First pick
Willingdon Beach Park and Campsite
Park or garden
8.1 ha
1.0 km north-westfrom the centre
Campground Trail
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: James Blake aka Webgeer at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.05.5%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Powell River · parks, protected land & trails
6 named trails run within 2 km of Powell River
A provincial park, Inland Lake Park, lies 3.6 km away. 9 beaches are mapped within 5 km, none with a name. Protected areas cover 5.5% of the land within 10 km; for the typical Canadian town it is 2.3%.
Protected land
5.5%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
5
within 10 km, 4 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
3.6 km
Inland Lake Park
Walking routes
6
named, within 2 km (OpenStreetMap)
Beaches
9
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
What sets Powell River apart outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Powell River’s best card is its choice of walking routes, with its beaches close behind.
Against other towns
Powell River 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.
Protected within 10 km5.5%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 areas4Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes6Named 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
Powell River has the 12th most protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (14,684 to 15,220 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
Powell River5.5%
Towns its size2.3%
Towns in British Columbia6.7%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Powell River4
Towns its size6
Towns in British Columbia14
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Powell River6
Towns its size1
Towns in British Columbia1
Typical Canadian town0
For walking routes, Powell River sits near the top of its size group: 2 of 39 have more. For public protected areas, though, 22 of 39 are ahead.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whistler BC | 56% | 26% | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Pincourt QC | 33% | 0.6% | 38 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Les Rapides QC | 16% | 0% | 34 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Arbutus Ridge BC | 15% | 0% | 12 | 2 | 62 |
| 5 | Rivière-Gatineau QC | 13% | 0% | 38 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Dupéré QC | 7.7% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Pointe-Saint-Charles QC | 7.7% | 0% | 24 | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Middle Sackville NS | 6.4% | 6.5% | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Vieux-Bourg QC | 6.1% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Saint-Louis QC | 6.1% | 0.1% | 19 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Bécancour QC | 6% | 1.1% | 42 | 1 | 13 |
| 12 | Powell River BC | 5.5% | 0.1% | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| 13 | Vales of Castlemore ON | 5.2% | 21% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Sainte-Adèle QC | 4.8% | 8% | 24 | 1 | 5 |
| 15 | Buttonville ON | 3.2% | 0% | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Limoges ON | 3.1% | 5.7% | 31 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Royal Orchard ON | 3% | 0% | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | Orsainville QC | 2.5% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 19 | Taylor-Massey ON | 2.3% | 13% | 12 | 1 | 15 |
| 20 | Doon South ON | 2.3% | 16% | 22 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Springbrook ON | 2.2% | 15% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Hyde Park ON | 2.2% | 0.6% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | South London ON | 2% | 1.2% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | North Battleford SK | 1.9% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Lawrence Park South ON | 1.7% | 0% | 15 | 2 | 1 |
| 26 | Saint-Vincent-de-Paul QC | 1.5% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Lawrence Park North ON | 1.5% | 0% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Des Châtels QC | 1.3% | 0% | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 | Roncesvalles ON | 1.3% | 0% | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 30 | Lakewood SK | 1.3% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 | Ingersoll ON | 1.1% | 0% | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | Windermere AB | 1% | 2.3% | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | Campbellford ON | 0.8% | 0.5% | 24 | 7 | 0 |
| 34 | Chappelle AB | 0.8% | 0% | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 35 | Carleton Place ON | 0.6% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | Rockwood ON | 0.5% | 0.4% | 27 | 15 | 5 |
| 37 | Lacombe AB | 0.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Mountain View County AB | 0.1% | 0.1% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Cooksville NHD (West) ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 | Portage la Prairie MB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Powell River on the map: green space, protected land and paths
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town; tap a number for its park or wood.
Green: OpenStreetMap parks, gardens, playing fields and woods. Hatched: CPCAD protected areas.© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); CPCAD (OGL-Canada)
Places to walk
Walk in Powell River: 8 named parks and woods
The biggest is Willingdon Beach Park and Campsite, 8.1 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
8 named parks and woods, 25 ha in all
Parks & gardens 25 ha
Add Willingdon Beach Park and Campsite to Sunset Park and you have 58% of it.
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 Powell River 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 (38%)Further (62%)
Powell River38%
Towns in British Columbia72%
Typical Canadian town83%
Most towns do better: the typical Canadian town is at 83%. Around 9,300 residents are further than 400 m from a park.
