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 ALL PARKS, WHETHER NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL or simply a favourite
city park, have always been places of natural beauty; places
to 'get away from it all,' places to contemplate and experience
the great outdoors. Both Canada's national and provincial
park systems were established at the end of the 1800s as governments
and the public began fretting over the rapid depletion of
natural resources, the degradation of scenic places and an
increased need for outdoor 'getaways' for growing urban populations.
Banff was the first national park, established in 1885, and
Algonquin, in Ontario, the first provincial park, started
in 1893. Our parks represent varied ecosystems, and each aims
to preserve our natural resources, wildlife and history.
Summer is an ideal time to get out there and see what Canada's
parks have to offer. Here are some resources and website links
to get you started.
Check out some park stories that have appeared in Canadian
Geographic magazine over the last few years:
- Canada's
newest national park, Tuktut Nogait: Resolving a border
dispute in the NWT park to preserve caribou herding grounds
(Canadian Geographic,
May/June 1999)
- Urban
park design: Shaping new sanctuaries (CG May/June 1998)
- Ontario's Sandbanks Provincial Park: A pictorial of the spectacular
beach in off-season (Canadian Geographic,
March/April 1998)
- Banff
vs. the bears: How the national park is trying to balance
its overwhelming visitor population with its wildlife populations
(Canadian Geographic, January/February 1997)
- Shell game: Saving Blanding's turtles in Kejimkujik National
Park (Canadian Geographic, May/June 1996)
- Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary: Dene and Inuit will soon manage the
continent's largest tract of fully protected wilderness (Canadian Geographic,
March /April 1996)
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Our parks
