Photo: FedexPope · CC BY 3.0Victoria has more protected land around it than 8 in 10 Canadian towns
One beach is mapped within 5 km: Carie Flats. Some protected land is inside the town: 13% of its area. 85 km separate the town from Riding Mountain National Park, its nearest national park.
What Victoria has going for it outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Out of doors, Victoria leads with protected land around it, with a provincial park at its edge close behind.
How Victoria 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. This page carries no grade, because Canada’s grading doesn’t cover the outdoors; the comparisons are the point.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Victoria has the 5th most protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (1,333 to 2,587 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Against towns its size, Victoria does best for protected land nearby: 4 of the other 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anmore BC | 22% | 47% | 16 | 5 | 98 |
| 2 | Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska QC | 19% | 0% | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Gracefield QC | 19% | 19% | 34 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | East Preston NS | 16% | 6.3% | 20 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Victoria MB | 9% | 13% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Clearwater BC | 7.7% | 4.1% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Roberval QC | 6.1% | 1.2% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague QC | 5.8% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | North Frontenac ON | 5.7% | 5.2% | 13 | 6 | 4 |
| 10 | Cap-Chat QC | 5.3% | 0.4% | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 | Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards ON | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | Saint-Polycarpe QC | 4.2% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Macassa ON | 4.1% | 0% | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Saint-Damien QC | 4% | 3.2% | 22 | 1 | 9 |
| 15 | Unity SK | 3.4% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Sherwood ON | 3.4% | 0% | 19 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | McNab SK | 2.6% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Mandeville QC | 2.5% | 1.8% | 19 | 4 | 7 |
| 19 | Esterhazy SK | 1.8% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | City Commercial Core ON | 1.8% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Caswell Hill SK | 1.4% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 22 | Fossambault-sur-le-Lac QC | 1.3% | 7.8% | 15 | 0 | 14 |
| 23 | Pembina MB | 1.1% | 1.8% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Burrows-Keewatin MB | 1% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Elmwood AB | 0.8% | 0% | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Hatley QC | 0.7% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 27 | Munroe West MB | 0.4% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Brooke-Alvinston ON | 0.3% | 0.2% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Rosedale AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Minchau AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 | Lunenburg NS | 0.1% | 0% | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| 32 | Salisbury NB | 0.1% | 2.1% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Dufferin MB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Ekota AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 35 | Satoo AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Magrath AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Nanton AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Rimbey AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Sexsmith AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The green map of Victoria
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town.
In Victoria, parks are rarely a short walk away
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 does better, at 83%. Around 1,300 residents are further than 400 m from a park.
6 protected areas around Victoria
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
On public land: 4 of the 6. The others are private conservation land. Spruce Woods Provincial Park covers 21,265 ha, the most of any named area. Another 2 are privately owned conservation land; they count in the figures but aren’t named, as private land isn’t a place to visit.
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 nearest big park: Riding Mountain National Park, 85 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.
Spruce Woods Provincial Park
Riding Mountain National Park
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Victoria and its edge hold 171 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 · km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Woods cover more of it than in 79% of Canadian towns. 77% of Canadian towns have more footpath per km².
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
No mapped walking route near Victoria
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Nothing near the town is mapped as a named walking route, which often means the trails just haven’t been entered as routes.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Get out in Victoria in August and September
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Cypress River (11 km), and daylight at the town’s latitude. Good months: 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15–30 °C, little 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 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | -10 | -7 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 20 | 11 | 0 | -7 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 20 | 17 | 21 | 27 | 70 | 91 | 75 | 61 | 45 | 38 | 25 | 27 |
Summer highs reach 26 °C in July; in January they stay near -10 °C. Expect 91 mm in June, the wettest month, and 17 mm in February. Some 137 cm of snow falls each winter. The climate in Victoria →
1 beach within 5 km of Victoria
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Whether the water is fit for a swim isn’t in any open national dataset; public health posts the local advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Victoria has 6 viewpoints within 2 km
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
The map shows 6 viewpoints, ahead of the rest.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 4
Nature reserves 3
Plus 1 nature reserve more.
Campsites 1
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Victoria
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page. The nearest places to Victoria with figures are 21–39 km away.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 9% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Norfolk-Treherne 21 km | 1% | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Glenboro-South Cypress 25 km | 21% | 44 | 0 | 9 |
| Lorne 34 km | 0.7% | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Carberry 38 km | 6.8% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Argyle 39 km | 2.1% | 45 | 0 | 1 |
Around Glenboro-South Cypress the protected share is at least double.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- National and provincial parks. A park at 0 km touches or overlaps the town’s outline; directions point from the town’s centre.
- Beaches. The count includes unnamed stretches mapped as beach, which can make a lakeside town’s figure large.
- Private land. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
- Walking routes. A route counts when 300 m or more of it lies within 2 km of the town. Coverage of trails on OpenStreetMap varies by region.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Victoria
How much land around Victoria is protected?
Yes: 9% of the land within 10 km is protected.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Victoria?
Spruce Woods Provincial Park begins at the town’s edge.
What is the nearest beach to Victoria?
The nearest is Carie Flats, in town.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Victoria?
August and September, on the 1991–2020 normals and the daylight: long days, highs of 15 °C or more, light rain for the place.
What is the largest protected area near Victoria?
It is Spruce Woods Provincial Park, a provincial park covering 21,265 ha.
How far is Victoria from a national park?
Riding Mountain National Park, 85 km from the edge of town.
The sources behind Victoria’s outdoors figures
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).