First pick
James White Park
Park or garden
6.4 ha
1.4 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Holger Steinhaus · CC BY-SA 3.031%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Fernie · parks, protected land & trails
Protected areas cover 31% of the country around Fernie
A drive of 74 km reaches Waterton Lakes National Park, the nearest national park. 6 protected areas lie within 10 km.
Protected land
31%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
6
within 10 km, 2 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
74 km
Waterton Lakes National Park
Nearest provincial park
At the edge
Mount Fernie Park
Character
What Fernie has going for it outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Protected land all round31% of the land within 10 km, more than 98% of Canadian townsA provincial park at the edgeMount Fernie Park reaches the town
Above all, Fernie offers protected land around it, with a provincial park at its edge close behind.
Against other towns
How Fernie 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. Outdoors isn’t graded in Canada. The page compares each figure with other towns and leaves it there.
Protected within 10 km31%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town0.1%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
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
No town of the 40 its size has more protected land around it than Fernie
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (6,965 to 7,245 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
Fernie31%
Towns its size2.3%
Towns in British Columbia6.7%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Fernie2
Towns its size4
Towns in British Columbia14
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Fernie0
Towns its size0
Towns in British Columbia1
Typical Canadian town0
For protected land nearby, Fernie tops all 39 other towns its size. On public protected areas it is behind: 25 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernie BC | 31% | 0.1% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Hope BC | 15% | 4.1% | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Springhill NS | 11% | 9% | 79 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part ON | 11% | 10% | 91 | 4 | 228 |
| 5 | Lowertown East ON | 11% | 0% | 38 | 4 | 3 |
| 6 | Les Cèdres QC | 11% | 0.1% | 40 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Peace River AB | 8.4% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Kent BC | 8.3% | 8.2% | 16 | 2 | 42 |
| 9 | Saint-Honoré QC | 5.5% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | L'Ange-Gardien QC | 5.4% | 0% | 59 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Perth ON | 5.4% | 0.7% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Hope ON | 4.8% | 1.8% | 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Carlisle ON | 4% | 0% | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Raleigh ON | 4% | 0% | 20 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Edgeley ON | 3.9% | 0.4% | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Haysboro AB | 3.9% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 17 | Midnapore AB | 3.3% | 32% | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Concord ON | 3.1% | 0% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Saint-Paul QC | 2.4% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay BC | 2.3% | 1.5% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Colborne ON | 2.2% | 0.3% | 28 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Fairwinds BC | 2.2% | 4.7% | 23 | 0 | 15 |
| 23 | Brown's Corners ON | 1.8% | 0% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Lymburn AB | 1.7% | 0% | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | North River Heights MB | 1.5% | 0% | 26 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Sherbrooke AB | 1.5% | 0% | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | King Edward MB | 1.3% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Meadowood MB | 1.3% | 1.8% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Inglewood AB | 1.3% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Devon AB | 1.1% | 0% | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Shannon QC | 0.9% | 3.9% | 21 | 1 | 14 |
| 32 | Merritt BC | 0.9% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 33 | Cougar Ridge AB | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 | Yarmouth NS | 0.6% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| 35 | Erin Woods AB | 0.6% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 36 | La Sarre QC | 0.5% | 0.1% | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 | Brighton SK | 0.5% | 0.1% | 10 | 1 | 2 |
| 38 | Rhatigan Ridge AB | 0.5% | 0% | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 39 | Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh ON | 0.4% | 0.9% | 13 | 5 | 5 |
| 40 | Wainwright AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Fernie
The town’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
Walk in Fernie: 3 named parks and woods
The biggest is James White Park, 6.4 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
Sharpes Field
Park or garden
1.8 ha0.4 km of path
0.9 km south-westfrom the centre
Dike
Directionsto a point inside
Parkland Terrace Park
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.2 km of path
1.8 km northfrom the centre
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
4 in 10 people in Fernie live near 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 (45%)Further (56%)
Fernie45%
Towns in British Columbia72%
Typical Canadian town83%
In the typical Canadian town the share is 83%, higher than here. That leaves about 3,900 people more than a short walk away.
Protected areas
6 protected areas around Fernie
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Fernie0.1%
Within 10 km31%
Towns in British Columbia6.7%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Governments hold 2 of the 6, and private owners the rest. Mount Fernie Park covers 259 ha, the most of any named area. Another 4 are privately owned conservation land; they count in the figures but aren’t named, as private land isn’t a place to visit.
Mount Fernie ParkProvincial park · 259 ha · reaches Fernie
Morrissey ParkProvincial park · 4.6 ha · 9.9 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
74 km to Waterton Lakes 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
Mount Fernie Park
At the edge2.6 km²since 1959
Provincial park
Morrissey Park
9.9 km south0.0 km²since 1962
National park
Waterton Lakes National Park
74 km south-east505 km²since 1895
Within 10 km are 2 provincial parks.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Fernie and its edge hold 179 km of footpath
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
179 km
in and around the town (40.1 km²)
Woodland
47%
about 19 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
FernieTowns in British ColumbiaTypical Canadian town
Footpaths4.5
036 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
FernieTowns in British ColumbiaTypical Canadian town
Woodland47%
0%50%100%
More of it is wooded than in 82% of Canadian towns. Paths are denser here than in 88% 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 named walking route passes Fernie 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.
OpenStreetMap has no named walking route within 2 km of the town. 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 Fernie: May and July to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Sparwood, 31 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) | 8.6 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | -2 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 19 | 11 | 2 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 49 | 38 | 56 | 40 | 58 | 71 | 44 | 32 | 44 | 54 | 72 | 56 |
The warmest days come in July (25 °C highs), the coldest in December (-3 °C). Most rain and snow falls in November, 72 mm; August sees 32 mm. Winter brings about 280 cm of snow. The climate in Fernie →
Things to do
Near Fernie: 3 viewpoints on the map
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
There are 4 playgrounds, more than of anything else.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Railyard Dog Parkin town
DirectionsCampsites 1
Mount Fernie Campground0.2 km from town
DirectionsSource: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Fernie
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page. Distances here run 11–29 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Fernie.
Electoral Area A, East KootenayElectoral Area B, East KootenaySparwoodFernie
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernie | 31% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Electoral Area A, East Kootenay 11 km | 33% | 35 | 11 | 15 |
| Electoral Area B, East Kootenay 23 km | 10% | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| Sparwood 29 km | 23% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
For walking routes, Electoral Area A, East Kootenay leads the area with 11. Its neighbours have no more than twice Fernie’s protected share.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Private land. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
- 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.
- Walking routes. Routes are what OpenStreetMap’s volunteers have mapped as named walking or hiking routes; many good trails aren’t mapped that way.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Fernie
Is there a provincial park near Fernie?
Mount Fernie Park begins at the town’s edge.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Fernie?
May and July to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Is Fernie near a national park?
Waterton Lakes National Park, 74 km from the edge of town.
What is the biggest park or reserve near Fernie?
Mount Fernie Park: 259 ha, a provincial park.
Is there protected land near Fernie?
Within 10 km, 31% of the land lies in protected areas.
Sources
Sources for this page on Fernie
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.
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).