Photo: DXR · CC BY-SA 4.0Thousand Islands National Park reaches Kingston
The closest provincial park is Charleston Lake Provincial Park, 15 km from the edge of town. Walkers have 2 mapped routes close by, starting with the Rideau Trail - Kingston Section and RT K&P Blue Loop. Within 5 km lie 5 beaches, unnamed on the map.
Where Kingston stands out outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Kingston’s best card is Thousand Islands National Park on its doorstep, with its beaches close behind.
Kingston beside other Canadian towns, figure by figure
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 one of Canada’s graded subjects, so there’s no letter here: each figure is set against other Canadian towns instead.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Kingston has the 15th most protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (102,378 to 213,592 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
For protected land nearby, Kingston sits near the top of its size group: 14 of 39 have more. On public protected areas it is behind: 31 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maple Ridge BC | 26% | 21% | 101 | 1 | 41 |
| 2 | Coquitlam BC | 25% | 28% | 130 | 5 | 69 |
| 3 | Delta BC | 24% | 17% | 181 | 9 | 19 |
| 4 | Kamloops BC | 14% | 13% | 16 | 0 | 11 |
| 5 | Kelowna BC | 13% | 3.8% | 36 | 0 | 42 |
| 6 | Chilliwack BC | 11% | 7.7% | 36 | 4 | 26 |
| 7 | Saanich BC | 11% | 9.4% | 43 | 7 | 56 |
| 8 | Strathcona County AB | 9.4% | 1.4% | 38 | 7 | 6 |
| 9 | Trois-Rivières QC | 8.4% | 1.2% | 44 | 1 | 10 |
| 10 | Cape Breton NS | 8.2% | 8.6% | 176 | 1 | 74 |
| 11 | Victoria BC | 8% | 0.9% | 20 | 4 | 34 |
| 12 | Pickering ON | 7.6% | 11% | 46 | 1 | 11 |
| 13 | Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury ON | 6.7% | 3.5% | 43 | 5 | 18 |
| 14 | Saguenay QC | 6% | 6.1% | 29 | 0 | 11 |
| 15 | Kingston ON | 5% | 6.2% | 54 | 2 | 5 |
| 16 | Ajax ON | 4.9% | 5.8% | 31 | 1 | 8 |
| 17 | Lévis QC | 4.1% | 0.6% | 62 | 1 | 8 |
| 18 | Sherbrooke QC | 4.1% | 0.8% | 23 | 2 | 3 |
| 19 | Whitby ON | 3.9% | 4.7% | 37 | 1 | 3 |
| 20 | Abbotsford BC | 3.9% | 0.5% | 37 | 2 | 10 |
| 21 | Terrebonne QC | 3.8% | 3.6% | 60 | 0 | 3 |
| 22 | Langley BC | 3.5% | 2.9% | 144 | 8 | 10 |
| 23 | Barrie ON | 2.6% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| 24 | Burlington ON | 2.5% | 1.6% | 27 | 2 | 17 |
| 25 | Oshawa ON | 2.4% | 0.3% | 30 | 1 | 4 |
| 26 | St. John's NL | 2.2% | 1.2% | 6 | 1 | 41 |
| 27 | Moncton NB | 2.2% | 1.7% | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 | Nanaimo BC | 1.9% | 6.7% | 42 | 2 | 33 |
| 29 | Cambridge ON | 1.7% | 0.4% | 33 | 10 | 2 |
| 30 | Bowmanville ON | 1.6% | 3% | 25 | 2 | 9 |
| 31 | Milton ON | 1.3% | 0% | 38 | 15 | 3 |
| 32 | St. Catharines ON | 1.2% | 1.7% | 15 | 4 | 7 |
| 33 | Niagara Falls ON | 1.1% | 1.7% | 15 | 3 | 4 |
| 34 | Chatham ON | 1% | 1% | 21 | 0 | 8 |
| 35 | Guelph ON | 0.9% | 3.1% | 15 | 10 | 5 |
| 36 | Red Deer AB | 0.7% | 1.2% | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 | Waterloo ON | 0.6% | 0% | 17 | 12 | 1 |
| 38 | Lethbridge AB | 0.4% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Brantford ON | 0.3% | 0% | 15 | 3 | 0 |
| 40 | Thunder Bay ON | 0.1% | 0.4% | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Parks, woods and paths around Kingston
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town; tap a number for its park or wood.
