First pick
ᓯᐅᕕᐊ ᒍᕆᓂᐅᑉ ᒥᕐᖑᐃᓯᕐᕕᖓ Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park
Park or garden
223 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
2.9 km westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sebastian Kasten · CC BY-SA 3.06.1%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Iqaluit · parks, protected land & trails
The outdoors around Iqaluit
OpenStreetMap shows 12 unnamed beaches within 5 km. CPCAD lists 2 protected areas within 10 km. Out to 10 km from the town’s edge, 6.1% of the land is protected; 2.3% is typical for a Canadian town.
Protected land
6.1%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
2
within 10 km, 0 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Beaches
12
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
The outdoors in Iqaluit, in short
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Protected land all round6.1% of the land within 10 km, more than 75% of Canadian townsBeaches12 beaches within 5 kmParks are a drive awayNo national or provincial park within 100 km
What Iqaluit has most to offer outdoors is protected land around it, with its beaches close behind. It has less to offer in a big park within easy reach.
Against other towns
Each figure for Iqaluit, set against 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. There is no Outdoors grade for Canadian towns; the figures stand beside the country’s towns of 2,500+ without a letter.
Protected within 10 km6.1%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town11%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
Beaches12Beaches 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, Iqaluit ranks 9th for protected land within 10 km
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (8,439 to 8,781 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
Iqaluit6.1%
Towns its size2.4%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Iqaluit0
Towns its size5
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Iqaluit0
Towns its size0
Typical Canadian town0
Among its peers, Iqaluit’s strong point is protected land nearby, where 8 of 39 top it. On public protected areas it is behind: 36 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunt Club Park ON | 13% | 0% | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | West Centretown ON | 11% | 0% | 36 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Nicolet QC | 11% | 8.5% | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Craig Henry - Manordale ON | 10% | 0% | 24 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Stone Mills ON | 10% | 11% | 58 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Carleton Heights-Courtland Park ON | 10% | 8.3% | 37 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Wildfield ON | 9.1% | 14% | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Muskoka Lakes ON | 6.3% | 11% | 26 | 1 | 12 |
| 9 | Iqaluit NU | 6.1% | 11% | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Lac la Biche County AB | 5.8% | 5.7% | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Trinity Commons ON | 5.3% | 0% | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Vaughan Metropolitan Centre ON | 4.7% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Saint-Philippe QC | 4.2% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Heart Lake North ON | 3.9% | 43% | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Trail BC | 3.5% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Brownsburg-Chatham QC | 3.1% | 2% | 35 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 | Manotick ON | 2.9% | 6.1% | 18 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Ogden AB | 2.9% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 | Pioneer Park ON | 2.5% | 0.4% | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Stanley Park ON | 2.5% | 5.9% | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Prairie View SK | 2.3% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Puslinch ON | 2.2% | 1.1% | 29 | 18 | 5 |
| 23 | Renfrew ON | 1.9% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Drumheller AB | 1% | 4.9% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Crestview MB | 1% | 0% | 9 | 1 | 37 |
| 26 | St. John's MB | 0.9% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Lac-Beauport QC | 0.4% | 0.1% | 10 | 4 | 2 |
| 28 | Edson AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Canterbury Park MB | 0.3% | 0% | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Strathcona Park AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | Tavistock ON | 0.2% | 0% | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| 32 | St. Adolphe MB | 0.2% | 0.2% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Wild Rose AB | 0.2% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 | Hanover ON | 0.1% | 1.1% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Innisfail AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 36 | Nolan Hill AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Garneau AB | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 38 | Huron-Kinloss ON | 0% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 39 | Dauphin MB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Dalhousie AB | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
The map
Where the green is in Iqaluit
The town’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
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 Iqaluit
Largest first: ᓯᐅᕕᐊ ᒍᕆᓂᐅᑉ ᒥᕐᖑᐃᓯᕐᕕᖓ Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park leads with 223 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
Few people in Iqaluit 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 (0%)Further (100%)
Iqaluit0%
Typical Canadian town83%
The typical Canadian town does better, at 83%. Around 8,600 residents are further than 400 m from a park.
Protected areas
6.1% of the country within 10 km of Iqaluit is protected
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Iqaluit11%
Within 10 km6.1%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Every one of the 2 is private conservation land. 2 more areas, whose owners CPCAD doesn’t record as public, are counted but not named.
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.
Footpaths and woods
Paths to walk: 6 km in and around Iqaluit
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
5.8 km
in and around the town (97 km²)
Woodland
0%
of the town and 1 km around it
Footpaths · km per km²
IqaluitTowns in NunavutTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.1
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
IqaluitTowns in NunavutTypical Canadian town
Woodland0%
0%50%100%
91% 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.
Walking routes
OpenStreetMap shows no walking route near Iqaluit
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
The map shows no named route near the town. That says more about OpenStreetMap’s coverage than about the paths on the ground.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
The walking year in Iqaluit
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Iqaluit (2.3 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) | 5.5 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 14.9 | 18.2 | 20.7 | 19.5 | 16.3 | 12.9 | 9.6 | 6.4 | 4.4 |
| High (°C) | -22 | -23 | -18 | -9 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 6 | -1 | -8 | -15 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 16 | 14 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 49 | 40 | 62 | 51 | 30 | 19 | 16 |
Expect around 190 cm of snow over a winter. Expect 62 mm in August, the wettest month, and 14 mm in February. July is the warmest month, with highs around 12 °C; February the coldest, at -23 °C. The climate in Iqaluit →
Beaches
12 beaches within 5 km of Iqaluit, none named
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
OpenStreetMap maps 108 km of coastline within 5 km. 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
Near Iqaluit: 13 outdoor spots 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 most common are playgrounds: 10 on the map.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 10
Apex Playgroundin town
DirectionsCommunity Playgroundin town
DirectionsHappy Valley Playgroundin town
DirectionsJoamie School Playgroundin town
DirectionsNakasuk School Playgroundin town
DirectionsNanuk School Playgroundin town
DirectionsTundra Valley Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 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
- Walking routes. The list is OpenStreetMap’s, so a missing trail may just be unmapped. The Trans Canada Trail appears where OSM maps it.
- 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.
- National and provincial parks. A park at 0 km touches or overlaps the town’s outline; directions point from the town’s centre.
- Beaches. A beach counts when its centre point lies within 5 km of the town’s outline. Names come from the map.
- Private land. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
Questions about the outdoors in Iqaluit
How far is Iqaluit from a national park?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Iqaluit.
Is there protected land near Iqaluit?
Yes: 6.1% of the land within 10 km is protected.
What is the nearest beach to Iqaluit?
There are beaches within 5 km, none of them named.
Sources
Sources for this page on Iqaluit
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).