First pick
St. James Woods
Wood or forest
52 ha5.5 km of path
1 h 15 minto walk all 5.5 km of path
2.0 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.00.6%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Carleton Place · parks, protected land & trails
10 km from Carleton Place to Burnt Lands Provincial Park
60 km separate the town from Thousand Islands National Park, its nearest national park. 7 areas within 10 km are protected for nature. 9.1 km out lies the largest, Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area, at 338 ha.
Protected land
0.6%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
7
within 10 km, 1 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
60 km
Thousand Islands National Park
Nearest provincial park
10 km
Burnt Lands Provincial Park
Beaches
1
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Against other towns
Carleton Place 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. No letter: the outdoors is described for Canadian towns, not graded.
Protected within 10 km0.6%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 areas1Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes0Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches1Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Carleton Place has the 7th least protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (14,590 to 15,083 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
Carleton Place0.6%
Towns its size2.2%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Carleton Place1
Towns its size6
Towns in Ontario4
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Carleton Place0
Towns its size1
Towns in Ontario1
Typical Canadian town0
For walking routes, Carleton Place lags towns its size: 22 of 39 are ahead.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arbutus Ridge BC | 15% | 0% | 12 | 2 | 62 |
| 2 | Rivière-Gatineau QC | 13% | 0% | 38 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Mont-Laurier QC | 9.7% | 4.6% | 29 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Vieux-Montréal QC | 8% | 0% | 28 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Dupéré QC | 7.7% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Middle Sackville NS | 6.4% | 6.5% | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Vieux-Bourg QC | 6.1% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Saint-Louis QC | 6.1% | 0.1% | 19 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Bécancour QC | 6% | 1.1% | 42 | 1 | 13 |
| 10 | Peace Village ON | 5.7% | 0.6% | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Powell River BC | 5.5% | 0.1% | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| 12 | Vales of Castlemore ON | 5.2% | 21% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Guildford BC | 4.5% | 4% | 125 | 4 | 5 |
| 14 | Buttonville ON | 3.2% | 0% | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Royal Orchard ON | 3% | 0% | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Long Sault ON | 2.6% | 2.5% | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 | Orsainville QC | 2.5% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| 18 | Taylor-Massey ON | 2.3% | 13% | 12 | 1 | 15 |
| 19 | Doon South ON | 2.3% | 16% | 22 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Springbrook ON | 2.2% | 15% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Hyde Park ON | 2.2% | 0.6% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | South London ON | 2% | 1.2% | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | North Battleford SK | 1.9% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Lawrence Park South ON | 1.7% | 0% | 15 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | Lawrence Park North ON | 1.5% | 0% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | Des Châtels QC | 1.3% | 0% | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 27 | Pont-Viau QC | 1.3% | 0% | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Roncesvalles ON | 1.3% | 0% | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 29 | Lakewood SK | 1.3% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| 30 | Ingersoll ON | 1.1% | 0% | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Briar Hill-Belgravia ON | 1% | 0% | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | Windermere AB | 1% | 2.3% | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | Chappelle AB | 0.8% | 0% | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Carleton Place ON | 0.6% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | Rockwood ON | 0.5% | 0.4% | 27 | 15 | 5 |
| 36 | Lacombe AB | 0.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Truro NS | 0.1% | 0.3% | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| 38 | Mountain View County AB | 0.1% | 0.1% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Cooksville NHD (West) ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 | Portage la Prairie MB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Where the green is in Carleton Place
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
12 parks and woods to walk in, in or near Carleton Place
St. James Woods is the largest, at 52 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
12 named parks and woods, 82 ha in all
Parks & gardens 16 haWoods 66 ha
Between them, St. James Woods and Arklan Island cover 80%.
