A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the public for recreation. Their environment may be more or less strictly protected.
Provincial parks in Belgium (Dutch: provinciale domeinen, French: domaines provinciaux) include Bois des Rêves,[7] Chevetogne,[8] Hélécine,[9] Palogne,[10] and Wégimont.[11]
These are typically public areas administered by the province for outdoor recreation such as swimming, canoeing, hiking and camping, with few or no fully protected portions.
Although provincial parks in Canada are not the same as national parks, their structures and purposes are very similar. The provincial and territorial parks systems generally have various park categories. Parks may be ecological reserves without facilities for use by the general public, day use parks or recreational parks that offer many services to visitors, often including bicycle, canoe, or kayak rentals, camping sites, hiking trails and beaches.
In the province of Quebec, the provincial parks are labelled "national parks" and are all IUCN category II protected areas (like at the federal level, and as opposed to many provincial parks), and are managed by Société des établissements de plein air du Québec. Many parks in the other provinces have the IUCN designation.[citation needed]
