km | 3.3% | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Bridlewood 2.4 km | 7.7% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Evergreen 2.6 km | 5.9% | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Bridlewood has at least twice the protected share around it.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- National and provincial parks. National parks are Parks Canada’s; provincial parks are the province’s or territory’s, Québec’s parcs nationaux among them.
- Walking routes. Only named route relations count; a park’s own path network may not show unless it is mapped as a route.
- Private land. Areas held by land trusts or private owners stay unnamed here, though they count in the shares.
- Beaches. A beach counts when its centre point lies within 5 km of the town’s outline. Names come from the map.
- Protected land. CPCAD maps each protected area; the page counts how much of the 10 km around the town they cover, lakes and sea included.
Questions about the outdoors in Shawnessy
How much land around Shawnessy is protected?
Protected areas cover 3.1% of the land within 10 km.
What is the largest protected area near Shawnessy?
Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area, a nature reserve of 1,943 ha.
How far is Shawnessy from a national park?
Banff National Park, 83 km from the edge of town.
What is the nearest beach to Shawnessy?
Try Sikome Lake South, 2.0 km from town, first of several.
What is the nearest provincial park to Shawnessy?
Fish Creek Provincial Park, 1.0 km away.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Shawnessy?
May and July to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Sources
Where Shawnessy’s outdoors figures come from
Protected areas: Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD) 2.9.0, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2026: every area within 10 km and the nearest national and provincial parks, measured outline to outline.
Walking routes and beaches: OpenStreetMap, November 2026: named hiking, foot and walking route relations within 2 km and beaches within 5 km.
Towns: Statistics Canada 2021 Census boundaries and populations; the comparison is the Canadian towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+, not city hubs or reserves.
When to go: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020, from the nearest station that publishes them.
Gardens: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden) and Wikidata gardens within 15 km, as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic gardens and parks from Canada’s heritage registers (Parks Canada DFHD, the Canadian Register of Historic Places, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel).
Green space, paths, woods, things to do: OpenStreetMap (Geofabrik’s Canada extract), November 2026: parks, gardens, playing fields, woods, footpaths, the coastline and things to do in and around each town.
Residents: Statistics Canada 2021 Census dissemination areas (population, boundaries), each at a point inside it.
Walking routes and beaches © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Not on this page: trailheads and trail grades, and beach water quality. No open Canadian dataset gives these for every town yet.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).