Photo: Sarbelito Avila · CC BY-SA 3.0Few places match Lake Echo for protected land nearby: more than 9 in 10 Canadian towns
Some protected land is inside the neighbourhood: 33% of its area. Count 25 protected areas within 10 km of town. 3.7 km from town is Porters Lake Provincial Park, the nearest provincial park.
The outdoors in Lake Echo, in short
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Out of doors, Lake Echo leads with protected land around it, with protected land inside its own boundary close behind.
How Lake Echo 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. Outdoors isn’t graded in Canada. The page compares each figure with other towns and leaves it there.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Lake Echo comes 5th of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (5,152 to 5,297 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, Lake Echo 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 | Grand Bay-Westfield NB | 29% | 1% | 21 | 1 | 39 |
| 2 | Electoral Area A, Cowichan Valley BC | 23% | 0.9% | 58 | 4 | 24 |
| 3 | Oliver BC | 19% | 0.8% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Metchosin BC | 18% | 9.6% | 31 | 2 | 22 |
| 5 | Lake Echo NS | 16% | 33% | 25 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | Montréal-Ouest QC | 16% | 0% | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Upper Tantallon NS | 13% | 19% | 157 | 3 | 12 |
| 8 | Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac QC | 11% | 1% | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| 9 | Saint-Denis-de-Brompton QC | 9.4% | 1.6% | 19 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Antigonish NS | 7.6% | 0% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Gourley ON | 6.5% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Uplands SK | 5.4% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Trumpeter Area AB | 5.4% | 1.6% | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | Electoral Area B, Central Kootenay BC | 4.5% | 7.4% | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Heritage SK | 4% | 0% | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Rushdale ON | 3.9% | 0% | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Crown Point East ON | 3.1% | 0% | 23 | 1 | 6 |
| 18 | Centre Hastings ON | 2.5% | 1.4% | 30 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | Coverdale NB | 1.9% | 4.4% | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | Southdale ON | 1.9% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Waverley Heights MB | 1.7% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Mt. Hope Huron Park ON | 1.5% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Earl Grey MB | 1.4% | 0% | 25 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | West Alexander MB | 1.4% | 0% | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | South West Industrial SK | 1.4% | 0% | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Mount Royal SK | 1.3% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 27 | Shaughnessy Park MB | 1.1% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Marystown NL | 0.6% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 | St. Boniface Industrial Park MB | 0.6% | 0.1% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Bannerman AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 | Bearspaw AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 32 | Ogilvie Ridge AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | Kirkness AB | 0.2% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover QC | 0.1% | 0.5% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 35 | Edmonton Energy And Technology Park AB | 0.1% | 0.8% | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 36 | Ritchie AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 | Tweddle Place AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 38 | Carstairs AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Didsbury AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Rundle Heights AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 0 |
The green map of Lake Echo
The neighbourhood’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
16 named parks and woods to walk in near Lake Echo
The biggest is Unnamed Park 13, 14 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
Even the biggest has just 26% of the total.
Porters Lake Elementary School Park
Bennette Park
O'Connell Drive Elementary School Park
Cheviot Hills Park
Bell Park Academic Centre Park
Lake Echo Community Play Park
All 16 named parks and green spaces
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.
Few people in Lake Echo 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 typical Canadian town reaches 83%. That leaves about 5,200 people more than a short walk away.
The 25 protected areas near Lake Echo
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Governments hold 22 of the 25, and private owners the rest. The largest named one is Waverley - Salmon River Long Lake Wilderness Area, at 8,621 ha. Another 3 are privately owned conservation land; they count in the figures but aren’t named, as private land isn’t a place to visit.
12 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.
Porters Lake Provincial Park is 3.7 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.
Porters Lake Provincial Park
Cole Harbour - Lawrencetown Provincial Park
Lower East Chezzetcook Provincial Park
Lower East Chezzetcook Provincial Park
Dollar Lake Provincial Park
There is no national park within 100 km; for big parks, Lake Echo has its province’s. 5 provincial parks lie within 10 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Paths to walk: 43 km in and around Lake Echo
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
It has fewer paths per km² than 71% of Canadian towns. Woods cover more of it than in 91% 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.
Lake Echo has 2 named walking routes
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
At 16.1 km, the Crowbar Lake Trails is the longest local route.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
The best months for walking in Lake Echo: June to September
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Shearwater (16 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 14 | 9 | 4 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 124 | 114 | 120 | 108 | 115 | 107 | 95 | 94 | 107 | 141 | 135 | 156 |
August is the warmest month, with highs around 23 °C; January the coldest, at 0 °C. December is the wettest month (156 mm) and August the driest (94 mm). Expect around 215 cm of snow over a winter. The climate in Lake Echo →
Lake Echo has 5 beaches close by
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
The shoreline runs 26 km within 5 km of town. There are also 2 beaches without a name. 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.
Near Lake Echo: 4 viewpoints on the map
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
The map shows 12 playgrounds, ahead of the rest.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 1
Playgrounds 12
Plus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 6
Plus 6 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Lake Echo
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Echo | 16% | 25 | 2 | 5 |
| East Preston 5.3 km | 16% | 20 | 1 | 5 |
| Lawrencetown 7.6 km | 8.5% | 14 | 2 | 14 |
| Gaetz Brook 8.9 km | 15% | 55 | 2 | 19 |
| Westphal 9.9 km | 12% | 14 | 1 | 7 |
| East Lawrencetown 10 km | 5.9% | 20 | 0 | 23 |
| Cole Harbour 12 km | 4.4% | 22 | 2 | 17 |
None of its neighbours has twice the protected land around it that Lake Echo has.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Walking routes. The list is OpenStreetMap’s, so a missing trail may just be unmapped. The Trans Canada Trail appears where OSM maps it.
- Beaches. The count includes unnamed stretches mapped as beach, which can make a lakeside town’s figure large.
- National and provincial parks. Distances run from the town’s edge to the park’s, so 0 km means they touch.
- 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.
- Private land. Private conservation land is in the totals, not the lists. Many such areas are easements on working farms or woodlots.
Questions about the outdoors in Lake Echo
What is the biggest park or reserve near Lake Echo?
Waverley - Salmon River Long Lake Wilderness Area, a nature reserve of 8,621 ha.
What is the nearest provincial park to Lake Echo?
Porters Lake Provincial Park, 3.7 km away.
When is the best time for walking in Lake Echo?
On the normals, June to September: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
How far is Lake Echo from a national park?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Lake Echo.
What walking routes are near Lake Echo?
OpenStreetMap maps the Crowbar Lake Trails and Porters Lake Loop close by, with others.
Where can you swim near Lake Echo?
The nearest is Lake Echo Beach, in town.
Are there protected areas near Lake Echo?
Yes: 16% of the land within 10 km is protected.
Sources for this page on Lake Echo
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).