First pick
Lakeside Drive Parkland
Park or garden
14 ha3.7 km of path
50 minto walk all 3.7 km of path
Centralin the middle of Stratford
Stratford Side Trail
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.01.5%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Stratford · parks, protected land & trails
Trillium Woods Provincial Park, 36 km away, is the closest provincial park to Stratford
The 10 km around town hold 5 protected areas. The Avon Trail is the one mapped walking route close by. The nearest national park is more than 100 km away.
Protected land
1.5%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
5
within 10 km, 0 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
36 km
Trillium Woods Provincial Park
Walking routes
1
named, within 2 km (OpenStreetMap)
Against other towns
How Stratford compares with 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. This page carries no grade, because Canada’s grading doesn’t cover the outdoors; the comparisons are the point.
Protected within 10 km1.5%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 areas0Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes1Named 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
Among 40 towns its size, Stratford is 12th from the bottom for protected land
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (33,823 to 38,300 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
Stratford1.5%
Towns its size3.6%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Stratford0
Towns its size12
Towns in Ontario4
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Stratford1
Towns its size0
Towns in Ontario1
Typical Canadian town0
For public protected areas, Stratford lags towns its size: 38 of 39 are ahead.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pointe-Claire QC | 33% | 0.2% | 40 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Panorama Ridge BC | 23% | 13% | 181 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Strawberry Hill BC | 20% | 0.8% | 158 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Port Moody BC | 16% | 23% | 48 | 5 | 102 |
| 5 | Côte-Saint-Luc QC | 14% | 0% | 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Bois-Francs QC | 14% | 1.4% | 39 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Cecil-P.-Newman QC | 14% | 0% | 25 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Clayton Park West NS | 13% | 0% | 18 | 13 | 7 |
| 9 | Sorel-Tracy QC | 12% | 0% | 75 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Sainte-Dorothée QC | 12% | 3.7% | 45 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 | Fairview BC | 8.2% | 0% | 11 | 3 | 68 |
| 12 | Marc-Aurèle-Fortin QC | 7.1% | 0.5% | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Sunset BC | 6.9% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 9 |
| 14 | Edmonds BC | 6.2% | 0% | 40 | 4 | 8 |
| 15 | Grande-Prairie QC | 5% | 0% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Hastings-Sunrise BC | 4.7% | 0% | 12 | 4 | 27 |
| 17 | Arcola East SK | 4.2% | 8.8% | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Mount Pleasant BC | 4.2% | 0% | 12 | 4 | 73 |
| 19 | Duvernay QC | 4.1% | 1.2% | 56 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | North Cowichan BC | 3.9% | 2.3% | 72 | 7 | 10 |
| 21 | Langley BC | 3.2% | 0% | 95 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | Neufchatel Est—Lebourgneuf QC | 3.2% | 0% | 26 | 1 | 4 |
| 23 | Le Boisé Champêtre QC | 3.2% | 0% | 37 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | Campbell River BC | 3% | 7.3% | 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Metrotown BC | 2.5% | 0% | 21 | 3 | 6 |
| 26 | Sainte-Rose QC | 1.9% | 0.1% | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Thorold ON | 1.6% | 4.2% | 16 | 7 | 1 |
| 28 | Parkland County AB | 1.6% | 1.3% | 69 | 15 | 5 |
| 29 | Stratford ON | 1.5% | 0% | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Leamington ON | 1.3% | 5.5% | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 | Whitehorse YT | 1.3% | 4.5% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 32 | Dieppe NB | 1.2% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Meadowvale ON | 0.8% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Orillia ON | 0.7% | 0.1% | 17 | 4 | 7 |
| 35 | Fort Erie ON | 0.5% | 0.1% | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| 36 | Moose Jaw SK | 0.5% | 3.3% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Central Erin Mills ON | 0.5% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Saint-Georges QC | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 39 | LaSalle ON | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Fergus ON | 0% | 0% | 4 | 8 | 2 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Stratford
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
Walk in Stratford: 27 named parks and woods
Lakeside Drive Parkland is the largest, at 14 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
27 named parks and woods, 97 ha in all
Parks & gardens 97 ha
Spread across many places, the largest holding 15%.
