11 artful sculpture gardens across Canada

Take a hike through these picturesque areas filled with pieces for all kinds of critics

During the pandemic, when just about every pleasurable pastime has been put on hold, hiking has become a goto for escaping the doldrums of our lockdown lives. For those who have already trekked all the parks in their area and are looking for an alternative to straight-up nature trails, Canada offers a number of sculpture gardens replete with innovative, eye-catching art that’s often free to view. Here are 11 suggestions of fanciful parks in which to take an artful walk.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Hornby Island, in the Georgia Strait between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, is a walker’s paradise. Forty per cent of the land is taken up by walking and cycling trails, split between three provincial parks. The Jeffrey Rubinoff Sculpture Park adds an artistic twist to the island’s outdoor life, with 100 massive steel sculptures spread over 200 hectares. Canada’s largest sculpture park dedicated to a single artist, the grounds are also home to the late Rubinoff’s studios and foundry, allowing visitors to view how he fashioned his geometrically complex pieces. Free admission. 2750 Shingle Spit Rd., Hornby Island, B.C.

ALBERTA

The Aga Khan Garden at the University of Alberta shows that sometimes a garden itself can be a sculpture. Covering 4.8 hectares, inlaid granite and limestone terraces are patterned like beautiful tapestries, shifting up and down around waterfalls and still pools to create outdoor architectural “rooms.” More than 25,000 plants and trees suffuse the air with a subtle perfume, heightening the serenity. Free admission. 51227 AB-60, Spruce Grove, Alta.

Since2008, artist MortonBurke has periodically invited sculptors from around the globe – from countries including India, Iran, Germany and Mongolia – to spend a month each at his acreage in Bergen, Alta., an hour north of Calgary. The output: marvellous stone monuments that have humanistic messages about dreaming, love and the beauty of the human form. Admission by donation. Site 10, Comp 24, RR2 Sundre, Alta.

City noise can be hard to block out, even on a forest walk. Along Edmonton’s Terwillegar Park path, three stone-and-steel sculptures by local artist Royden Mills are fitted with listening devices that amplify the sound of wind, birds and rustling leaves. The idea is to connect visitors back to a premodern, more peaceful era. Free admission. 10 Rabbit Hill Rd. NW, Edmonton.

SASKATCHEWAN

Saskatoon’s Meewasin Trail meanders through the city, following the South Saskatchewan River for 80 kilometres. As the path cuts through the University of Saskatchewan campus, it passes a hidden gem – the university’s sculpture garden. Surreal pieces, mainly in limestone, include a mammoth hand reaching up through the earth, imbuing the stroll with surprise and delight. Free admission. 101 Diefenbaker Pl., Saskatoon.

MANITOBA

At the Leo Mol Sculpture Park in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, the scenery is almost as beautiful as the art. Works by the namesake artist, made mostly in the 1970s and 80s from cast concrete, nod at the wildlife and wilderness of Manitoba. They dot a lily pond surrounded by vine-covered trellises, lilac trees and hundreds of other plants. Free admission. 375 Assiniboine Park Dr., Winnepeg.

ONTARIO

ZimArt’s outdoor gallery sprawls across five acres in an area 15 minutes south of Peterborough, yet the 300 statues transport visitors all the way to Zimbabwe. The richly veined, rock-based pieces represent more than 50 different artists from the south African country, and have each been hand-selected by curator and gallery founder Fran Fearnley. The stones are finished in a wide variety of textures, including shiny-polished, rough-hewn and pebbly surfaces. The good news, especially for curious kids: Touching is allowed. Free admission. 855 2nd Line Bailieboro, Ont.

The Oeno Gallery Sculpture Garden sits within the lush vineyards of Ontario’s Huff Estates Inn & Winery (which has a wood-fired pizza oven for hungry hikers). Every spring, about 20 new giant bronze, granite or steel pieces join the 30 or so modern marvels already on display (everything is for sale, hence the need for new additions). With Zephyr, local artist

Jeremy Guy somehow makes granite flow as effortlessly as ribbon in the breeze. While Oeno’s adjacent indoor gallery is currently closed, its paintings and small sculptures have been brought outside for physically distanced viewing, housed in open-sided shipping containers. Free admission. 2274 County Road 1, Bloomfield, Ont.

QUEBEC

It’s hard to imagine a more imaginative, wonderful place to take a walk than the Jardins de Métis in eastern Quebec. Every year, hundreds of international creatives compete for the chance to build a handful of contemporary gardens on the grounds of the otherwise classic, English-style, century-old Reford Gardens. This year, teams from the United States, Sweden, France and Canada have envisioned fantastical designs under the theme Magic Lies Outside. In one, Seuss-like mounds covered in dried hay provide playful, private forts for visitors – young and old – to hide from the world. Admissions from $11; kids under 13 free. 200 Rte. 132, Price, Que.

Mouvement Essarts, between Montreal and Quebec City, derives its name from a French word meaning to prepare agricultural land for change. Fittingly, the park, which has more than 1.5 kilometres of walking trails through former farmer’s fields, is constantly being renewed with new international sculptures, each prepared by artists specifically for the landscape – including many steel and wood pieces that echo the shapes of the surrounding flora and fauna. As Mouvement Essarts is open in all seasons, the art can be seen in everchanging light. Free admission. 260 10e Rang, Saint-Pie-de-Guire, Que.

NEW BRUNSWICK

Kingsbrae Garden, in the resort town of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, engages all the senses. Dozens of birds chirp in the trees (Kingsbrae is a certified Audubon sanctuary). More than 50,000 plants line the 27-acre site, including fragrant roses and colourful perennials. A café overlooks picturesque Passamaquoddy Bay. Throughout, statuary – some custom-made for the gardens through Kingsbrae’s artist-in-residence program, adds whimsy. Kids love the oversized turtle topped with a bumble bee, as well as the dynamic horse by Ontario sculptor Mark Breckenridge that rears up and down. Admission from $12. 220 King Street, Saint Andrews, N.B.