First pick
Palmerston CNR Park
Park or garden
8.4 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
8.9 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Balcer · CC BY 2.5–Not graded
Outdoors in Palmerston · parks, protected land & trails
Boyne Valley Provincial Park, 53 km away, is the closest provincial park to Palmerston
Of the country within 10 km, 0% lies in protected areas; the median Canadian town has 2.3%. There is no national park within 100 km of the town. One protected area lies within 10 km.
Protected land
0%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
1
within 10 km, 0 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
53 km
Boyne Valley Provincial Park
Against other towns
Each figure for Palmerston, 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. Canada’s grades don’t include the outdoors, so this page compares the figures rather than grading them.
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 town0.2%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
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Palmerston sits 2nd from last of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (9,886 to 10,175 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
Palmerston0%
Towns its size1.5%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Palmerston0
Towns its size3
Towns in Ontario4
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Palmerston0
Towns its size0
Towns in Ontario1
Typical Canadian town0
Against towns its size, Palmerston is weakest for public protected areas: 37 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawnigan BC | 22% | 6.4% | 66 | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury QC | 21% | 24% | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| 3 | Kitimat BC | 20% | 6.6% | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Hatchet Lake NS | 14% | 36% | 53 | 4 | 23 |
| 5 | Lac-des-Fées QC | 14% | 33% | 32 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Du Parc QC | 14% | 32% | 38 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Amherst NS | 8.7% | 0.2% | 49 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | M-Section (bramalea) ON | 5.4% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Portland Estates NS | 4.5% | 0% | 19 | 4 | 18 |
| 10 | Argyle North SK | 4.5% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Elizabethtown-Kitley ON | 4.2% | 1.7% | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | The Valleys of Thornhill ON | 3.8% | 12% | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Mount Pleasant North ON | 3.8% | 0% | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Acadia AB | 3.8% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 15 | Mono ON | 3.7% | 6.4% | 56 | 7 | 1 |
| 16 | Van Kirk ON | 3.2% | 0% | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Laurentian Hills ON | 1.8% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Saint-Félicien QC | 1.6% | 0.5% | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| 19 | Blind Bay BC | 1.6% | 1.5% | 15 | 0 | 8 |
| 20 | Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills ON | 1.5% | 3.9% | 12 | 2 | 1 |
| 21 | Ladysmith BC | 1.4% | 0% | 16 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Vincent ON | 1.3% | 3.1% | 14 | 4 | 7 |
| 23 | Lac-Saint-Charles QC | 1% | 1.6% | 21 | 1 | 4 |
| 24 | Hinton AB | 0.9% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Caledonia-Fairbank ON | 0.9% | 0% | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| 26 | Beckwith ON | 0.8% | 0% | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Malahide ON | 0.5% | 0% | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| 28 | Stanley MB | 0.5% | 0.8% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 29 | Maple Leaf ON | 0.5% | 0% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Temiskaming Shores ON | 0.4% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 | Runnymede-Bloor West Village ON | 0.3% | 0% | 6 | 3 | 13 |
| 32 | Penbrooke Meadows AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Pineridge AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Springbank Hill AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | River Valley Oleskiw AB | 0.3% | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 36 | Mitchell ON | 0.2% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Wheatland County AB | 0.2% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Bridgewater NS | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Palmerston ON | 0% | 0.2% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Taber AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
The green map of Palmerston
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
A named park or wood to walk in near Palmerston
The biggest is Palmerston CNR Park, 8.4 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on 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
A park is within a short walk for 4 in 10 in Palmerston
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 (40%)Further (61%)
Palmerston40%
Towns in Ontario90%
Typical Canadian town83%
That leaves about 6,100 people more than a short walk away. A median Canadian town manages 83%.
Protected areas
Palmerston has 1 protected area within 10 km
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Palmerston0.2%
Within 10 km0%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
It belongs to a private owner or a land trust, so the page leaves its name out.
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
The nearest big park: Boyne Valley Provincial Park, 53 km away
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
Boyne Valley Provincial Park
53 km east4.3 km²since 1985
There is no national park within 100 km; for big parks, Palmerston has its province’s.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Palmerston and its edge hold 21 km of footpath
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
21 km
in and around the town (391.3 km²)
Woodland
22%
about 84.8 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
PalmerstonTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PalmerstonTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Woodland22%
0%50%100%
It has fewer paths per km² than 92% of Canadian towns. For woods, it beats 69% 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 Palmerston
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
Get out in Palmerston in May to September
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Mount Forest (12 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) | 9.2 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
| High (°C) | -3 | -3 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 6 | -1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 92 | 73 | 68 | 74 | 98 | 100 | 98 | 84 | 85 | 81 | 92 | 90 |
Summer highs reach 25 °C in July; in January they stay near -3 °C. For dry weather, March is best (68 mm); June gets 100 mm. The climate in Palmerston →
Things to do
Outdoors around Palmerston: 9 places to go
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: 5 on the map.
Every named place, with directions
Picnic sites 3
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Palmerston
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page. The nearest places to Palmerston with figures are 19–30 km away.
HowickMount ForestListowelDraytonDurhamPalmerston
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmerston | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Howick 19 km | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mount Forest 20 km | 0.1% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Listowel 22 km | 0.5% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Drayton 24 km | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Durham 30 km | 0.3% | 19 | 0 | 2 |
Palmerston is not outdone two to one on protected land by any neighbour.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Walking routes. A route counts when 300 m or more of it lies within 2 km of the town. Coverage of trails on OpenStreetMap varies by region.
- National and provincial parks. A park at 0 km touches or overlaps the town’s outline; directions point from the town’s centre.
Questions about the outdoors in Palmerston
What is the nearest provincial park to Palmerston?
Boyne Valley Provincial Park, 53 km from the edge of town.
When should you visit Palmerston for the outdoors?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Is there protected land near Palmerston?
Protected areas cover 0% of the land within 10 km.
What is the nearest national park to Palmerston?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Palmerston.
Sources
The sources behind Palmerston’s outdoors figures
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).