Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.011 beaches lie within 5 km of Caraquet
Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 21) (47,707 ha) is the biggest, 6.2 km from town. For a national park, Kouchibouguac National Park is 85 km away. The 10 km around town hold 3 protected areas.
Caraquet 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.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Among 40 towns its size, Caraquet is 17th from the bottom for protected land
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (4,486 to 4,657 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Where Caraquet trails its peers is protected land nearby; 23 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jasper AB | 100% | 100% | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 2 | Electoral Area D (Oyster Bay - Buttle Lake), Strathcona BC | 49% | 64% | 34 | 11 | 8 |
| 3 | Shelburne NS | 27% | 28% | 194 | 0 | 80 |
| 4 | Sparwood BC | 23% | 3.4% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Douglas BC | 13% | 3.2% | 82 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Queenswood - Chatelaine ON | 12% | 0% | 40 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Electoral Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), Thompson-Nicola BC | 11% | 8.3% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Berthierville QC | 9.1% | 0% | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Gurnett ON | 7.3% | 0% | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Bowen Island BC | 7.2% | 17% | 60 | 0 | 173 |
| 11 | Neuville QC | 7.1% | 1.3% | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Horning ON | 6.4% | 20% | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | Saint-Antonin QC | 6.1% | 0.5% | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Melville SK | 5.2% | 1% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu QC | 4.3% | 0% | 41 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Eastmount ON | 4.3% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Wainwright No. 61 AB | 3.7% | 3.1% | 41 | 0 | 5 |
| 18 | Crossroads ON | 3.5% | 0% | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Britannia Youngstown AB | 3.3% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Warner County No. 5 AB | 3.2% | 4.7% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Country Hills ON | 2.6% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Battleford SK | 2.2% | 1.1% | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Red Hill ON | 2.1% | 0% | 17 | 3 | 5 |
| 24 | Caraquet NB | 1.8% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| 25 | Fairfield Park MB | 1.7% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Felker ON | 1.5% | 0% | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | Rockwood MB | 1.5% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Carlisle AB | 1.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Casselman ON | 1.4% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Albion ON | 1.4% | 11% | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| 31 | Riverview MB | 1.4% | 0% | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Parkridge SK | 1.1% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Iroquois Falls ON | 0.8% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Britannia ON | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Blue Quill AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Vanderhoof BC | 0.2% | 3.8% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Saint-Anselme QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Howick ON | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Raymond AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Parks, woods and paths around Caraquet
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town; tap a number for its park or wood.
Walk in Caraquet: 3 named parks and woods
Parc Saint-Simon is the largest, at 1.5 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
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.
2 in 10 people in Caraquet 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.
The usual figure for a Canadian town is 83%, above this. About 3,700 residents live further than 400 m from one.
Within 10 km of Caraquet, 1.8% 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.
Of the 3, 2 are public land; the others are privately held. Biggest of the named areas: Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 21), 47,707 ha. The figures include one private conservation area, left unnamed.
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.
Kouchibouguac National Park, 85 km off
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.
Kouchibouguac National Park
Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park (Québec)
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Caraquet has 23 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 path density, 77% of Canadian towns do better. Woods cover more of it than in 90% 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 named walking route passes Caraquet 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.
There is no mapped walking route within 2 km of the town; a local trail club’s maps may show more.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Caraquet is best on foot in June to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Bas Caraquet, 8.8 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | -5 | -5 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 12 | 5 | -1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 71 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 84 | 74 | 80 | 85 | 84 | 110 | 93 | 90 |
The yearly snowfall is near 343 cm. From -5 °C in January to 24 °C in July: that is the range of daytime highs. Rain and snow peak in October (110 mm) and ease in February (69 mm). The climate in Caraquet →
Beaches near Caraquet
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
The shoreline runs 88 km within 5 km of town. Add 8 unnamed beaches to the count. Canada publishes no open register of beach water tests; the local public health unit posts swimming advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Caraquet has 2 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.
Most numerous: playgrounds (6).
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Playgrounds 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Caraquet
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caraquet | 1.8% | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| Bas-Caraquet 8.2 km | 0.2% | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| Caraquet 11 km | 0.5% | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| Bertrand 12 km | 5.2% | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Inkerman 15 km | 0.4% | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| Shippagan 18 km | 0.3% | 7 | 0 | 15 |
| Paquetville 19 km | 5.7% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
Around Bertrand and Paquetville the protected share is at least double.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected land. CPCAD maps each protected area; the page counts how much of the 10 km around the town they cover, lakes and sea included.
- Beaches. The count includes unnamed stretches mapped as beach, which can make a lakeside town’s figure large.
- Private land. Private conservation land is in the totals, not the lists. Many such areas are easements on working farms or woodlots.
- 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. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
Questions about the outdoors in Caraquet
What is the nearest beach to Caraquet?
The nearest is Foley Beach, in town.
What is the nearest national park to Caraquet?
It is Kouchibouguac National Park, 85 km off.
What is the largest protected area near Caraquet?
Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 21): 47,707 ha, a nature reserve.
Are there protected areas near Caraquet?
Yes: 1.8% of the land within 10 km is protected.
When should you visit Caraquet for the outdoors?
June to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Caraquet?
It is Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé National Park (Québec), 93 km away.
Where Caraquet’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).