On this day in 1885, Canada established a nature reserve in the Rocky Mountains that later become the country's first national park. It was named after the Banffshire region in Scotland, where two of the original directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) were born. More than a century later, Banff National Park remains one of the most popular tourism destinations in Canada, drawing over four million visitors each year. Any trip to Banff would not be complete without a s

Rouge National Urban Park is the first of its kind in Canada. When completed, it will be the largest urban park in North America, protecting a space roughly 22 times the size of Central Park in New York. Located 30 km outside Toronto, the park borders Scarborough, Markham, and Pickering. It's divided into two distinct areas: one with an entrance near the Toronto Zoo and the other next to Lake Ontario. Parks Canada regularly schedules guided hikes and other activities at Rouge

Last winter, I got the chance to stay in one of the yurts at Fundy National Park. A massive blizzard had rolled through New Brunswick the week before and many of the snow banks were still higher than the trail heads when I stopped at the visitor centre to check into my site. After getting a map and a set of keys, I drove to the end of a long road, its icy surface covered in a fresh layer of salt. There was already a fire burning in the cookhouse and I spotted several other pe

Of all the national parks that I've visited, Riding Mountain surprised me the most. Located on the Manitoba Escarpment, a long stretch of steep hills dating back 65 million years, the park rises from the surrounding farmland like an island in a sea of prairies. Here you'll find Clear Lake, its startling blue waters bordering the Wasagaming townsite. Strolling around this small community of log cabins, some of them dating back to the 1930s, you might feel like you've accidenta

When I applied to graduate school in 2015, I had to decide what topic I wanted to write about for my two-year MFA program at the University of King's College. There were plenty of ideas floating around in my head, but each time I tried to put something down on paper, I couldn't stop thinking about national parks. From mountains and prairies to beaches and forests, our park system is one of Canada's most iconic features. We owe many of these protected sites to J.B. Harkin and