Protected areas
Within 10 km of Powell River, 5.5% is protected land
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Powell River0.1%
Within 10 km5.5%
Towns in British Columbia6.7%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
4 of the 5 are on public land. Inland Lake Park leads for size with 2,757 ha. The figures include one private conservation area, left unnamed.
Duck Lake Protected AreaNature reserve · 768 ha · 2.2 km from the edge of town
Inland Lake ParkProvincial park · 2,757 ha · 3.6 km from the edge of town
2 areas recorded only by their type (provincial layers such as wildlife habitat areas) are counted, not listed.
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
Inland Lake Park is 3.6 km away
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
Inland Lake Park
3.6 km north28 km²since 2000
Canada’s national parks are all more than 100 km from Powell River, so the parks here are provincial.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Powell River has 77 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
77 km
in and around the town (68.5 km²)
Woodland
44%
about 30.2 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
Powell RiverTowns in British ColumbiaTypical Canadian town
Footpaths1.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Powell RiverTowns in British ColumbiaTypical Canadian town
Woodland44%
0%50%100%
56% of Canadian towns have more footpath per km². For woods, it beats 81% 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
Trails around Powell River
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
RegionalLocal
Sunshine Coast Trail196.6 km
Hammill Lake Trails10.2 km
Tower Trails10.0 km
Myrtle Springs Trails5.6 km
Blue Trail4.8 km
Haywire Trails2.2 km
For a longer outing, the Sunshine Coast Trail runs 196.6 km.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
The best months for walking in Powell River: May to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Comox, 30 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) | 8.5 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 8.1 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 177 | 112 | 108 | 64 | 40 | 42 | 24 | 31 | 47 | 125 | 189 | 194 |
Daytime highs run from 6 °C in December up to 23 °C in July. July is the driest month at 24 mm; December the wettest at 194 mm. Snowfall averages 51 cm a year. The climate in Powell River →
Beaches
9 beaches within 5 km of Powell River, none named
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Within 5 km is 34 km of coastline. Canada publishes no open register of beach water tests; the local public health unit posts swimming advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Near Powell River: 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.
Highest of the named peaks: Gallagher Hill, 368 m. Top of the list: slipways, 5 of them.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Mowat Bay Parkin town
DirectionsViewpoint for Concrete Hulksin town
DirectionsTony's Point0.5 km from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 3
Scout Mountain365 m · 0.5 km from town
DirectionsGallagher Hill368 m · 1.0 km from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 3
Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Max Cameron Dog Parkin town
DirectionsCampsites 3
Willingdon Beach Park and Campsitein town
DirectionsHaywire Bay Regional Park Campsite1.3 km from town
DirectionsPlus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 5
Plus 5 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Powell River
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
Electoral Area B, qathetElectoral Area C, qathetElectoral Area D, qathetPowell River
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powell River | 5.5% | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Electoral Area B, qathet 4.7 km | 5.2% | 5 | 17 | 12 |
| Electoral Area C, qathet 13 km | 5.9% | 9 | 18 | 12 |
| Electoral Area D, qathet 19 km | 2.5% | 23 | 0 | 7 |
More routes are mapped around Electoral Area C, qathet (18). Powell River holds its own on protected land: no neighbour has twice its share.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Beaches. The count includes unnamed stretches mapped as beach, which can make a lakeside town’s figure large.
- Protected land. Protected here means in CPCAD, Canada’s official list: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and other conserved land, measured within 10 km of the town’s edge.
- 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. Land owned by individuals, companies or conservation groups counts toward the figures but is never named: a person’s land isn’t a place to visit.
- National and provincial parks. Distances run from the town’s edge to the park’s, so 0 km means they touch.
Questions about the outdoors in Powell River
When is the best time for walking in Powell River?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Powell River?
It is Inland Lake Park, 3.6 km away.
Which is the biggest protected area near Powell River?
It is Inland Lake Park, a provincial park covering 2,757 ha.
Are there protected areas near Powell River?
Protected areas cover 5.5% of the land within 10 km.
Are there hiking trails near Powell River?
Try the Sunshine Coast Trail, Tower Trails and Hammill Lake Trails; more are on the map.
What is the nearest beach to Powell River?
The beaches mapped within 5 km have no names on the map.
What is the nearest national park to Powell River?
No national park lies within 100 km of Powell River.
Sources
Sources for this page on Powell River
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).