30 named parks and woods to walk in near Kingston
The biggest is Grass Creek Park, 37 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
The green is scattered, with no place over 13%.
Arrowhead Beach Park
Lake Ontario Park
City Park
Arbour Ridge Park
Memorial Centre
Cecil & Wilma Graham Park
All 30 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.
8 in 10 people in Kingston 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.
That leaves about 25,000 people more than a short walk away. It is above the typical Canadian town (83%).
Within 10 km of Kingston, 5% 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.
Governments hold 5 of the 54, and private owners the rest. Rideau Canal National Historic Site covers 19,972 ha, the most of any named area. The figures include 36 private conservation areas, left unnamed.
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.
Parks around Kingston
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.
Thousand Islands National Park
Charleston Lake Provincial Park
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
292 km of paths in and around Kingston
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 67% of Canadian towns. 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.
2 walking routes near Kingston
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
For a longer outing, the Rideau Trail - Kingston Section runs 159.9 km.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Walking season in Kingston: May to August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Centreville, 35 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | -3 | -2 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 14 | 8 | 2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 86 | 61 | 65 | 88 | 84 | 90 | 68 | 75 | 100 | 96 | 88 | 83 |
Most rain and snow falls in September, 100 mm; February sees 61 mm. Daytime highs run from -3 °C in January up to 25 °C in July. Snowfall averages 158 cm a year. The climate in Kingston →
5 beaches within 5 km of Kingston, none named
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
No national or provincial register of beach water quality is published as open data, so check the local health unit before swimming.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Viewpoints and waterfalls near Kingston: 18 and 4
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
Top of the list: playgrounds, 241 of them. Highest of the named peaks: Abbey Dawn Hill, 104 m.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 18
Plus 18 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 6
Waterfalls 4
Plus 4 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 7
Plus 1 nature reserve more.
Picnic sites 30
Plus 25 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 241
Plus 238 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 3
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Slipways 11
Plus 7 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
3 historic gardens and parks to see in Kingston
Gardens and arboretums within 15 km of the town’s edge, and the historic gardens, parks and estates in the town itself, nearest first.
Oldest of them: St. Helen's Complex: St. Helen's, from 1837. 3 carry a national designation.
Sources: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, and Wikidata (CC0), as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic places from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places and Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel.
Next to Kingston
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | 5% | 54 | 2 | 5 |
| Loyalist 13 km | 1.2% | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| Frontenac Islands 15 km | 1.7% | 17 | 0 | 10 |
Its neighbours have no more than twice Kingston’s protected share.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Walking routes. Only named route relations count; a park’s own path network may not show unless it is mapped as a route.
- Beaches. The count includes unnamed stretches mapped as beach, which can make a lakeside town’s figure large.
- Private land. Land owned by individuals, companies or conservation groups counts toward the figures but is never named: a person’s land isn’t a place to visit.
- Protected land. The share is of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s outline, from CPCAD’s mapped areas; marine areas count, so a coastal town can score high on water.
- National and provincial parks. National parks are Parks Canada’s; provincial parks are the province’s or territory’s, Québec’s parcs nationaux among them.
Questions about the outdoors in Kingston
What is the best season to get outdoors in Kingston?
May to August: long days, mild highs and little rain.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Kingston?
It is Charleston Lake Provincial Park, 15 km away.
Where can you walk near Kingston?
OpenStreetMap maps the Rideau Trail - Kingston Section and RT K&P Blue Loop close by, with others.
Where can you swim near Kingston?
The beaches mapped within 5 km have no names on the map.
Is Kingston near a national park?
Thousand Islands National Park begins right at Kingston’s edge.
Are there protected areas near Kingston?
Protected areas cover 5% of the land within 10 km.
What is the biggest park or reserve near Kingston?
Rideau Canal National Historic Site: 19,972 ha, a protected area.
Where Kingston’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.
Gardens: OpenStreetMap (leisure=garden) and Wikidata gardens within 15 km, as gathered in TownRatings’ Canadian attractions set; historic gardens and parks from Canada’s heritage registers (Parks Canada DFHD, the Canadian Register of Historic Places, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel).
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).