First pick
Gesgapegiag Community Park
Park or garden
4.0 ha
4.9 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Charny · CC BY-SA 3.09.5%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Maria · parks, protected land & trails
Protected land around Maria beats nearly 9 in 10 Canadian towns
Within 10 km are 24 protected areas. The largest named area nearby is Land set aside Rivière-Cascapédia, 36,911 ha, 6.6 km away. 20 km from town is Miguasha National Park (Québec), the nearest provincial park.
Protected land
9.5%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
24
within 10 km, 23 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest provincial park
20 km
Miguasha National Park (Québec)
Beaches
1
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
What sets Maria apart outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Protected land all round9.5% of the land within 10 km, more than 85% of Canadian townsMany protected areas23 public areas within 10 km
Maria’s best card is protected land around it, with the number of public protected areas close by close behind.
Against other towns
Each figure for Maria, 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. Outdoors isn’t graded in Canada. The page compares each figure with other towns and leaves it there.
Protected within 10 km9.5%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town1%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas23Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes0Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches1Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Maria comes 10th of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (2,736 to 2,808 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
Maria9.5%
Towns its size2.9%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Maria23
Towns its size8
Towns in Quebec10
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Maria0
Towns its size0
Towns in Quebec0
Typical Canadian town0
Among its peers, Maria’s strong point is protected land nearby, where 9 of 39 top it.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tofino BC | 41% | 21% | 14 | 0 | 34 |
| 2 | Victoria County, Subdivision A NS | 33% | 54% | 152 | 3 | 59 |
| 3 | Highlands BC | 24% | 41% | 40 | 0 | 18 |
| 4 | Atikokan ON | 19% | 1.1% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Electoral Area E, Peace River BC | 19% | 24% | 25 | 2 | 103 |
| 6 | Holyrood NL | 19% | 3.2% | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel QC | 18% | 23% | 83 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | Little Current ON | 13% | 10% | 36 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | Waterridge Village ON | 11% | 9.2% | 39 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Maria QC | 9.5% | 1% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Cultus Lake BC | 9.3% | 52% | 14 | 1 | 17 |
| 12 | Rivière-Beaudette QC | 7.6% | 0.1% | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Marritt ON | 7.2% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Vernon River PE | 5.1% | 4.5% | 48 | 11 | 3 |
| 15 | Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part ON | 5.1% | 4.9% | 81 | 0 | 28 |
| 16 | Yamachiche QC | 5% | 0% | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Front of Yonge ON | 4.9% | 6% | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Sainte-Luce QC | 4% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Vars ON | 3.8% | 1.4% | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse QC | 3.6% | 0% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Wakefield NB | 2.2% | 0.8% | 22 | 0 | 13 |
| 22 | Rosthern No. 403 SK | 2.2% | 2.6% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Sussex NB | 2.1% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| 24 | Lacolle QC | 1.9% | 1.1% | 34 | 1 | 3 |
| 25 | Woodcroft AB | 1.9% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Gore QC | 1.6% | 2.3% | 18 | 0 | 3 |
| 27 | Central River Heights MB | 1.5% | 0% | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Turner Valley AB | 1.4% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Mathers MB | 1.4% | 0% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Electoral Area H, Cowichan Valley BC | 1.1% | 3.5% | 28 | 3 | 6 |
| 31 | Upper Mount Royal AB | 0.8% | 0% | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | Souris MB | 0.5% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Grimshaw AB | 0.5% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Talbot-Grey MB | 0.5% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Downtown West End AB | 0.5% | 0% | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 36 | Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay BC | 0.2% | 0.1% | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 37 | Rivergrove MB | 0.2% | 4.7% | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Wickham QC | 0.1% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Kameyosek AB | 0.1% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 40 | Kuujjuaq QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The map
Parks, woods and paths around Maria
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
3 parks and woods to walk in, in or near Maria
The biggest is Gesgapegiag Community Park, 4.0 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
Parc de la Pointe-Verte
Park or garden
0.6 ha
1.8 km north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
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 Maria
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 (60%)
Maria40%
Towns in Quebec52%
Typical Canadian town83%
For comparison, the typical Canadian town has 83%. For about 1,700 people, the nearest park is over 400 m away.
