Photo: Vic Brincat from Keswick, Ontario, Canada · CC BY 2.0Brighton has 40 public protected areas within 10 km
OpenStreetMap shows 21 unnamed beaches within 5 km. Of the country within 10 km, 7.2% lies in protected areas; the median Canadian town has 2.3%. No national park lies within 100 km.
What sets Brighton apart outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Out of doors, Brighton leads with the number of public protected areas close by, with protected land around it close behind. Less going for it: a big park within easy reach.
Each figure for Brighton, set against 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. Canada’s grades don’t include the outdoors, so this page compares the figures rather than grading them.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Brighton has the 6th most protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (1,635 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.
For public protected areas, Brighton tops all 39 other towns its size.
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 | Clearwater BC | 7.7% | 4.1% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Brighton NB | 7.2% | 8.8% | 47 | 0 | 21 |
| 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 |
Where the green is in Brighton
The town’s parks, woods, protected land and paths as mapped.
Most of Brighton is more than a short walk from 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.
The typical Canadian town does better, at 83%. That leaves about 1,600 people more than a short walk away.
Protected areas cover 7.2% of the land near Brighton
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Governments hold 40 of the 47, and private owners the rest. 4032300 covers 3,808 ha, the most of any named area. 5 areas belong to private owners or land trusts and aren’t named here.
25 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.
The nearest big park: Mactaquac Provincial Park, 41 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.
Mactaquac Provincial Park
There is no national park within 100 km; for big parks, Brighton has its province’s.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Brighton has 83 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 · km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
For woods, it beats 97% of Canadian towns. It has fewer paths per km² than 82% 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.
No mapped walking route near Brighton
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
The map shows no named route near the town. That says more about OpenStreetMap’s coverage than about the paths on the ground.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Get out in Brighton in May to September
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Woodstock/Newbridge (20 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | -6 | -4 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 12 | 5 | -2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 101 | 84 | 93 | 84 | 92 | 104 | 100 | 88 | 93 | 105 | 101 | 115 |
Winter brings about 292 cm of snow. The warmest days come in July (25 °C highs), the coldest in January (-6 °C). Expect 115 mm in December, the wettest month, and 84 mm in April. The climate in Brighton →
21 beaches within 5 km of Brighton, none named
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
This page can’t show water quality: no open, Canada-wide record of beach testing exists. Check local advisories first.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints and waterfalls near Brighton: 2 and 2
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
The most common are playgrounds: 4 on the map.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 3
Waterfalls 2
Plus 2 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Brighton
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | 7.2% | 47 | 0 | 21 |
| Hartland 7.0 km | 1.9% | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| Peel 11 km | 2.6% | 22 | 0 | 28 |
| Wakefield 15 km | 2.2% | 22 | 0 | 13 |
| Wilmot 19 km | 1.4% | 19 | 0 | 6 |
| Florenceville-Bristol 19 km | 1.4% | 14 | 0 | 8 |
No neighbouring place reaches twice Brighton’s protected share.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Walking routes. Routes are what OpenStreetMap’s volunteers have mapped as named walking or hiking routes; many good trails aren’t mapped that way.
- Protected land. Measured on CPCAD’s outlines: the part of a 10 km band around the town that lies in a protected or conserved area, water included.
- Beaches. A beach counts when its centre point lies within 5 km of the town’s outline. Names come from the map.
- Private land. Areas held by land trusts or private owners stay unnamed here, though they count in the shares.
- National and provincial parks. A park at 0 km touches or overlaps the town’s outline; directions point from the town’s centre.
Questions about the outdoors in Brighton
How far is the nearest provincial park from Brighton?
Mactaquac Provincial Park, 41 km from the edge of town.
What is the largest protected area near Brighton?
It is 4032300, a nature reserve covering 3,808 ha.
What is the nearest beach to Brighton?
The beaches mapped within 5 km have no names on the map.
Are there protected areas near Brighton?
Within 10 km, 7.2% of the land lies in protected areas.
How far is Brighton from a national park?
None within 100 km of Brighton.
When is the best time for walking in Brighton?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Where Brighton’s outdoors figures come from
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).