Photo: P199 · Public domainSilent Lake Provincial Park reaches the edge of Highlands East
Within 5 km are 7 beaches; North Bay Beach is the nearest. For walks, the Silent Lake Provicial Park runs within 2 km. Within 10 km of the town, 5.2% of the land is protected, against 2.3% around a typical Canadian town.
What sets Highlands East apart outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Above all, Highlands East offers a provincial park at its edge, with its beaches close behind.
Each figure for Highlands East, 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. This page carries no grade, because Canada’s grading doesn’t cover the outdoors; the comparisons are the point.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Highlands East comes 12th of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (4,292 to 4,455 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Among its peers, Highlands East’s strong point is protected land nearby, where 11 of 39 top it. It trails them for public protected areas, where 24 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electoral Area E, Central Kootenay BC | 26% | 31% | 24 | 2 | 14 |
| 2 | Beresford NB | 24% | 6.2% | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| 3 | Oka QC | 20% | 26% | 53 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | Beaupré QC | 16% | 1.2% | 26 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Invermere BC | 10% | 13% | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Bancroft ON | 9.5% | 2.3% | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | Bells Corners West ON | 9% | 11% | 13 | 3 | 1 |
| 8 | Deep River ON | 8.1% | 1% | 18 | 0 | 10 |
| 9 | Bellerive QC | 6% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Sunrise Estates BC | 5.8% | 3.1% | 152 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | Golden BC | 5.5% | 12% | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Highlands East ON | 5.2% | 2.1% | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 13 | Bruleville ON | 4.9% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Grand Forks BC | 4.5% | 0.9% | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Queensland AB | 4% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 16 | Deer Ridge AB | 3.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 17 | Montague ON | 3% | 2.8% | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| 18 | Geraldton ON | 2.8% | 2.2% | 10 | 0 | 7 |
| 19 | Richmond County, Subdivision A NS | 2.7% | 1.4% | 149 | 0 | 27 |
| 20 | Bartonville ON | 2.5% | 0% | 16 | 1 | 4 |
| 21 | White City SK | 2.3% | 0% | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | De Salaberry MB | 1.9% | 0.2% | 46 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | New Maryland NB | 1.7% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Central Park MB | 1.6% | 0% | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | Roslyn MB | 1.6% | 0% | 23 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Spence MB | 1.6% | 0% | 21 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | Eganville ON | 1.5% | 0.4% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Rossland BC | 1.4% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Tuxedo MB | 1.3% | 20% | 24 | 1 | 27 |
| 30 | Glenridding Heights AB | 1.1% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | South Calgary AB | 0.8% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | Inglewood AB | 0.6% | 17% | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 33 | Lorelei AB | 0.4% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Ormsby Place AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | Patricia Heights AB | 0.3% | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 36 | Pollard Meadows AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 | Winston Heights/Mountview AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 38 | Prescott ON | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 39 | High Level AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Beacon Heights AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Parks, woods and paths around Highlands East
The town’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
5 parks and woods to walk in, in or near Highlands East
The biggest is Big Island, 14 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
74% of the area is in just two places: Big Island and Ross Island.
Tory Hill Community Park
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.
In Highlands East, parks are rarely a short walk away
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.
About 4,400 residents live further than 400 m from one. That is below the typical Canadian town (83%).
Within 10 km of Highlands East, 5.2% is protected land
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Of the 4, 2 are public land; the others are privately held. Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park leads for size with 37,587 ha. 2 areas belong to private owners or land trusts and aren’t named here.
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.
Silent Lake Provincial Park starts at the edge of Highlands East
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.
Silent Lake Provincial Park
Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park
For a national park, people in Highlands East travel more than 100 km. 2 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.
Highlands East has 86 km of footpaths in and around it
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
More of it is wooded than in 98% of Canadian towns. For path density, 86% of Canadian towns do better.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
Highlands East has 1 named walking route
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.
Highlands East is best on foot in May to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Haliburton, 21 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) | 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) | -4 | -2 | 3 | 10 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 20 | 13 | 5 | -1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 98 | 71 | 76 | 87 | 92 | 98 | 91 | 94 | 99 | 102 | 103 | 95 |
Precipitation runs from 71 mm in February to 103 mm in November. July is the warmest month, with highs around 25 °C; January the coldest, at -4 °C. Expect around 278 cm of snow over a winter. The climate in Highlands East →
Highlands East has 7 beaches close by
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
6 further beaches go unnamed. This page can’t show water quality: no open, Canada-wide record of beach testing exists. Check local advisories first.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
A viewpoint near Highlands East
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 campsites: 6 on the map.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Nature reserves 1
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 6
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 5
Plus 5 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Highlands East
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page. Distances here run 18–36 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Highlands East.
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands East | 5.2% | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Haliburton Village 18 km | 4.1% | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Faraday 25 km | 6.6% | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Minden Hills 35 km | 8.1% | 7 | 3 | 2 |
| Bancroft 35 km | 9.5% | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Hastings Highlands 36 km | 2.4% | 8 | 0 | 3 |
Highlands East holds its own on protected land: no neighbour has twice its share. For walking routes, Bancroft leads the area with 4.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Private land. Private conservation land is in the totals, not the lists. Many such areas are easements on working farms or woodlots.
- National and provincial parks. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Highlands East
Which is the biggest protected area near Highlands East?
It is Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park, a provincial park covering 37,587 ha.
When is the best time for walking in Highlands East?
On the normals, May to September: that is when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light.
What is the nearest provincial park to Highlands East?
Silent Lake Provincial Park, which reaches the edge of town.
How far is Highlands East from a national park?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Highlands East.
Are there protected areas near Highlands East?
Protected areas cover 5.2% of the land within 10 km.
What is the nearest beach to Highlands East?
Try North Bay Beach, in town, first of several.
Are there hiking trails near Highlands East?
OpenStreetMap maps the Silent Lake Provicial Park close by.
Where Highlands East’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).