First pick
West Sandy Island Provincial Park
Park or garden
482 ha
16 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Julius177 · CC BY-SA 4.07.2%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Sturgeon Falls · parks, protected land & trails
A provincial park at Sturgeon Falls’ edge: Mashkinonje Provincial Park
Count 19 protected areas within 10 km of town. 7.2% of the land and water within 10 km is protected (the typical Canadian town: 2.3%). The nearest national park is more than 100 km away.
Protected land
7.2%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
19
within 10 km, 19 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
At the edge
Mashkinonje Provincial Park
Character
Where Sturgeon Falls stands out outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
A provincial park at the edgeMashkinonje Provincial Park reaches the townProtected land all round7.2% of the land within 10 km, more than 79% of Canadian towns
Sturgeon Falls is strongest on a provincial park at its edge, with protected land around it close behind.
Against other towns
Sturgeon Falls 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. Outdoors isn’t one of Canada’s graded subjects, so there’s no letter here: each figure is set against other Canadian towns instead.
Protected within 10 km7.2%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town6.1%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas19Areas 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
Among 40 towns its size, Sturgeon Falls ranks 11th for protected land within 10 km
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (16,222 to 17,166 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
Sturgeon Falls7.2%
Towns its size3.1%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Sturgeon Falls19
Towns its size8
Towns in Ontario4
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Sturgeon Falls0
Towns its size0
Towns in Ontario1
Typical Canadian town0
Sturgeon Falls beats most towns its size for public protected areas; 5 of 39 do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunnyside BC | 19% | 1.9% | 127 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Fairview NS | 14% | 0% | 16 | 4 | 13 |
| 3 | Tracadie NB | 13% | 9% | 54 | 0 | 27 |
| 4 | Greektown BC | 12% | 0% | 13 | 2 | 73 |
| 5 | Carlington ON | 12% | 2.5% | 33 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | Grandview BC | 10% | 3.9% | 170 | 7 | 1 |
| 7 | Côte-Saint-Paul QC | 8.4% | 0% | 22 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | Surrey Centre BC | 8.2% | 1.3% | 190 | 6 | 0 |
| 9 | Old Hunt Club ON | 7.3% | 7% | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Elder Mills ON | 7.3% | 8% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Sturgeon Falls ON | 7.2% | 6.1% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Chutes-Montmorency QC | 6.4% | 0.1% | 25 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 | Parc-Lafontaine QC | 5.4% | 0% | 21 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Davie Village BC | 5.2% | 0% | 11 | 3 | 71 |
| 15 | Stayner ON | 5% | 3.6% | 46 | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | Cap-Rouge QC | 4.7% | 0% | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Préfontaine QC | 4.5% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Saint-Basile-le-Grand QC | 4.3% | 0% | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | A-B-C-D-Section (bramalea) ON | 4.2% | 0% | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Étienne Desmarteaux QC | 3.1% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Humbermede ON | 3% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Oakridge ON | 2.6% | 4.4% | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Mount Pleasant East ON | 2.5% | 0% | 13 | 3 | 2 |
| 24 | Kennedy Park ON | 2.4% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 8 |
| 25 | Saint-Édouard QC | 2.3% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Danforth East York ON | 2.2% | 0% | 13 | 4 | 21 |
| 27 | Leaside-Bennington ON | 2.2% | 1% | 11 | 6 | 8 |
| 28 | Scarborough Village ON | 2.2% | 7% | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| 29 | Saint-Émile QC | 2% | 0% | 25 | 1 | 3 |
| 30 | Hillcrest Village ON | 1.6% | 0% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Laurentian West ON | 1.5% | 5.8% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | St.Andrew-Windfields ON | 1.4% | 2.3% | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Smithville ON | 1.3% | 0% | 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Yorkdale-Glen Park ON | 1.3% | 0% | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Leduc County AB | 1.2% | 0.7% | 85 | 2 | 4 |
| 36 | Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides QC | 1.1% | 4.1% | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 | La Visitation QC | 1.1% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Summerside AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 | Saint-Charles-Borromée QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Strathmore AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Sturgeon Falls
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
9 parks and woods to walk in, in or near Sturgeon Falls
West Sandy Island Provincial Park is the largest, at 482 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
9 named parks and woods, 810 ha in all
Parks & gardens 482 haWoods 328 ha
73% of the area is in just two places: West Sandy Island Provincial Park and West Hardwood Island.
All 9 named parks and green spaces
West Sandy Island Provincial ParkPark or garden · 482 ha
DirectionsWest Hardwood IslandWood or forest · 112 ha
DirectionsEast Hardwood IslandWood or forest · 91 ha
DirectionsIron IslandWood or forest · 53 ha
DirectionsHunt IslandWood or forest · 35 ha
DirectionsGarden IslandWood or forest · 26 ha
DirectionsBurritt IslandWood or forest · 5.5 ha
DirectionsLittle Iron IslandWood or forest · 3.2 ha
DirectionsPerkins IslandWood or forest · 2.4 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 4 in 10 of Sturgeon Falls’ 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 (35%)Further (65%)
Sturgeon Falls35%
Towns in Ontario90%
Typical Canadian town83%
For about 10,800 people, the nearest park is over 400 m away. In the typical Canadian town the share is 83%, higher than here.
