This 30 km route is a wonderful route to take in the many rivers, lakes and the canal in the area. It crosses the new 1 km pedestrian and cycling bridge across the Ottawa river and stops at Union Café for a pit stop.
This route takes you on a 30 kilometer tour through Ottawa and Gatineau along parts of the Rideau River, the Rideau Canal and Dow’s Lake, the Ottawa River, Lac Leamy and the Gatineau River. You’ll cycle through greenspace most of the time, but you’ll never be far from a place to eat or drink. Virtually all is on separate pathways.
This route uses a one kilometer rail crossing across the Ottawa River via the Chief William Commanda bridge, an old railway bridge, formerly known as the Prince of Wales bridge. Read the history and the conversion to a a pedestrian and cycling bridge here: Prince of Wales bridge.
The GPX file veers slightly off the pathway into New Edinburgh near Rideau Hall, for the nice historic neighbourhood as well as a place for coffee/tea/ cold drinks and goodies at locally owned Union Café. Tell them Hans on the Bike sent you (you won’t get a discount though, neither do I 😁) Rideau Hall is right behind Union Café if you like to do a short 500 meter detour.
There are public washrooms in Vincent Massey Park, which is worth a stop anyway as the building has a great design, with the roof collecting rainwater. Vincent Massey Park also has tons of picnic tables. The Park at Lac Leamy has a beach, washrooms and change rooms.
You can easily make this an entire day if you stop for a swim and a bite. Great to do with kids too. There is also a beach at Mooney’s Bay, just south of the Hog’s Back Falls locks. Let me know how you liked it.
As usual, be aware of your environment, give pedestrians space, and ring your bell when you pass. The maximum speed on pathways is 20 kph.
Download your Capital Region waterways GPX file: download