Stratford Education and Recreation Centre
Park or garden
13 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
2.1 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Packham Road Sports Complex
Park or garden
15 ha0.2 km of path
3.6 km south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Upper Queen's Park
Park or garden
9.2 ha1.4 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.4 km of path
1.1 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
North Shore Parkland
Park or garden
6.5 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
0.7 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Stratford Rotary Complex
Park or garden
9.4 ha0.1 km of path
1.6 km northfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Devon East Park
Park or garden
3.5 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
2.8 km eastfrom the centre
Stratford Side Trail
Directionsto a point inside
All 27 named parks and green spaces
Lakeside Drive ParklandPark or garden · 14 ha · 3.7 km of path
DirectionsStratford Education and Recreation CentrePark or garden · 13 ha · 1.2 km of path
DirectionsPackham Road Sports ComplexPark or garden · 15 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsUpper Queen's ParkPark or garden · 9.2 ha · 1.4 km of path
DirectionsNorth Shore ParklandPark or garden · 6.5 ha · 1.5 km of path
DirectionsStratford Rotary ComplexPark or garden · 9.4 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsDufferin ParkPark or garden · 6.3 ha
DirectionsDevon East ParkPark or garden · 3.5 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsDevon Street West ParklandPark or garden · 2.8 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsMarsh Pond ParkPark or garden · 3.2 ha
DirectionsAnne Hathaway ParkPark or garden · 3.0 ha
DirectionsBirnham Wood ArbouretumPark or garden · 1.8 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsRedfordPark or garden · 2.2 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsOptomist Recreational ParkPark or garden · 2.2 ha
DirectionsMaple Avenue PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsKnights of Columbus Forest ParkPark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsMilton Street PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.6 ha
DirectionsPortia PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsTom Patterson IslandPark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.1 km of path
DirectionsMemorial Baptist Church ParkPark or garden · 0.5 ha
DirectionsMcManus ParkPark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsJubilee Grounds and ParkPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsMatilda Street PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsJubilee GardensPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsOptimist PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.4 ha
DirectionsOxford Street PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.3 ha
DirectionsWillow Street PlaygroundPark or garden · 0.3 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
9 in 10 people in Stratford 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 (94%)Further (6.1%)
Stratford94%
Towns in Ontario90%
Typical Canadian town83%
Against the typical Canadian town’s 83%, that is high. Around 2,000 residents are further than 400 m from a park.
Protected areas
Protected areas cover 1.5% of the land near Stratford
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Stratford0%
Within 10 km1.5%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
All of them are private land, held by landowners or conservation groups, so they are counted here 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.
National & provincial parks
Trillium Woods Provincial Park is 36 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
Trillium Woods Provincial Park
36 km south-east0.1 km²since 1969
Canada’s national parks are all more than 100 km from Stratford, so the parks here are provincial.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Stratford has 67 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
67 km
in and around the town (63.2 km²)
Woodland
7.8%
about 4.9 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
StratfordTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Footpaths1.1
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
StratfordTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Woodland7.8%
0%50%100%
53% of Canadian towns are more wooded. 57% 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
1 walking route near Stratford
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Regional
Avon Trail168.9 km
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
The best months for walking in Stratford: May to September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (London, 40 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | -2 | -1 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 15 | 8 | 1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 79 | 63 | 67 | 89 | 89 | 86 | 81 | 67 | 93 | 83 | 88 | 79 |
Daytime highs run from -2 °C in January up to 27 °C in July. September is the wettest month (93 mm) and February the driest (63 mm). The climate in Stratford →
Things to do
Outdoors around Stratford: 51 places to go
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
There are 45 playgrounds, more than of anything else.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 2
St John's Woodin town
DirectionsT.J. Dolanin town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 45
Dufferin Playgroundin town
DirectionsGreenwood Playgroundin town
Directionsswingsin town
DirectionsThe Fields Playgroundin town
DirectionsVineyard Village Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 40 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Stratford
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
Perth SouthPerth EastSt. MarysStratford
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford | 1.5% | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Perth South 14 km | 0.3% | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Perth East 15 km | 0.5% | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| St. Marys 18 km | 0.2% | 2 | 4 | 0 |
Perth South has the most mapped walking routes nearby: 4. Next door, protected shares stay within twice Stratford’s.
How to read these numbers
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.
- 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.
- National and provincial parks. Distances run from the town’s edge to the park’s, so 0 km means they touch.
- Private land. Areas held by land trusts or private owners stay unnamed here, though they count in the shares.
Questions about the outdoors in Stratford
How far is the nearest provincial park from Stratford?
Trillium Woods Provincial Park, 36 km away.
What walking routes are near Stratford?
OpenStreetMap maps the Avon Trail close by.
Are there protected areas near Stratford?
Yes: 1.5% of the land within 10 km is protected.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Stratford?
May to September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Is Stratford near a national park?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Stratford.
Sources
Where Stratford’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).