Protected areas
Protected areas cover 7.2% of the land near Sturgeon Falls
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Sturgeon Falls6.1%
Within 10 km7.2%
Towns in Ontario2.3%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Each of the 19 is held by a public body. French River Provincial Park is the biggest, 73,530 ha.
French River Provincial ParkProvincial park · 73,530 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Sturgeon River Provincial ParkProvincial park · 7,985 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Cache Bay Wetland Conservation ReserveNature reserve · 3,926 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Temagami River Provincial ParkProvincial park · 3,394 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Mashkinonje Provincial ParkProvincial park · 2,109 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Smoky River Headwaters Conservation ReserveNature reserve · 928 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Field Township Conservation ReserveNature reserve · 399 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Mudcat Lake Forest Conservation ReserveNature reserve · 396 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
Dana Township Jack Pine Forest Conservation ReserveNature reserve · 319 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
West Sandy Island Provincial ParkProvincial park · 260 ha · reaches Sturgeon Falls
9 more named areas within 10 km are in the figures.
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
From the edge of Sturgeon Falls, French River Provincial Park begins
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
French River Provincial Park
At the edge735 km²since 1989
Provincial park
Sturgeon River Provincial Park
At the edge80 km²since 1989
Provincial park
Temagami River Provincial Park
At the edge34 km²since 2000
Provincial park
Mashkinonje Provincial Park
At the edge21 km²since 1963
Provincial park
West Sandy Island Provincial Park
At the edge2.6 km²since 1994
Provincial park
Manitou Islands Provincial Park
2.1 km east19 km²since 1989
No national park lies within 100 km of Sturgeon Falls; the provincial parks are the big protected land within reach. There are 8 provincial parks within 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
109 km of paths in and around Sturgeon Falls
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
109 km
in and around the town (2,959.2 km²)
Woodland
65%
about 1,914.6 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
Sturgeon FallsTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Sturgeon FallsTowns in OntarioTypical Canadian town
Woodland65%
0%50%100%
For woods, it beats 89% of Canadian towns. Paths are thinner on the ground than in 94% 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 Sturgeon Falls
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
Walking season in Sturgeon Falls: May to August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (North Bay, 44 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | -7 | -6 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 11 | 3 | -4 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 70 | 54 | 60 | 72 | 89 | 91 | 98 | 93 | 114 | 109 | 97 | 73 |
Summer highs reach 24 °C in July; in January they stay near -7 °C. Most rain and snow falls in September, 114 mm; February sees 54 mm. Some 312 cm of snow falls each winter. The climate in Sturgeon Falls →
Things to do
Viewpoints and waterfalls near Sturgeon Falls: 4 and 6
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
17 slipways top the list.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 4
Viewpoint Lake Nipissing0.2 km from town
DirectionsPlus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 6
Ragged Chutein town
DirectionsFive Finger Rapids0.9 km from town
DirectionsPlus 4 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 4
Annandale public forestin town
DirectionsFrench River Provincial Park1.7 km from town
DirectionsMashkinonje Provincial Park1.8 km from town
DirectionsPlus 1 nature reserve more.
Picnic sites 4
Nipissing Lookout Site0.3 km from town
DirectionsPlus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 9
Plus 9 campsites without a name on the map.
Slipways 17
Mercer Lake Boat Rampin town
DirectionsOtter Bay Boat Rampin town
DirectionsWolseley Bay Boat Launchin town
DirectionsRiverview Cottages Boat Ramp0.8 km from town
DirectionsPlus 13 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Sturgeon Falls
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 20–43 km: that is how far the nearest places with figures are from Sturgeon Falls.
Nipissing 10St.-CharlesMarkstay-WarrenNorth BayFrench River / Rivière des FrançaisSturgeon Falls
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturgeon Falls | 7.2% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Nipissing 10 20 km | 4.4% | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| St.-Charles 32 km | 2.1% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Markstay-Warren 40 km | 0.2% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| North Bay 42 km | 7.4% | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| French River / Rivière des Français 43 km | 9.5% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
No place nearby has double Sturgeon Falls’ share of protected land. For walking routes, Nipissing 10 leads the area with 4.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- Private land. Areas held by land trusts or private owners stay unnamed here, though they count in the shares.
- Protected land. The 10 km band starts at the town’s outline, not its centre, so a large municipality reaches further than a small town.
Questions about the outdoors in Sturgeon Falls
Is Sturgeon Falls near a national park?
The nearest national park is more than 100 km from Sturgeon Falls.
Is there protected land near Sturgeon Falls?
Yes: 7.2% of the land within 10 km is protected.
Which is the biggest protected area near Sturgeon Falls?
French River Provincial Park, a provincial park of 73,530 ha.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Sturgeon Falls?
Mashkinonje Provincial Park touches the town.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Sturgeon Falls?
May to August: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Sources
The sources behind Sturgeon Falls’ 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).