Roy Brown Park
Park or garden
6.0 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
1.7 km south-westfrom the centre
Roy Brown Park Trail
Directionsto a point inside
Riverside Park
Park or garden
4.9 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
1.1 km south-westfrom the centre
Mississippi RiverWalk
Directionsto a point inside
Carleton Junction Park
Park or garden
1.8 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Carleton Place
Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail
Directionsto a point inside
Willoughby Park
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.1 km of path
0.7 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
All 12 named parks and green spaces
St. James WoodsWood or forest · 52 ha · 5.5 km of path
DirectionsRoy Brown ParkPark or garden · 6.0 ha · 1.6 km of path
DirectionsRiverside ParkPark or garden · 4.9 ha · 0.6 km of path
DirectionsCarleton Junction ParkPark or garden · 1.8 ha · 1.2 km of path
DirectionsArklan IslandWood or forest · 14 ha
DirectionsGiles ParkPark or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsMcNeely ParkPark or garden · 0.8 ha
DirectionsWilloughby ParkPark or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsHurdis ParkPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsWestview ParkPark or garden · 0.6 ha
DirectionsSt. James ParkPark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsFerrill ParkPark or garden · 0.2 ha
DirectionsSource: 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
About 8 in 10 of Carleton Place’s residents are 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.
Within 400 m (82%)Further (18%)
Carleton Place82%
Towns in Ontario90%
Typical Canadian town83%
About 2,700 residents live further than 400 m from one. The usual figure for a Canadian town is 83%, above this.
Protected areas
7 protected areas lie within 10 km of Carleton Place
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Carleton Place0%
Within 10 km0.6%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Of the 7, 1 are public land; the others are privately held. 6 more areas within 10 km are private land, held by landowners or conservation groups: counted here, not named.
Mississippi Lake National Wildlife AreaWildlife area · 338 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
Thousand Islands National Park, 60 km off
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
Burnt Lands Provincial Park
10 km north5.2 km²since 2003
National park
Thousand Islands National Park
60 km south24 km²since 1904
Burnt Lands Provincial Park, a provincial park, is nearer at 10 km.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
40 km of paths in and around Carleton Place
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
40 km
in and around the town (29.5 km²)
Woodland
28%
about 8.2 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
Carleton PlaceTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Footpaths1.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Carleton PlaceTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Woodland28%
0%50%100%
For path density, 54% of Canadian towns do better. For woods, it beats 72% 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
OpenStreetMap shows no walking route near Carleton Place
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
Carleton Place is best on foot in May and August
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Drummond Centre (15 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | -5 | -2 | 4 | 12 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 26 | 21 | 13 | 6 | -1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 74 | 57 | 62 | 78 | 74 | 89 | 89 | 88 | 91 | 87 | 75 | 74 |
The yearly snowfall is near 187 cm. From -5 °C in January to 27 °C in July: that is the range of daytime highs. Rain and snow peak in September (91 mm) and ease in February (57 mm). The climate in Carleton Place →
Beaches
One beach near Carleton Place
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Riverside Park Beachsand · in town
DirectionsBeach 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
Near Carleton Place: 28 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.
21 playgrounds top the list.
Every named place, with directions
Dog parks 2
Plus 2 dog parks without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Mississippi Lake RV Resort1.3 km from town
DirectionsTranquil Acres1.7 km from town
DirectionsSource: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Carleton Place
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
BeckwithAlmonteCorkeryCarleton Place
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
For protected land, Almonte has twice as much or more.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Walking routes. Routes are what OpenStreetMap’s volunteers have mapped as named walking or hiking routes; many good trails aren’t mapped that way.
- National and provincial parks. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
- Private land. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
- 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.
- Beaches. Beaches are OpenStreetMap’s, named or not; in the north many are unnamed shoreline imports.
Questions about the outdoors in Carleton Place
What is the largest protected area near Carleton Place?
It is Mississippi Lake National Wildlife Area, a wildlife area covering 338 ha.
Is there a beach near Carleton Place?
Riverside Park Beach, in town; it is the one beach mapped within 5 km.
How much land around Carleton Place is protected?
Within 10 km, 0.6% of the land lies in protected areas.
What is the nearest national park to Carleton Place?
The nearest is Thousand Islands National Park, 60 km away.
Is there a provincial park near Carleton Place?
The closest is Burnt Lands Provincial Park, at 10 km.
When should you visit Carleton Place for the outdoors?
On the normals, May and August: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
Sources
Where Carleton Place’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).