First pick
Parc récréatif de Quyon
Park or garden
17 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
18 km westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Edwin Lester Brittain · CC BY-SA 4.021%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Pontiac · parks, protected land & trails
Protected areas cover 51% of Pontiac
The protected share within 10 km is 21%, where a typical Canadian town has 2.3%. Count 67 protected areas within 10 km of town. Swimmers have 30 beaches within 5 km, Plage Baie-Noire the nearest.
Protected land
21%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
67
within 10 km, 33 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
95 km
Thousand Islands National Park
Nearest provincial park
0.4 km
Fitzroy Provincial Park
Walking routes
3
named, within 2 km (OpenStreetMap)
Beaches
30
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Character
What Pontiac has going for it outdoors
Each figure against Canadian towns of 2,500+; tap a tile for the detail.
Protected land in town51% of Pontiac itself lies in protected areasProtected land all round21% of the land within 10 km, more than 96% of Canadian townsBeaches30 beaches within 5 kmMany protected areas33 public areas within 10 km
Pontiac is strongest on protected land inside its own boundary, with protected land around it close behind.
Against other towns
Pontiac 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 graded in Canada. The page compares each figure with other towns and leaves it there.
Protected within 10 km21%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town51%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas33Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes3Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches30Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Among 40 towns its size, Pontiac ranks 4th for protected land within 10 km
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (6,402 to 6,577 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
Pontiac21%
Towns its size1.6%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Pontiac33
Towns its size3
Towns in Quebec10
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Pontiac3
Towns its size0
Towns in Quebec0
Typical Canadian town0
Pontiac beats most towns its size for protected land nearby; 3 of 39 do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pointe-Calumet QC | 28% | 12% | 35 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Beresford NB | 26% | 19% | 10 | 0 | 16 |
| 3 | South Surrey BC | 22% | 28% | 130 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Pontiac QC | 21% | 51% | 67 | 3 | 30 |
| 5 | Pictou County, Subdivision A NS | 13% | 1.7% | 58 | 3 | 29 |
| 6 | City View ON | 12% | 0% | 30 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | Fisher Heights ON | 11% | 0% | 31 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Antigonish County, Subdivision B NS | 11% | 1.8% | 103 | 1 | 35 |
| 9 | Tweed ON | 9.9% | 9.1% | 68 | 1 | 5 |
| 10 | Rivers Edge / Castlemore Crossing ON | 8.1% | 23% | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Sackville NB | 6.5% | 0.1% | 85 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Mount Royal ON | 6.5% | 2.6% | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Mont-Joli QC | 5.7% | 0% | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Bramalea Woods ON | 5.5% | 0% | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Port-Cartier QC | 5% | 1% | 44 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 | Humboldt SK | 4.9% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Pictou County, Subdivision B NS | 4.8% | 1.1% | 165 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Stipeley ON | 4.3% | 0% | 23 | 1 | 5 |
| 19 | Cumberland AB | 2% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | West Broadway MB | 1.6% | 0% | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | Glamorgan AB | 1.5% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Battlefield ON | 1.4% | 0% | 13 | 4 | 8 |
| 23 | Fairhaven SK | 1.4% | 0% | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Greystone Heights SK | 1.4% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 | Massey Place SK | 1.4% | 0% | 16 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Corman ON | 1.3% | 0.2% | 17 | 4 | 8 |
| 27 | Garden Village BC | 1.3% | 0% | 20 | 4 | 6 |
| 28 | Oliver Paipoonge ON | 0.7% | 1.4% | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | Royalwood MB | 0.7% | 9.6% | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Terwillegar Towne AB | 0.7% | 0% | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | Kings County, Subdivision D NS | 0.5% | 0.3% | 17 | 1 | 10 |
| 32 | Beechborough-Greenbrook ON | 0.5% | 0% | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | St. Paul County No. 19 AB | 0.4% | 0.7% | 23 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 | Petrolia ON | 0.3% | 3.1% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Glencoe ON | 0.3% | 0.7% | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Abbeydale AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Crescent Heights AB | 0.3% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 38 | Hollick-Kenyon AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Bay Roberts NL | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 40 | Sherwood AB | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Pontiac on the map: green space, protected land and paths
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
Walk in Pontiac: 5 named parks and woods
Parc récréatif de Quyon is the largest, at 17 ha; the rest follow by size, numbered as on the map.