Protected areas
24 protected areas around Maria
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Maria1%
Within 10 km9.5%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public bodies own 23 of the 24; land trusts and private owners hold the others. Land set aside Rivière-Cascapédia covers 36,911 ha, the most of any named area. One area belongs to a private owner or a land trust and isn’t named here.
Grande Cascapédia 19-10-04 Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 864 ha · reaches Maria
Maria 19-10-06 Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 376 ha · reaches Maria
Estuaire rivière Cascapédia 19-10-05 Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 121 ha · reaches Maria
Pointe Bourg 19-10-08 Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 475 ha · 2.6 km from the edge of town
New-Richmond 19-10-03 Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 448 ha · 2.8 km from the edge of town
11153R044 Biological RefugeWildlife area · 109 ha · 4.4 km from the edge of town
11153R043 Biological RefugeWildlife area · 600 ha · 4.7 km from the edge of town
Rivière-Angers Old-Growth ForestNature reserve · 203 ha · 4.9 km from the edge of town
Ruisseau Grand-Nord White-Tailed Deer YardProtected area · 3,292 ha · 5.2 km from the edge of town
11153R046 Biological RefugeWildlife area · 134 ha · 5.3 km from the edge of town
10 more named areas within 10 km are in the figures.
3 areas recorded only by their type (provincial layers such as wildlife habitat areas) are counted, not listed.
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
20 km to Miguasha National Park (Québec)
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
Québec national park (provincial)
Miguasha National Park (Québec)
20 km west0.6 km²since 1985
No national park lies within 100 km of Maria; the provincial parks are the big protected land within reach. In Québec, a parc national is a provincial park (Sépaq), not one of Parks Canada’s.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Maria has 40 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
40 km
in and around the town (145.4 km²)
Woodland
69%
about 100.3 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
MariaTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.3
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
MariaTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Woodland69%
0%50%100%
Paths are thinner on the ground than in 74% of Canadian towns. More of it is wooded than in 91% 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 Maria
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
Walking season in Maria: June and August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Charlo, 33 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) | 8.8 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.4 |
| High (°C) | -7 | -6 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 4 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 71 | 65 | 79 | 69 | 92 | 90 | 104 | 82 | 101 | 94 | 87 | 76 |
Rain peaks with the heat: 104 mm in July, against 65 mm in February. From -7 °C in January to 24 °C in July: that is the range of daytime highs. The climate in Maria →
Beaches
One beach near Maria
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Plage Muncipale de Mariain town
DirectionsWithin 5 km is 30 km of coastline. Canada publishes no open register of beach water tests; the local public health unit posts swimming advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Near Maria: 3 viewpoints, 1 waterfalls
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 viewpoints: 3 on the map. For a climb, Mont Carleton rises to 603 m.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Plus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Mont Maria413 m · in town
DirectionsMont Carleton603 m · 0.9 km from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Grand Sault Waterfall0.2 km from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Camping New Richmond0.6 km from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Maria
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
New RichmondCarleton-sur-MerMaria
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maria | 9.5% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| New Richmond 11 km | 3.4% | 19 | 0 | 3 |
| Carleton-sur-Mer 12 km | 10% | 26 | 0 | 4 |
None of the places nearby has twice as much protected land around it as Maria.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Beaches. Beaches are OpenStreetMap’s, named or not; in the north many are unnamed shoreline imports.
- 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.
- Walking routes. Routes are what OpenStreetMap’s volunteers have mapped as named walking or hiking routes; many good trails aren’t mapped that way.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Maria
When should you visit Maria for the outdoors?
June and August: long days, mild highs and little rain.
Is there a provincial park near Maria?
Miguasha National Park (Québec), 20 km from the edge of town.
Which is the biggest protected area near Maria?
Land set aside Rivière-Cascapédia: 36,911 ha, a protected area.
Is there protected land near Maria?
Within 10 km, 9.5% of the land lies in protected areas.
What is the nearest beach to Maria?
Plage Muncipale de Maria, in town; it is the one beach mapped within 5 km.
Is Maria near a national park?
No national park lies within 100 km of Maria.
Sources
The sources behind Maria’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).