First pick
Parc Shannon
Park or garden
4.9 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.5 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Roncanada · CC BY 4.00.9%protected within 10 km
Outdoors in Shannon · parks, protected land & trails
Tourbière-de-Shannon Ecological Reserve reaches Shannon
For a swim, La plage Lac St-Joseph is the nearest of 14 beaches within 5 km. 9.9 km out lies the largest, Tantaré Ecological Reserve, at 1,450 ha. The Piste A is the one mapped walking route close by.
Protected land
0.9%
of the land within 10 km
Typical Canadian town: 2.3%
Protected areas
21
within 10 km, 8 public
Typical Canadian town: 14
Nearest national park
84 km
La Mauricie National Park
Nearest provincial park
24 km
Jacques-Cartier National Park (Québec)
Walking routes
1
named, within 2 km (OpenStreetMap)
Beaches
14
within 5 km (OpenStreetMap)
Against other towns
How Shannon 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. 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 km0.9%Share of the land and water within 10 km of the town’s edge in a protected or conserved area
Protected in town3.9%Share of the town’s own area in a protected or conserved area
Public protected areas8Areas within 10 km held by a government or an Indigenous nation
Walking routes1Named OpenStreetMap walking and hiking routes with 300 m+ within 2 km
Beaches14Beaches mapped on OpenStreetMap within 5 km
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Towns its size
Shannon sits 10th from last of 40 towns its size for protected land around it
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (6,965 to 7,245 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
Shannon0.9%
Towns its size2.3%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Public protected areas
Shannon8
Towns its size4
Towns in Quebec10
Typical Canadian town4
Walking routes
Shannon1
Towns its size0
Towns in Quebec0
Typical Canadian town0
Against towns its size, Shannon does best for public protected areas: 15 of the other 39 have more. For protected land nearby, though, 30 of 39 are ahead.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernie BC | 31% | 0.1% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Hope BC | 15% | 4.1% | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Springhill NS | 11% | 9% | 79 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Algoma, Unorganized, North Part ON | 11% | 10% | 91 | 4 | 228 |
| 5 | Lowertown East ON | 11% | 0% | 38 | 4 | 3 |
| 6 | Les Cèdres QC | 11% | 0.1% | 40 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Peace River AB | 8.4% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Kent BC | 8.3% | 8.2% | 16 | 2 | 42 |
| 9 | Saint-Honoré QC | 5.5% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | L'Ange-Gardien QC | 5.4% | 0% | 59 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Perth ON | 5.4% | 0.7% | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Hope ON | 4.8% | 1.8% | 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Carlisle ON | 4% | 0% | 30 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Raleigh ON | 4% | 0% | 20 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Edgeley ON | 3.9% | 0.4% | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Haysboro AB | 3.9% | 0% | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 17 | Midnapore AB | 3.3% | 32% | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Concord ON | 3.1% | 0% | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Saint-Paul QC | 2.4% | 0% | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Electoral Area C, East Kootenay BC | 2.3% | 1.5% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Colborne ON | 2.2% | 0.3% | 28 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Fairwinds BC | 2.2% | 4.7% | 23 | 0 | 15 |
| 23 | Brown's Corners ON | 1.8% | 0% | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Lymburn AB | 1.7% | 0% | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | North River Heights MB | 1.5% | 0% | 26 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Sherbrooke AB | 1.5% | 0% | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | King Edward MB | 1.3% | 0% | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Meadowood MB | 1.3% | 1.8% | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Inglewood AB | 1.3% | 0% | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Devon AB | 1.1% | 0% | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Shannon QC | 0.9% | 3.9% | 21 | 1 | 14 |
| 32 | Merritt BC | 0.9% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 33 | Cougar Ridge AB | 0.7% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 | Yarmouth NS | 0.6% | 0% | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| 35 | Erin Woods AB | 0.6% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 36 | La Sarre QC | 0.5% | 0.1% | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 | Brighton SK | 0.5% | 0.1% | 10 | 1 | 2 |
| 38 | Rhatigan Ridge AB | 0.5% | 0% | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 39 | Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh ON | 0.4% | 0.9% | 13 | 5 | 5 |
| 40 | Wainwright AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The map
Shannon on the map: green space, protected land and paths
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
4 named parks and woods to walk in near Shannon
The biggest is Parc Shannon, 4.9 ha. Biggest first, numbered as on the map.
4 named parks and woods, 7 ha in all
Parks & gardens 6.6 ha
Between them, Parc Shannon and Parc Garceau cover 92%.
Jardin communautaire
Park or garden · 350 m outside town
0.2 ha
1.5 km 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
2 in 10 people in Shannon 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 (22%)Further (78%)
Shannon22%
Towns in Quebec52%
Typical Canadian town83%
For comparison, the typical Canadian town has 83%. That leaves about 5,600 people more than a short walk away.
Protected areas
Tourbière-de-Shannon Ecological Reserve touches Shannon
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
Inside Shannon3.9%
Within 10 km0.9%
Towns in Quebec4.9%
Typical Canadian town2.3%
Governments hold 8 of the 21, and private owners the rest. Tantaré Ecological Reserve covers 1,450 ha, the most of any named area. Another 13 are privately owned conservation land; they count in the figures but aren’t named, as private land isn’t a place to visit.