5 named parks and woods, 30 ha in all
Parks & gardens 30 ha
Most of it sits in Parc récréatif de Quyon and Parc récreatif de Luskville: 92% together.
Parc récreatif de Luskville
Park or garden
11 ha0.1 km of path
7.6 km north-westfrom 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
Few people in Pontiac 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 (0%)Further (100%)
Pontiac0%
Towns in Quebec52%
Typical Canadian town83%
That leaves about 6,500 people more than a short walk away. The typical Canadian town reaches 83%.
Protected areas
Protected areas cover 21% of the land near Pontiac
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Pontiac51%
Within 10 km21%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Governments hold 33 of the 67, and private owners the rest. Biggest of the named areas: Parc de la Gatineau White-Tailed Deer Yard, 1,610 ha. The count includes 18 areas that are private or not recorded as public; they aren’t named.
Parc de la Gatineau White-Tailed Deer YardProtected area · 1,610 ha · reaches Pontiac
Baie Noire (Luskville) Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 528 ha · reaches Pontiac
Breckenridge Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 438 ha · reaches Pontiac
Eardley Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 386 ha · reaches Pontiac
Luskville (Plage-Albert-Tremblay) Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 262 ha · reaches Pontiac
Baie de Breckenridge (Est) Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 258 ha · reaches Pontiac
Queens-Park Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 248 ha · reaches Pontiac
Gatineau Park peripheryProtected area · 223 ha · reaches Pontiac
Fitzroy Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 219 ha · reaches Pontiac
Baie Pontiac Water Fowl Gathering AreaWildlife area · 215 ha · reaches Pontiac
12 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
Thousand Islands National Park is 95 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
Fitzroy Provincial Park
0.4 km west2.0 km²since 1963
National park
Thousand Islands National Park
95 km south24 km²since 1904
Fitzroy Provincial Park, a provincial park, is nearer at 0.4 km. A Québec parc national belongs to the province, not to Parks Canada.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Footpaths and woods
Pontiac and its edge hold 235 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
235 km
in and around the town (649.8 km²)
Woodland
57%
about 371.4 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
PontiacTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.4
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
PontiacTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Woodland57%
0%50%100%
Woods cover more of it than in 86% of Canadian towns. It has fewer paths per km² than 70% 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
3 walking routes near Pontiac
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Local
Sentier du loup9.1 km
Luskville Falls Trail3.0 km
Champlain Trail1.1 km
Among local routes, the Sentier du loup is longest at 9.1 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 Pontiac: May and September
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Luskville, 6.0 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | -5 | -3 | 3 | 11 | 20 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 21 | 13 | 6 | -2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 77 | 63 | 63 | 74 | 79 | 99 | 97 | 96 | 87 | 84 | 74 | 76 |
January brings highs of -5 °C, July highs of 27 °C. June is the wettest month (99 mm) and February the driest (63 mm). About 193 cm of snow falls in a year. The climate in Pontiac →
Beaches
Pontiac has 30 beaches close by
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
Plage Baie-Noirein town
DirectionsPlage de la Pointe Indiennein town
DirectionsPlage La Pêchesand · in town
DirectionsPlage Parentsand · in town
DirectionsPlage Pontiacin town
DirectionsPlage Smithsand · in town
DirectionsPlage Tremblayin town
DirectionsPlage Bretonsand · 0.6 km from town
DirectionsBlanchet Beachmixed · 0.6 km from town
DirectionsPlage Bretonsand · 0.7 km from town
