Browse "Parks & Nature Reserves"

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, The Canadian Encyclopedia created 30 lists of 30 things that make us proud to be Canadian, from famous people and historic events, to iconic foods and influential artists.

The oldest provincial park in Ontario and the first provincial park in Canada, Algonquin Provincial Park (established 27 May 1893, 7723 km2) is located 250 km north of Toronto.

Centred on the wide Thomsen River valley on Banks Island, Aulavik National Park (set aside 1992, 12 200 km2) has an Inuvialuktun name that means "where people travel." The name was suggested by one of the elders of Sachs Harbour, the only community on the island.

Located on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island, Nunavut, Auyuittuq National Park (established 2001, 19 089 km2) was Canada's first national park located north of the Arctic Circle. It was first set up as a national park reserve in 1976 and established as a national park through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

Banff National Park (established 1885, 6,641 km2) is Canada's first and most visited National Park.

One of the largest of 48 parks in Newfoundland and Labrador, Barachois Pond Provincial Park (established 1962, 35 km2), is located at the head of St George's Bay, 70 km south of Corner Brook along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Bruce Peninsula National Park (established 1987, 156 km2) consists of a former provincial park and private lands acquired on a "willing buyer-willing seller" basis. Over 75% of the total area of the park has been acquired.

Located on the Avalon Peninsula, Butter Pot Provincial Park (established 1958, 2833 ha) is 36 km southwest of St John's, Newfoundland, along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park (established 1936) stretches across the northern tip of Cape Breton Island.

Cape Scott Provincial Park (established 1973, 50 km2), on the northwest tip of VANCOUVER I, BC, includes 64 km of coast with 23 km of sandy beaches interspersed by rocky headlands. The land rises inland to Mount St Patrick (415 m), and in it lies a 44 ha body of freshwater, Eric Lake.

Tucked into the westernmost corner of Prince Edward Island, Cedar Dunes Provincial Park (established 1962, 37 ha) has been developed around an historic lighthouse. Known as West Point, the site is the result of centuries of accretion of sand from a north to south coastal current.

The period of intense park building (1880-1914) was stimulated by an interplay of 4 factors. The first was a belief that the city dweller's increasing separation from nature caused physical, mental and moral distress. Parks were seen as healing antidotes to this urban malaise.

Dinosaur Provincial Park (established 1955, 70 km²) lies along the Red Deer River in southeastern Alberta. The park is the primary fossil site of the more than 100 different species of dinosaurs found in Canada. In 1979, the park was declared a United Nations World Heritage Site. (See also Dinosaurs and Canada.)

  Elk Island National Park (established 1913, 194 km2) is a sanctuary of rolling woodlands and meadows dotted with lakes, bogs and ponds, 48 km east of Edmonton.

Consisting of the former Fathom Five Provincial Park and the western sector of Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Fathom Five National Marine Park (established 1987, 113 km2) was the first National Marine Park to be established in Canada.

Forillon National Park (established 1974, 240.4 km2) lies at the outer tip of the Gaspé Peninsula.

Fundy National Park (established 1948, 205.9 km2), renowned for its high tides averaging 9 m, stretches for 13 km along the Bay of Fundy and extends inland where wooded hills are cut by deep valleys and tumbling streams.

Natural History The mountains, which dominate the park and rise to 2678 m at Mount Garibaldi, are of recent volcanic origin. Lava from Price Mountain created a dam allowing 300 m deep Lake Garibaldi to form.

Georgian Bay Islands National Park (established 1929, 12.7 km2) comprises 59 islands located off the southeast coast of Georgian Bay.

Glacier National Park (established 1886, 1349.3 km2) was carved from the rugged Selkirk and Purcell mountains of BC by more than 400 glaciers.