Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A provincial park, Big Island Provincial Park, lies 6.8 km away. The protected share within 10 km is 0.3%, where a typical Canadian town has 2.3%. CPCAD lists 2 protected areas within 10 km.
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.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (4,483 to 4,649 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Where Blue Quill trails its peers is protected land nearby; 34 of 39 have more.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jasper AB | 100% | 100% | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2 | Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona BC | 49% | 64% | 34 | 11 | 8 |
| 3 | Shelburne NS | 27% | 28% | 194 | 0 | 80 |
| 4 | Sparwood BC | 23% | 3.4% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Douglas BC | 13% | 3.2% | 82 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Queenswood - Chatelaine ON | 12% | 0% | 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola BC | 11% | 8.3% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Berthierville QC | 9.1% | 0% | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Gurnett ON | 7.3% | 0% | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Bowen Island BC | 7.2% | 17% | 60 | 0 | 173 |
| 11 | Neuville QC | 7.1% | 1.3% | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Horning ON | 6.4% | 20% | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | Saint-Antonin QC | 6.1% | 0.5% | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Melville SK | 5.2% | 1% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu QC | 4.3% | 0% | 41 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Eastmount ON | 4.3% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 AB | 3.7% | 3.1% | 41 | 0 | 5 |
| 18 | Crossroads ON | 3.5% | 0% | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Britannia Youngstown AB | 3.3% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Warner County No. 5 AB | 3.2% | 4.7% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Country Hills ON | 2.6% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Red Hill ON | 2.1% | 0% | 17 | 3 | 5 |
| 23 | Caraquet NB | 1.8% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| 24 | Fairfield Park MB | 1.7% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Felker ON | 1.5% | 0% | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Centennial MB | 1.5% | 0% | 18 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | Rockwood MB | 1.5% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Carlisle AB | 1.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Casselman ON | 1.4% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Albion ON | 1.4% | 11% | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| 31 | Riverview MB | 1.4% | 0% | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Parkridge SK | 1.1% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Iroquois Falls ON | 0.8% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Britannia ON | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Blue Quill AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Vanderhoof BC | 0.2% | 3.8% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Saint-Anselme QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Howick ON | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Raymond AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the neighbourhood; tap a number for its park or wood.
Largest first: Whitemud Creek Ravine leads with 386 ha. Numbers match the map.
Whitemud Creek Ravine plus Blackmud Creek Ravine account for 94% of the green.
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.
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.
A typical Canadian town reaches only 83%.
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
None of the 2 is private. Big Island Provincial Park covers 79 ha, the most of any named area.
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 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.
Big Island Provincial Park, a provincial park, is nearer at 6.8 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
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).
More of it is wooded than in 64% of Canadian towns. Few places match it for paths: more than 94% of Canadian towns have fewer.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
No named walking or hiking route is mapped near the neighbourhood; local paths may simply not be on OpenStreetMap as routes.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Edmonton (City), 12 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 |
About 124 cm of snow falls in a year. January brings highs of -6 °C, July highs of 24 °C. The wettest month is the warmest, July (83 mm); February has 12 mm. The climate in Blue Quill →
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Rabbit Hill tops the hills nearby, 713 m. Playgrounds lead the count with 29.
Plus 29 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 1 dog park more.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Quill | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet Grass 0.6 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Greenfield 1.1 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Skyrattler 1.2 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Ermineskin 1.4 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Duggan 2.0 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Royal Gardens 2.1 km | 0.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
No place nearby has double Blue Quill’s share of protected land.
Protected areas cover 0.3% of the land within 10 km.
The nearest is Elk Island National Park, 38 km away.
May, August and September, on the 1991–2020 normals and the daylight: long days, highs of 15 °C or more, light rain for the place.
Big Island Provincial Park, a provincial park of 79 ha.
The closest is Big Island Provincial Park, at 6.8 km.
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).