Directions17 more are mapped without a name. Sandy ones: 7. Water quality isn’t shown: there’s no open national record of beach tests. Local health authorities post advisories.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Viewpoints and waterfalls near Pontiac: 65 and 7
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
65Viewpoints8Hills and peaks7Waterfalls5Nature reserves14Picnic sites15Playgrounds11Campsites13Slipways
Viewpoints lead the count with 65. Mont du McKinstry tops the hills nearby, 420 m.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 65
Alpine Cabinin town
Directionsbbqin town
DirectionsBonny Viewin town
DirectionsChamplainin town
DirectionsChartrand Lookoutin town
DirectionsDizzy Pointin town
DirectionsFarm Rockin town
DirectionsGrand Viewin town
DirectionsPlus 57 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 8
Blueberry Hill350 m · in town
DirectionsHill 79in town
DirectionsMont du McKinstry420 m · in town
DirectionsMonumentin town
DirectionsTeacup Hillin town
DirectionsTomato Hillin town
DirectionsGraham Hill0.4 km from town
DirectionsWrong Hill0.5 km from town
DirectionsNature reserves 5
Parc Queen0.7 km from town
DirectionsMorris Island Conservation Area0.9 km from town
DirectionsTorbolton Forest1.5 km from town
DirectionsInnis Point Bird Observatory1.7 km from town
DirectionsParc de la Gatineau1.9 km from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 14
Lac la Pêchein town
Directionsterrain de piquenique de la Colline-Churchin town
DirectionsPlus 12 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 15
Plus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 11
Lac Philippein town
DirectionsLac Renaudin town
DirectionsLac Taylor Campgroundin town
DirectionsCamp Scout Impeesa0.1 km from town
DirectionsDomaine Des Bon Vivants0.6 km from town
DirectionsCamp Woolsey0.7 km from town
DirectionsFitzroy Park - Two Rivers Campground1.0 km from town
DirectionsFitzroy Park - Pine Grove Campground1.6 km from town
DirectionsPlus 3 campsites without a name on the map.
Slipways 13
Private (Dion Boat Ramp)in town
DirectionsMcCloskey Boat Launch1.4 km from town
DirectionsPlus 11 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Pontiac
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
DunrobinFitzroyChelseaDes ExplorateursBrookside - Briarbrook - Morgans GrantCarpPontiac
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontiac | 21% | 67 | 3 | 30 |
| Dunrobin 7.4 km | 14% | 50 | 1 | 15 |
| Fitzroy 12 km | 16% | 52 | 0 | 17 |
| Chelsea 14 km | 27% | 55 | 6 | 7 |
| Des Explorateurs 14 km | 23% | 46 | 1 | 10 |
| Brookside - Briarbrook - Morgans Grant 16 km | 8.1% | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Carp 16 km | 3.8% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
None of its neighbours has twice the protected land around it that Pontiac has. Chelsea has the most mapped walking routes nearby: 6.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. The list is OpenStreetMap’s, so a missing trail may just be unmapped. The Trans Canada Trail appears where OSM maps it.
- National and provincial parks. Distances run from the town’s edge to the park’s, so 0 km means they touch.
- Private land. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
- Beaches. A beach counts when its centre point lies within 5 km of the town’s outline. Names come from the map.
Questions about the outdoors in Pontiac
When is the best time for walking in Pontiac?
May and September: long days, mild highs and little rain.
What is the largest protected area near Pontiac?
Parc de la Gatineau White-Tailed Deer Yard, a protected area of 1,610 ha.
What is the nearest provincial park to Pontiac?
The closest is Fitzroy Provincial Park, at 0.4 km.
Is there a beach near Pontiac?
Plage Baie-Noire, in town, is the nearest mapped beach.
Are there hiking trails near Pontiac?
The Sentier du loup, Luskville Falls Trail and Champlain Trail, among the routes mapped within 2 km.
What is the nearest national park to Pontiac?
The nearest is Thousand Islands National Park, 95 km away.
Are there protected areas near Pontiac?
Protected areas cover 21% of the land within 10 km.
Sources
Sources for this page on Pontiac
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).