Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Northwest · CC BY-SA 4.04 mapped walking routes pass within 2 km, among them the Green Timbers Greenway and Fraser Heights Greenway. The closest provincial park is Pinecone Burke Park, 12 km from the edge of town. A drive of 46 km reaches Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, the nearest national park.
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Guildford’s best card is the number of public protected areas close by, with its choice of walking routes close behind.
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.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (14,430 to 14,922 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Guildford leads its size group for public protected areas: none of the other 39 has more.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gravenhurst ON | 18% | 24% | 27 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Rivière-Gatineau QC | 13% | 0% | 38 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Bayshore ON | 11% | 0% | 23 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | La Crète AB | 11% | 7.9% | 9 | 0 | 112 |
| 5 | Mont-Laurier QC | 9.7% | 4.6% | 29 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Vieux-Montréal QC | 8% | 0% | 28 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | Middle Sackville NS | 6.4% | 6.5% | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Vieux-Bourg QC | 6.1% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | Saint-Louis QC | 6.1% | 0.1% | 19 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Peace Village ON | 5.7% | 0.6% | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Maizerets QC | 5.2% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 6 |
| 12 | Vales of Castlemore ON | 5.2% | 21% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Pointe-de-Sainte-Foy QC | 4.8% | 0% | 15 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Guildford BC | 4.5% | 4% | 125 | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | Val-des-Monts QC | 4.4% | 2.6% | 55 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Bourg-Royal QC | 4.1% | 0.5% | 19 | 0 | 8 |
| 17 | Long Sault ON | 2.6% | 2.5% | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Orsainville QC | 2.5% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 19 | Southcrest ON | 2.5% | 7.8% | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Hyde Park ON | 2.2% | 0.6% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | South London ON | 2% | 1.2% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | North Battleford SK | 1.9% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Lawrence Park North ON | 1.5% | 0% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | Des Châtels QC | 1.3% | 0% | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Pont-Viau QC | 1.3% | 0% | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Roncesvalles ON | 1.3% | 0% | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 27 | Lakewood SK | 1.3% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 | Ingersoll ON | 1.1% | 0% | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | Briar Hill-Belgravia ON | 1% | 0% | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| 30 | Windermere AB | 1% | 2.3% | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Chappelle AB | 0.8% | 0% | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | Carleton Place ON | 0.6% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Rockwood ON | 0.5% | 0.4% | 27 | 15 | 5 |
| 34 | Lacombe AB | 0.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Martindale AB | 0.2% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Truro NS | 0.1% | 0.3% | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| 37 | Mountain View County AB | 0.1% | 0.1% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 38 | Cooksville NHD (West) ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 39 | Grand Falls-Windsor NL | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 | Portage la Prairie MB | 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: Tynehead Regional Park leads with 262 ha. Numbers match the map.
Tynehead Regional Park plus Green Timbers Urban Forest account for 88% 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%. That leaves about 1,600 people more than a short walk away.
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Governments hold 123 of the 125, and private owners the rest. Surrey Bend Regional Park is the biggest, 331 ha. The figures include one private conservation area, left unnamed.
29 more named areas within 10 km are in the figures.
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.
Pinecone Burke Park, a provincial park, is nearer at 12 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).
For path density, it beats 88% of Canadian towns. More of it is wooded than in 58% 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.
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
For a longer outing, the BC Parkway runs 29.8 km.
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 (Pitt Meadows, 8.1 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 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 10 | 6 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 252 | 134 | 173 | 105 | 95 | 69 | 48 | 36 | 94 | 180 | 249 | 214 |
A typical year sees 37 cm of snow. For dry weather, August is best (36 mm); January gets 252 mm. In August the typical high is 25 °C; in December, 6 °C. The climate in Guildford →
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
No national or provincial register of beach water quality is published as open data, so check the local health unit before swimming.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Most numerous: playgrounds (101).
Plus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Plus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 99 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guildford | 4.5% | 125 | 4 | 5 |
| Johnston Heights 1.3 km | 5.8% | 131 | 7 | 6 |
| Birdland 1.6 km | 4.3% | 119 | 4 | 6 |
| Fraser Heights 2.2 km | 4.1% | 129 | 4 | 6 |
| Port Mann 3.0 km | 5.1% | 108 | 6 | 7 |
| Fleetwood 3.9 km | 7.8% | 162 | 10 | 0 |
| Whalley 4.0 km | 8.2% | 125 | 5 | 7 |
For walking routes, Fleetwood leads the area with 10. No neighbouring place reaches twice Guildford’s protected share.
It is Pinecone Burke Park, 12 km away.
It is Surrey Bend Regional Park, a nature reserve covering 331 ha.
Try the Green Timbers Greenway, Fraser Heights Greenway and BC Parkway; more are on the map.
The beaches mapped within 5 km have no names on the map.
Yes: 4.5% of the land within 10 km is protected.
It is Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, 46 km off.
On the normals, May to September: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
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).