First pick
Hay River Territorial Park
Park or garden
18 ha0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
7.1 km northfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Ymblanter · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Hay River · parks, protected land & trails
Hay River is 24 km from Wood Buffalo National Park
OpenStreetMap shows 15 unnamed beaches within 5 km. Protected areas cover 0% of the land within 10 km; for the typical Canadian town it is 2.3%.
Protected land
0%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
0
within 10 km, 0 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
24 km
Wood Buffalo National Park
Beaches
15
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
The outdoors in Hay River, in short
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
A national park nearbyWood Buffalo National Park, 24 km awayBeaches15 beaches within 5 kmLittle protected land0% within 10 km; the typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Above all, Hay River offers Wood Buffalo National Park within easy reach, with its beaches close behind. It has less to offer in protected land nearby.
Against other towns
Hay River 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. Outdoors isn’t graded in Canada. The page compares each figure with other towns and leaves it there.
Protected within 10 km0%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 areas0Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes0Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches15Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Hay River sits 6th from last of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (3,264 to 3,361 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
Hay River0%
Towns its size1.8%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Hay River0
Towns its size2
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Hay River0
Towns its size0
Typical Canadian town0
Where Hay River trails its peers is public protected areas; 27 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Jean-Port-Joli QC | 52% | 0.7% | 30 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Annapolis County, Subdivision D NS | 25% | 31% | 135 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Pictou NS | 24% | 0.5% | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Division No. 19, Unorganized MB | 22% | 24% | 57 | 0 | 65 |
| 5 | North Kawartha ON | 18% | 36% | 20 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Atholville NB | 12% | 3.1% | 24 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Kensington, Part 1 PE | 11% | 0.9% | 21 | 11 | 6 |
| 8 | Inverness County, Subdivision C NS | 8.2% | 6.3% | 181 | 3 | 13 |
| 9 | Sheet Harbour NS | 7.7% | 7.8% | 124 | 2 | 17 |
| 10 | Saint-André-d'Argenteuil QC | 7.4% | 7.4% | 46 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Central Okanagan West BC | 6.7% | 5.4% | 49 | 1 | 35 |
| 12 | Electoral Area E (West Boundary), Kootenay Boundary BC | 6.5% | 1.6% | 24 | 0 | 36 |
| 13 | Enderby BC | 5.7% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Greeningdon ON | 5.4% | 0% | 17 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Grande-Rivière QC | 4.9% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Hampton NB | 3.7% | 1% | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | Rankin Inlet NU | 3.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Saint-Jean-Baptiste QC | 2.2% | 2% | 35 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 | Wellington AB | 2.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | North Algona Wilberforce ON | 1.8% | 4.6% | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Mill Courtland Woodside Park ON | 1.8% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Point Road MB | 1.5% | 0.2% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | North St. Boniface MB | 1.4% | 7.7% | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | Bonavista NL | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 25 | Stoke QC | 0.3% | 0% | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 26 | Compton QC | 0.3% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Bulyea Heights AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | Miller AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 30 | Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Sainte-Clotilde QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Virden MB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Gibbons AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Inuvik NT | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Hay River NT | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 36 | Arviat NU | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| 37 | Eaux Claires AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Holyrood AB | 0% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 39 | Northmount AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Westwood AB | 0% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Hay River
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
Walk in Hay River: 4 named parks and woods
Largest first: Hay River Territorial Park leads with 18 ha. Numbers match the map.
4 named parks and woods, 32 ha in all
Parks & gardens 32 ha
Hay River Territorial Park plus Hay River Nature Park account for 81% of the green.
Hay River Nature Park
Park or garden
7.6 ha
0.6 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Bob McMeekin Chamber Park
Park or garden
0.4 ha
1.8 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
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
A park is within a short walk for 5 in 10 in Hay River
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 (47%)Further (54%)
Hay River47%
Typical Canadian town83%
That is below the typical Canadian town (83%). That leaves about 1,800 people more than a short walk away.
Protected areas
No protected area lies within 10 km of Hay River
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
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
Big parks near Hay River
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
National park
Wood Buffalo National Park
24 km south-east44,778 km²since 1922
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Paths to walk: 72 km in and around Hay River
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
72 km
in and around the town (215.7 km²)
Woodland
43%
about 92.7 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
Hay RiverTowns in Northwest TerritoriesTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.3
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Hay RiverTowns in Northwest TerritoriesTypical Canadian town
Woodland43%
0%50%100%
It has fewer paths per km² than 71% of Canadian towns. It is more wooded than 81% 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.
Walking routes
No named walking route passes Hay River 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.
No named route shows within 2 km of the town; volunteers map trails unevenly from one region to the next.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
Hay River is best on foot in June to August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Hay River, 4.1 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) | 6.4 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 17.3 | 19.1 | 18.3 | 15.7 | 12.8 | 9.9 | 7.2 | 5.6 |
| High (°C) | -17 | -14 | -8 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 14 | 4 | -7 | -14 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 17 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 21 | 25 | 42 | 60 | 42 | 33 | 24 | 16 |
Snowfall averages 146 cm a year. Daytime highs run from -17 °C in January up to 22 °C in July. Precipitation runs from 11 mm in April to 60 mm in August. The climate in Hay River →
Beaches
15 unnamed beaches near Hay River
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
For water quality, look to the local health unit: no open beach-testing data covers Canada.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Outdoors around Hay River: 5 places to go
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
3 playgrounds top the list.
Every named place, with directions
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 3
Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- National and provincial parks. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
- Beaches. A beach counts when its centre point lies within 5 km of the town’s outline. Names come from the map.
- 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. Only named route relations count; a park’s own path network may not show unless it is mapped as a route.
- 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 Hay River
When should you visit Hay River for the outdoors?
On the normals, June to August: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
What is the nearest national park to Hay River?
The nearest is Wood Buffalo National Park, 24 km away.
Where can you swim near Hay River?
The beaches mapped within 5 km have no names on the map.
Sources
Where Hay River’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).