Tourbière-de-Shannon Ecological ReserveNature reserve · 169 ha · reaches Shannon
Duchesnay Old-Growth ForestNature reserve · 17 ha · 5.0 km from the edge of town
Forêt ancienne Gérald Landry Old-GrowthNature reserve · 16 ha · 7.0 km from the edge of town
Rivière-Sainte-Anne Old-Growth ForestNature reserve · 13 ha · 7.4 km from the edge of town
Serge-Légaré Arboretum of the Laurentian Forestry CenterProtected area · 22 ha · 7.9 km from the edge of town
03152R002 Biological RefugeWildlife area · 104 ha · 9.8 km from the edge of town
Tantaré Ecological ReserveNature reserve · 1,450 ha · 9.9 km from the edge of town
1 area recorded only by its type (a provincial layer such as wildlife habitat areas) is 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
84 km to La Mauricie National Park
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)
Jacques-Cartier National Park (Québec)
24 km north671 km²since 1981
National park
La Mauricie National Park
84 km west536 km²since 1970
Jacques-Cartier National Park (Québec), a provincial park, is nearer at 24 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
Shannon has 76 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
76 km
in and around the town (119.3 km²)
Woodland
77%
about 91.3 km² of mapped woods
Footpaths · km per km²
ShannonTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Footpaths0.6
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ShannonTowns in QuebecTypical Canadian town
Woodland77%
0%50%100%
It has fewer paths per km² than 63% of Canadian towns. For woods, it beats 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
Shannon has 1 named walking route
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
Other waymarked
Piste A3.9 km
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
When to get out
Walking season in Shannon: May and August
Daylight at the town’s latitude and ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals (Quebec Jean Lesage (Airport), 14 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | -7 | -5 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 19 | 11 | 4 | -3 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 87 | 66 | 78 | 94 | 92 | 115 | 119 | 109 | 111 | 116 | 91 | 96 |
Some 299 cm of snow falls each winter. The warmest month, July, is also the wettest (119 mm), while February is driest at 66 mm. Summer highs reach 25 °C in July; in January they stay near -7 °C. The climate in Shannon →
Beaches
For a swim near Shannon: La plage Lac St-Joseph, 0.7 km off
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
La plage Lac St-Josephsand · 0.7 km from town
DirectionsThere are also 13 beaches without a name. This page can’t show water quality: no open, Canada-wide record of beach testing exists. Check local advisories first.
Source: OpenStreetMap (natural=beach), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Things to do
Near Shannon: 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.
3Viewpoints2Hills and peaks1Waterfalls1Nature reserves2Picnic sites21Playgrounds1Dog parks1Campsites1Slipways
The map shows 21 playgrounds, ahead of the rest.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
dam view pointin town
DirectionsVue sur la rivièrein town
DirectionsPlus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Mont Casa-Berardiin town
DirectionsMont Sorrel0.3 km from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Réserve écologique de la Tourbière-de-Shannonin town
DirectionsPicnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 21
Jeux pour enfantsin town
DirectionsParc Place Vanierin town
DirectionsPlus 19 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Parc à chiensin town
DirectionsCampsites 1
Camping de la plage du Lac St-Joseph0.3 km from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Parc Shannonin town
DirectionsSource: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next door
Next to Shannon
The nearest places, coloured by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected; tap one for its outdoors page.
Fossambault-sur-le-LacVal-BélairSainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-CartierLac-Saint-CharlesSaint-Gabriel-de-ValcartierLorettevilleShannon
Under 1%1–5%5–15%15–40%40%+
| Town | Protected within 10 km | Areas | Routes | Beaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon | 0.9% | 21 | 1 | 14 |
| Fossambault-sur-le-Lac 7.5 km | 1.3% | 15 | 0 | 14 |
| Val-Bélair 8.1 km | 1.7% | 27 | 2 | 12 |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier 8.2 km | 1.4% | 27 | 0 | 16 |
| Lac-Saint-Charles 11 km | 1% | 21 | 1 | 4 |
| Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier 11 km | 1.8% | 27 | 1 | 12 |
| Loretteville 12 km | 1.1% | 21 | 1 | 2 |
For protected land, Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier has twice as much or more.
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. CPCAD includes conservation land held privately; the page counts it and leaves the names out.
- 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.
- Protected land. Protected here means in CPCAD, Canada’s official list: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and other conserved land, measured within 10 km of the town’s edge.
- 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.
Questions about the outdoors in Shannon
Is Shannon near a national park?
La Mauricie National Park, 84 km from the edge of town.
Is there protected land near Shannon?
Within 10 km, 0.9% of the land lies in protected areas.
Where can you swim near Shannon?
La plage Lac St-Joseph, 0.7 km from town, is the nearest mapped beach.
What walking routes are near Shannon?
Try the Piste A.
What is the biggest park or reserve near Shannon?
Tantaré Ecological Reserve: 1,450 ha, a nature reserve.
When should you visit Shannon for the outdoors?
May and August, on the 1991–2020 normals and the daylight: long days, highs of 15 °C or more, light rain for the place.
How far is the nearest provincial park from Shannon?
Jacques-Cartier National Park (Québec), 24 km away.
Sources
The sources behind Shannon’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).