Photo: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0The nearest provincial park to Waterville is Mont-Orford National Park (Québec), 20 km away
The 10 km around town hold 6 protected areas. No national park lies within 100 km. One unnamed beach is mapped within 5 km.
How Waterville 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. There is no Outdoors grade for Canadian towns; the figures stand beside the country’s towns of 2,500+ without a letter.
CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC, 2026), OpenStreetMap (November 2026). Distances from the town’s outline.
Waterville has the 14th least protected land nearby of 40 towns its size
The 40 Canadian towns nearest in population (2,601 to 2,685 residents), by the share of the land within 10 km that is protected. Hover for each one’s figures; click for its page.
Where Waterville trails its peers is public protected areas; 32 of 39 have more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Protected within 10 km | In town | Areas | Routes | Beaches | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Ronge SK | 49% | 0.2% | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Tsawwassen BC | 31% | 0% | 24 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | Division No. 7, Subdivision E NL | 30% | 28% | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Bouctouche NB | 27% | 1.6% | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Electoral Area A, Central Kootenay BC | 26% | 38% | 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Tumbler Ridge BC | 12% | 5.1% | 5 | 0 | 51 |
| 7 | Outlook SK | 11% | 0.1% | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Sainte-Croix QC | 9.6% | 0.3% | 32 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Saint George NB | 7.2% | 14% | 28 | 0 | 23 |
| 10 | East River, Part 1 PE | 4.3% | 9.1% | 38 | 14 | 20 |
| 11 | Boothill SK | 3.9% | 76% | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | Kinburn ON | 3.1% | 0% | 31 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 | Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton QC | 2.8% | 5.3% | 16 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Saint-Mathieu QC | 2.4% | 0% | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Lambeth ON | 1.8% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | High Prairie AB | 1.7% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Adelaide/Churchill SK | 1.7% | 0% | 18 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Westmeria ON | 1.6% | 0% | 18 | 2 | 5 |
| 19 | Meadowlark Park AB | 1.6% | 0% | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Brockville MB | 1.5% | 0% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | South River Heights MB | 1.5% | 0% | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Westview SK | 1.4% | 0% | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | North Point Douglas MB | 1.2% | 0% | 17 | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove NL | 1.1% | 0% | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| 25 | Grand Manan NB | 0.8% | 6.1% | 14 | 1 | 31 |
| 26 | Hanna AB | 0.8% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Waterville QC | 0.7% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 | Berwick NS | 0.6% | 0% | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Saint-Alexandre QC | 0.6% | 0.6% | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | Grey MB | 0.6% | 0.7% | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Saint-Chrysostome QC | 0.4% | 0.3% | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 32 | Sundre AB | 0.4% | 0% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Sweet Grass AB | 0.3% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Cy Becker AB | 0.2% | 0% | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Spaniard's Bay NL | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 36 | Saint-Bernard QC | 0% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Saint-Léonard-d'Aston QC | 0% | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Delton AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 39 | Gold Bar AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 40 | Highlands AB | 0% | 0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The green map of Waterville
The town’s parks, woods, protected land and paths, with its named places numbered.
6 parks and woods to walk in, in or near Waterville
Largest first: Parc Bellevue leads with 3.4 ha. Numbers match the map.
The bulk, 74%, is Parc Bellevue and Parc de Huntingville.
Parc de la tour d'eau
Parc des cascades
Parc de la maison des jeunes
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.
Most of Waterville is more than 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.
The usual figure for a Canadian town is 83%, above this. About 2,600 residents live further than 400 m from one.
Waterville has 6 protected areas within 10 km
Every protected and conserved area in CPCAD within 10 km of the town’s edge: parks, reserves, wildlife areas and conservation land.
They belong to private owners or land trusts, so the page leaves their names out.
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.
Mont-Orford National Park (Québec), 20 km off
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.
Mont-Orford National Park (Québec)
For a national park, people in Waterville travel more than 100 km. Note that Québec calls its provincial parks parcs nationaux; Sépaq manages them.
Source: CPCAD 2.9.0 (ECCC): areas and outlines, distances outline to outline; directions from the town’s centre point.
Waterville and its edge hold 21 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 · km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Woods cover more of it than in 82% of Canadian towns. For path density, 75% of Canadian towns do better.
Source: OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Mapping varies by place: a dense figure can mean keen local mappers as much as many paths.
OpenStreetMap shows no walking route near Waterville
Named walking and hiking routes on OpenStreetMap with at least 300 m within 2 km of the town, longest first; national routes lead.
OpenStreetMap has no named walking route within 2 km of the town. Trails may exist without being mapped as routes.
Source: OpenStreetMap (route relations hiking, foot and walking), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Trans Canada Trail sections as OSM maps them.
May is the best month for walking in Waterville
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals from Lennoxville (9.2 km), and daylight at the town’s latitude. Good months: 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15–30 °C, little rain.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.9 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | -4 | -2 | 3 | 11 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 21 | 13 | 6 | -1 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 76 | 66 | 68 | 82 | 85 | 102 | 99 | 104 | 96 | 91 | 70 | 75 |
A typical year sees 291 cm of snow. Rain and snow peak in August (104 mm) and ease in February (66 mm). In July the typical high is 26 °C; in January, -4 °C. The climate in Waterville →
A beach within 5 km of Waterville
Beaches on OpenStreetMap within 5 km of the town’s edge, nearest first, with directions.
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.
Waterville has 3 viewpoints within 2 km
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, picnic sites, nature reserves, playgrounds, dog parks, campsites and boat launches mapped within 2 km of the town.
There are 6 playgrounds, more than of anything else. The highest named peak nearby is Colline Haskell, at 300 m.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Plus 2 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Source: OpenStreetMap (tourism, natural, waterway and leisure tags), © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Next to Waterville
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterville | 0.7% | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Hatley 3.0 km | 0.7% | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Compton 7.5 km | 0.3% | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Sherbrooke 11 km | 4.1% | 23 | 2 | 3 |
| Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley 12 km | 1.3% | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| Ascot Corner 18 km | 0.7% | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ayer's Cliff 19 km | 0.2% | 5 | 0 | 3 |
For protected land, Sherbrooke has twice as much or more. For walking routes, Sherbrooke leads the area with 2.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- National and provincial parks. The nearest national park and the nearest provincial park are always shown when they are within 100 km.
- 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. CPCAD maps each protected area; the page counts how much of the 10 km around the town they cover, lakes and sea included.
Questions about the outdoors in Waterville
Is there a provincial park near Waterville?
Mont-Orford National Park (Québec), 20 km away.
What is the best season to get outdoors in Waterville?
May: long days, mild highs and little rain.
How much land around Waterville is protected?
Yes: 0.7% of the land within 10 km is protected.
What is the nearest national park to Waterville?
None within 100 km of Waterville.
What is the nearest beach to Waterville?
There is an unnamed beach within 5 km.
Where Waterville’s outdoors figures come from
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).