Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Witless Bay has 8 beaches within 5 km
A provincial park, La Manche Provincial Park, lies 8.1 km away. 6.6% of the land and water within 10 km is protected (the typical Canadian town: 2.3%). One mapped walking route passes within 2 km: the East Coast Trail.
The outdoors in Witless Bay, in short
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Above all, Witless Bay offers its beaches, with protected land around it close behind.
Witless Bay 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, Witless Bay ranks 6th for protected land within 10 km
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (1,833 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 protected land nearby, Witless Bay sits near the top of its size group: 5 of 39 have more. On public protected areas it is behind: 23 of 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 | Clearwater BC | 7.7% | 4.1% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Witless Bay NL | 6.6% | 4.3% | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 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 |
Witless Bay on the map: green space, protected land and paths
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town.
Most of Witless Bay 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.
Around 1,800 residents are further than 400 m from a park. For comparison, the typical Canadian town has 83%.
Protected areas cover 6.6% of the land near Witless Bay
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Every one of the 2 is on public land. Witless Bay Ecological Reserve covers 3,100 ha, the most of any named area.
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.
8.1 km to La Manche Provincial Park
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.
La Manche Provincial Park
Canada’s national parks are all more than 100 km from Witless Bay, so the parks here are provincial.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Paths to walk: 18 km in and around Witless Bay
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
71% 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.
One mapped route to walk from Witless Bay
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Walking season in Witless Bay: June to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (ST. John's (West), 27 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 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 140 | 131 | 129 | 105 | 83 | 73 | 86 | 89 | 117 | 130 | 138 | 161 |
Expect around 363 cm of snow over a winter. July is the warmest month, with highs around 21 °C; February the coldest, at 0 °C. The wettest month, December, brings 161 mm, against 73 mm in June. The climate in Witless Bay →
Beaches near Witless Bay
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
The shoreline runs 56 km within 5 km of town. OpenStreetMap shows one more, nameless. No open data on beach water quality covers every province, so check with public health before a swim.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Witless Bay 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.
Top of the list: hills and peaks, 7 of them.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 7
Nature reserves 1
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Witless Bay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witless Bay | 6.6% | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Bay Bulls 5.1 km | 3.5% | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Division No. 1, Subdivision U 9.8 km | 33% | 7 | 1 | 10 |
Around Division No. 1, Subdivision U the protected share is at least double.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Private land. Private conservation land is in the totals, not the lists. Many such areas are easements on working farms or woodlots.
- Beaches. Beaches are OpenStreetMap’s, named or not; in the north many are unnamed shoreline imports.
- National and provincial parks. National parks are Parks Canada’s; provincial parks are the province’s or territory’s, Québec’s parcs nationaux among them.
- 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.
- Walking routes. The list is OpenStreetMap’s, so a missing trail may just be unmapped. The Trans Canada Trail appears where OSM maps it.
Questions about the outdoors in Witless Bay
What is the largest protected area near Witless Bay?
It is Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, a nature reserve covering 3,100 ha.
How much land around Witless Bay is protected?
Protected areas cover 6.6% of the land within 10 km.
What is the nearest national park to Witless Bay?
No national park lies within 100 km of Witless Bay.
Where can you swim near Witless Bay?
The nearest is Breaking Beach, in town.
Are there hiking trails near Witless Bay?
The East Coast Trail, mapped within 2 km.
What is the nearest provincial park to Witless Bay?
It is La Manche Provincial Park, 8.1 km away.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Witless Bay?
June to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
The sources behind Witless Bay’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).