Photo: Neil and Kathy Carey from Edmonton, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0A national park 4.5 km from Malpeque Bay: Prince Edward Island National Park
19 beaches are mapped within 5 km, the nearest Cabot Beach. Biggest among them: Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 22), 285,278 ha, 7.6 km off. 2 mapped walking routes pass within 2 km, among them the The Island Walk and Central PEI Coastal Walk.
Where Malpeque Bay stands out outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Above all, Malpeque Bay offers Prince Edward Island National Park within easy reach, with its beaches close behind.
Malpeque Bay 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.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Malpeque Bay has the 20th least protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (1,351 to 2,587 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anmore BC | 22% | 47% | 16 | 5 | 98 |
| 2 | Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska QC | 19% | 0% | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Gracefield QC | 19% | 19% | 34 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | East Preston NS | 16% | 6.3% | 20 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Clearwater BC | 7.7% | 4.1% | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Roberval QC | 6.1% | 1.2% | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague QC | 5.8% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | North Frontenac ON | 5.7% | 5.2% | 13 | 6 | 4 |
| 9 | Cap-Chat QC | 5.3% | 0.4% | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards ON | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Saint-Polycarpe QC | 4.2% | 0% | 11 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Macassa ON | 4.1% | 0% | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Saint-Damien QC | 4% | 3.2% | 22 | 1 | 9 |
| 14 | Unity SK | 3.4% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Sherwood ON | 3.4% | 0% | 19 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | McNab SK | 2.6% | 0% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Mandeville QC | 2.5% | 1.8% | 19 | 4 | 7 |
| 18 | Esterhazy SK | 1.8% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | City Commercial Core ON | 1.8% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Caswell Hill SK | 1.4% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | Malpeque Bay PE | 1.3% | 5.4% | 14 | 2 | 19 |
| 22 | Fossambault-sur-le-Lac QC | 1.3% | 7.8% | 15 | 0 | 14 |
| 23 | Pembina MB | 1.1% | 1.8% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Burrows-Keewatin MB | 1% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Elmwood AB | 0.8% | 0% | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Hatley QC | 0.7% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 27 | Munroe West MB | 0.4% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Brooke-Alvinston ON | 0.3% | 0.2% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Rosedale AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Minchau AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 | Lunenburg NS | 0.1% | 0% | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| 32 | Salisbury NB | 0.1% | 2.1% | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Dufferin MB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Ekota AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 35 | Satoo AB | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Magrath AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Nanton AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Rimbey AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Sexsmith AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Malpeque Bay on the map: green space, protected land and paths
Green space, woods, protected areas and footpaths in and around the town.
In Malpeque Bay, 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.
For about 1,400 people, the nearest park is over 400 m away. A median Canadian town manages 83%.
1.3% of the country within 10 km of Malpeque Bay is protected
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Public bodies own 4 of the 14; land trusts and private owners hold the others. At 285,278 ha, Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 22) is the largest. 10 more areas within 10 km are private land, held by landowners or conservation groups: counted here, 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.
Big parks near Malpeque Bay
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.
Prince Edward Island National Park
Amherst Shore Provincial Park
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
26 km of paths in and around Malpeque Bay
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
Paths are thinner on the ground than in 82% of Canadian towns. It is more wooded than 52% 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.
The The Island Walk passes Malpeque Bay
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Of the The Island Walk’s 672 km, 6.0 km passes close to town.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
Get out in Malpeque Bay in June to August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (New Glasgow, 25 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 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | -3 | -3 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 111 | 91 | 94 | 86 | 90 | 98 | 75 | 88 | 117 | 135 | 130 | 138 |
Daytime highs run from -3 °C in January up to 24 °C in July. For dry weather, July is best (75 mm); December gets 138 mm. Snowfall averages 292 cm a year. The climate in Malpeque Bay →
Malpeque Bay has 19 beaches close by
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
The coast is close: 150 km of shoreline within 5 km. Another 17 have no name on the map. Beach water tests aren’t published as open data across Canada, so swimming advisories come from the local health unit.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Outdoors around Malpeque Bay: 11 places to go
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
7 playgrounds top the list.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 1
Playgrounds 7
Plus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Campsites 2
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Malpeque Bay
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malpeque Bay | 1.3% | 14 | 2 | 19 |
| Kensington, Part 1 7.6 km | 11% | 21 | 11 | 6 |
| Kensington 7.6 km | 1.5% | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| New London 10 km | 1.8% | 16 | 4 | 6 |
| Summerside 15 km | 25% | 15 | 10 | 7 |
| Kinkora 17 km | 19% | 15 | 8 | 9 |
| Miscouche 18 km | 28% | 12 | 5 | 2 |
For protected land, Kensington, Part 1, Summerside and Kinkora have twice as much or more. For walking routes, Kensington, Part 1 leads the area with 11.
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. Beaches are OpenStreetMap’s, named or not; in the north many are unnamed shoreline imports.
- 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. A park at 0 km touches or overlaps the town’s outline; directions point from the town’s centre.
- Private land. Areas held by land trusts or private owners stay unnamed here, though they count in the shares.
Questions about the outdoors in Malpeque Bay
When should you visit Malpeque Bay for the outdoors?
June to August: long days, mild highs and little rain.
What is the biggest park or reserve near Malpeque Bay?
It is Scallop Buffer Zone (SFA 22), a nature reserve covering 285,278 ha.
Is there a provincial park near Malpeque Bay?
The closest is Amherst Shore Provincial Park, at 57 km.
How much land around Malpeque Bay is protected?
Protected areas cover 1.3% of the land within 10 km.
What walking routes are near Malpeque Bay?
OpenStreetMap maps the The Island Walk and Central PEI Coastal Walk close by, with others.
Where can you swim near Malpeque Bay?
Try Cabot Beach, in town, first of several.
What is the nearest national park to Malpeque Bay?
The nearest is Prince Edward Island National Park, 4.5 km away.
Sources for this page on Malpeque Bay
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).