First pick
Plaster Rock Tourist Park
Park or garden
20 ha
0.9 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Mykola Swarnyk · CC BY-SA 4.01.8%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Plaster Rock · parks, protected land & trails
A national route near Plaster Rock: the International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick
The largest named area nearby is Pokiok River, 2,234 ha, 8.1 km away. 2 beaches are mapped within 5 km, none with a name. There is no national park within 100 km of the town.
Protected land
1.8%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
6
within 10 km, 5 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
60 km
Mount Carleton Provincial Park
Walking routes
1
named, within 2 km (OpenStreetMap)
Beaches
2
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
Where Plaster Rock stands out outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
On a national routeThe International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick passes within 2 kmParks are a drive awayThe nearest provincial park, Mount Carleton Provincial Park, is 60 km off
Plaster Rock’s best card is the International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick. Less going for it: a big park within easy reach.
Against other towns
Plaster Rock against 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.
Protected within 10 km1.8%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town0%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas5Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes1Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches2Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Among 40 towns its size, Plaster Rock ranks 18th for protected land within 10 km
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (1,062 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.
Protected within 10 km
Plaster Rock1.8%
Towns its size1.6%
Towns in New Brunswick6%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Plaster Rock5
Towns its size4
Towns in New Brunswick7
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Plaster Rock1
Towns its size0
Towns in New Brunswick0
Typical Canadian town0
Plaster Rock beats most towns its size for public protected areas; 15 of 39 do better.
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 | Roberval QC | 6.1% | 1.2% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague QC | 5.8% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | North Frontenac ON | 5.7% | 5.2% | 13 | 6 | 4 |
| 9 | Cap-Chat QC | 5.3% | 0.4% | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards ON | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Saint-Polycarpe QC | 4.2% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Macassa ON | 4.1% | 0% | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Saint-Damien QC | 4% | 3.2% | 22 | 1 | 9 |
| 14 | Unity SK | 3.4% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Sherwood ON | 3.4% | 0% | 19 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | McNab SK | 2.6% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Mandeville QC | 2.5% | 1.8% | 19 | 4 | 7 |
| 18 | Plaster Rock NB | 1.8% | 0% | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 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 map
Parks, woods and paths around Plaster Rock
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
One park or wood to walk in, in or near Plaster Rock
Largest first: Plaster Rock Tourist Park leads with 20 ha. Numbers match 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.
Close to home
5 in 10 people in Plaster Rock 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 (50%)Further (50%)
Plaster Rock50%
Towns in New Brunswick8.3%
Typical Canadian town83%
About 500 residents live further than 400 m from one. Most towns do better: the typical Canadian town is at 83%.
Protected areas
Around Plaster Rock, protected areas make up 1.8%
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Plaster Rock0%
Within 10 km1.8%
Towns in New Brunswick6%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Of the 6, 5 are public land; the others are privately held. Biggest of the named areas: Pokiok River, 2,234 ha. One more area within 10 km is private land, held by a landowner or a conservation group: counted here, not named.
Pokiok RiverNature reserve · 2,234 ha · 8.1 km from the edge of town
4024600Nature reserve · 104 ha · 8.1 km from the edge of town
4024700Nature reserve · 1,282 ha · 8.6 km from the edge of town
Oven Rock BrookNature reserve · 1,094 ha · 8.8 km from the edge of town
4002200Nature reserve · 1,071 ha · 9.1 km from the edge of town
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
Mount Carleton Provincial Park is 60 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
Mount Carleton Provincial Park
60 km north-east173 km²since 1970
For a national park, people in Plaster Rock travel more than 100 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
10 km of paths in and around Plaster Rock
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
10 km
in and around the town (15.7 km²)
Woodland
65%
about 10.2 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
Plaster RockTowns in New BrunswickTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.7
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Plaster RockTowns in New BrunswickTypical Canadian town
Woodland65%
0%50%100%
For woods, it beats 89% of Canadian towns. For path density, 63% of Canadian towns do better.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Walking routes
Where to walk from Plaster Rock
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
National
International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick532.8 km
11.4 km of the International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick runs within 2 km of town; mapped end to end, it is 533 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 Plaster Rock: May to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Aroostook, 33 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | -6 | -4 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 20 | 12 | 5 | -2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 108 | 81 | 87 | 81 | 89 | 97 | 104 | 99 | 101 | 102 | 94 | 106 |
Some 311 cm of snow falls each winter. February is the driest month at 81 mm; January the wettest at 108 mm. Summer highs reach 26 °C in July; in January they stay near -6 °C. The climate in Plaster Rock →
Beaches
2 beaches within 5 km of Plaster Rock, none named
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Beach water tests aren’t published as open data across Canada, so swimming advisories come from the local health unit.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Plaster Rock has a viewpoint within 2 km
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plaster Rock campgroundin town
DirectionsSource: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Plaster Rock
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
GordonDenmarkPlaster Rock
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
Gordon has at least twice the protected share around it.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected land. The 10 km band starts at the town’s outline, not its centre, so a large municipality reaches further than a small town.
- National and provincial parks. Distances run from the town’s edge to the park’s, so 0 km means they touch.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Plaster Rock
Is Plaster Rock near a national park?
None within 100 km of Plaster Rock.
How much land around Plaster Rock is protected?
Within 10 km, 1.8% of the land lies in protected areas.
Where can you swim near Plaster Rock?
There are beaches within 5 km, none of them named.
Where can you walk near Plaster Rock?
Try the International Appalachian Trail New-Brunswick.
What is the largest protected area near Plaster Rock?
It is Pokiok River, a nature reserve covering 2,234 ha.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Plaster Rock?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Plaster Rock?
The closest is Mount Carleton Provincial Park, at 60 km.
Sources
Sources for this page on Plaster Rock
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).