One of Ottawa’s most beloved routes is this 33 km loop which is entirely on separate pathways and a bit on farm lanes. I have no hand drawn map of it yet, so you’ll have to do with this screenshot for now.
This loop is very popular among Ottawa’s residents. The route is nearly all on pathways, except a few kilometers on super quite lanes on the Experimental Farm (bonus: the lanes are closed for motorised traffic in the weekends). You’ll be cycling along the Rideau Canal, through the Arboretum, continue on the Farm where you could consider a short detour to the north end to visit the Agricultural museum, which is very kids oriented with often special activities.
From there, you follow a long path called the Experimental Farm pathway then turns into the Pinecrest Creek pathway (next to the fire station on Woodroffe), passing past a large construction site for Light Rail (at the far left on the map above, with short changing detours every so often) and eventually arriving at the Ottawa River pathway. This pathway along the river gets you back downtown eventually). But not before you have crossed over to Gatineau in Quebec, where you bike shortly along the Ottawa river northshore and the spectacular Canadian Museum of History and across the Alexandra bridge, an old train bridge.
This bridge will be demolished in a few years so enjoy it while you can and take some pictures before it is gone for ever. After the Alexandra bridge, turn right in to the Major Hill Park, loop around the patio on to a pedestrian bridge and enjoy the views from Kiweki Point for a bit. Read more about Kiweki Point here. Then continue, see the National Art Gallery on your left hand, and follow the route until you are at the canal.
Download the farm and river GPX file: download
Direct link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SJVlY39L3b-iSw77cAXUeF7MEnMyDf6a/view?usp=sharing