Elk Island National Park lies 38 km beyond Athlone’s edge
Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park is the closest provincial park, at 5.8 km. 2 areas within 10 km are protected for nature. 2% of the land and water within 10 km is protected (the typical Canadian town: 2.3%).
Athlone beside other Canadian towns, figure by figure
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. There is no Outdoors grade for Canadian towns; the figures stand beside the country’s towns of 2,500+ without a letter.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Athlone comes 20th of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (3,188 to 3,296 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
For walking routes, Athlone lags towns its size: 20 of 39 are ahead.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annapolis County, Subdivision D NS | 25% | 31% | 135 | 5 | 5 |
| 2 | Electoral Area C (Part 1), Kitimat-Stikine BC | 21% | 17% | 36 | 0 | 84 |
| 3 | Electoral Area A, Sunshine Coast BC | 16% | 11% | 27 | 0 | 37 |
| 4 | Saint-Alexis-des-Monts QC | 16% | 12% | 43 | 15 | 8 |
| 5 | Dalhousie NB | 13% | 0.2% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | New Maryland NB | 11% | 25% | 28 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | North Cypress-Langford MB | 9.8% | 6.1% | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Beaumont QC | 7.7% | 0.1% | 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Enderby BC | 5.7% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Greeningdon ON | 5.4% | 0% | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Adstock QC | 5% | 8.3% | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 12 | Hill Park ON | 4.9% | 0% | 17 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | Marathon ON | 4.6% | 3% | 4 | 1 | 30 |
| 14 | St. Clair ON | 4.5% | 0% | 23 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Pilot Butte SK | 3.8% | 0% | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 16 | Hampton NB | 3.7% | 1% | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | Lake City BC | 3.7% | 1.2% | 33 | 2 | 27 |
| 18 | Val-Morin QC | 2.5% | 5.7% | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 19 | Normanhurst ON | 2% | 0% | 15 | 1 | 7 |
| 20 | Athlone AB | 2% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Cedar Hill ON | 1.9% | 0% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Greater Madawaska ON | 1.8% | 1.6% | 10 | 1 | 8 |
| 23 | North Algona Wilberforce ON | 1.8% | 4.6% | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Point Road MB | 1.5% | 0.2% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Erlton AB | 1.2% | 0% | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 26 | Jasper Park AB | 1.1% | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | Sturgeon Creek MB | 1% | 0% | 9 | 1 | 37 |
| 28 | Canossa AB | 0.9% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Bonavista NL | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 30 | Seven Oaks MB | 0.4% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Rosslyn AB | 0.4% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Stoke QC | 0.3% | 0% | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 33 | Adelaide-Metcalfe ON | 0.3% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Bulyea Heights AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Miller AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Weinlos AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Hazeldean AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Coalhurst AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Beverly Heights AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 40 | Westwood AB | 0% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Parks, woods and paths around Athlone
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the neighbourhood; tap a number for its park or wood.
Walk in Athlone: 3 named parks and woods
Athlone Park is the largest, at 7.6 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
Miwasin Park
Touchdown Park
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.
All of Athlone is within a short walk of 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.
The typical Canadian town manages 83%, so this is better.
Around Athlone, protected areas make up 2%
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Of those 2, 1 are public and the remainder private. The figures include one private conservation area, left unnamed.
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.
The parks within reach of Athlone
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.
Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park
Elk Island National Park
Closer to home, Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park is 5.8 km away.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Athlone has 13 km of footpaths in and around it
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 · km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
90% of Canadian towns are more wooded. For path density, 52% of Canadian towns do better.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
No named walking route passes Athlone on the map
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
No walking route is mapped within 2 km of the neighbourhood. Mapping of trails as routes varies a great deal across Canada.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Athlone is best on foot in May, August and September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Edmonton (City), 3.0 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | -6 | -3 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 10 | 1 | -5 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 20 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 44 | 70 | 83 | 61 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 12 |
July brings both the warmest days and the most rain (83 mm); February is driest (12 mm). Highs peak near 24 °C in July and fall to -6 °C in January. Snow totals about 124 cm a year. The climate in Athlone →
38 things to do outdoors near Athlone
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Top of the list: playgrounds, 37 of them.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 37
Plus 35 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
The garden near Athlone: William Hawrelak Park, 6.1 km off
Gardens and arboretums within 15 km of the town’s edge, and the historic gardens, parks and estates in the town itself, nearest first.
Sources: 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 to Athlone
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlone | 2% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Wellington 1.2 km | 2.1% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Calder 1.7 km | 1.4% | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kensington 1.7 km | 1.5% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hudson 1.8 km | 2.1% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sherbrooke 2.1 km | 1.5% | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Woodcroft 2.2 km | 1.9% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
More routes are mapped around Sherbrooke (2). Athlone holds its own on protected land: no neighbour has twice its share.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected land. The share is of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s outline, from CPCAD’s mapped areas; marine areas count, so a coastal town can score high on water.
- National and provincial parks. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Athlone
How far is Athlone from a national park?
It is Elk Island National Park, 38 km off.
When is the best time for walking in Athlone?
May, August and September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
What is the biggest park or reserve near Athlone?
Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park: 2,055 ha, a provincial park.
How much land around Athlone is protected?
Protected areas cover 2% of the land within 10 km.
What is the nearest provincial park to Athlone?
It is Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park, 5.8 km away.
Sources for this page on Athlone
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).