Cooper Marsh Conservation Area is a bit of a haul from Ottawa. But I knew they had some super long boardwalks over the marsh and so I had been wanting to check it out for a while. We finally loaded up the entire family this spring and headed out there.
If I’m being honest (and I am), if you’re looking for a really great hike, it’s probably not worth the drive from Ottawa. But if you’re looking for some really great birds it DEFINITELY is! I don’t know much (anything) about birds, but I do know I saw a ton out there that were really cool looking.
Honestly, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that the drive feels not worth it from my perspective… of having to load two kids under the age of 4 into the car, and work around a nap schedule. The idea of adults only getting into the car, stopping for coffee on the way, maybe shopping in some of the small towns on the way back… Okay, that actually sounds pretty great.
Cooper Marsh Conservation Area is a surprisingly large area, with 11.5 km of trails winding through it. On the west side are the trails with the long boardwalks through the marsh, so this was where we headed.
On the west side, there’s the 4 km long “Purple Trail” which has its own separate parking lot.
Dogs are not allowed on these trails due to the sensitivity of the ecosystem. The trails are open year-round.
The boardwalks at Cooper Marsh Conservation Area seem to go on forever.
Quick Facts
Length: The shortest trail is 1 km but trails can be combined to create hikes up to 7 km long.
Difficulty: Super Easy (On a scale of easy-moderate-hard)
Trailhead Coordinates: 45.116384, -74.517949
Washroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs Allowed: No
Cell Reception: Good
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Parking: Free
Getting There
Unless you’re already in the south end of Ottawa, it’s a long drive out to Cooper March Conservation Area, which is slightly east of Cornwall.
When we got there, it was super easy to know where we were because there was a HUGE map of the marsh posted at the back of the parking lot. There was a ton of space for cars in the lot, with well over fifty squishing in by the time we left. Behind the parking lot was a lovely picnic area, with tables, a few charcoal grills, and beautiful willows scattered about.
There was also an outhouse. Slightly less beautiful, but still handy!
The picnic area was so gorgeous.
Our Route
We wanted to check out both of the boardwalks (on the green and red trails) but not backtrack too much when we also hiked the orange trail.
So we headed down the road behind the parking lot in order to get to the first part of our hike. We had only walked about a hundred metres when we reached a big yellow gate. Ahead of us the service road stretched on, ultimately stopping out at the marsh. On either side of us, the trails officially started.
The Orange Loop
There was another map posted here. We headed off to our left because we wanted to hike the red loop back over to the green loop, before finishing on the orange trail.
The trail was quite wide to start off, and dry. This section of trail was the shared orange and red trail. After walking just 400 metres, we came to the split in the trail where the orange and red trails diverged.
This split wasn’t marked and there was no sign posted. In fact, there were no trail markers along any of the trails at Cooper Marsh. Fortunately, this first section where there were multiple trails was fairly short and close to the beginning of the trail so even if you got turned around you wouldn’t be too far from where you started!
The Red Loop
We turned to our right and got on the skinnier trail heading into the woods. We were officially on the red loop. The trail was still wide enough for us to walk side by side, but it was SO muddy that we ended up walking behind one another trying to pick out the best route.
We had squishy feet for the rest of our walk.
We probably should have anticipated the trail being quite wet, given that we were at a marsh… But we did not. And had actually worn sneakers for the day, making for a mushy walk. If I were to walk this trail again, I would stay on the orange loop which was much (MUCH) drier, and simply access the boardwalks from that loop as they all connected fairly closely together in the end anyways.
Soon after, we spotted a short boardwalk on our right-hand side. This was the first time we realized how SERIOUS the birding is at Cooper Marsh Conservation Area. The boardwalk led to a little building designed for people to sit and be able to spot birds without the birds getting spooked. There was even a big fence built leading up to the building so people could approach without disturbing the birds. I’ve honestly never seen anything like that before and it was pretty neat.
They taking birding VERY seriously here.
The Boardwalks
After hiking about 900 metres, we came out of the forest into a small clearing. Here, the boardwalk on the red loop began. There was a picnic table, as well as an observation tower that we climbed up to look out over the marsh. Then, we set out on the boardwalk.
The boardwalk through the marsh was super long- about 500 metres. There were a few benches along the way, making this a great spot to sit and enjoy the scenery as well. The one caveat to that is that there wasn’t a single tree around, so no protection from the sun along the boardwalk.
Right after the boardwalk we crossed a small bridge and kept straight ahead of us to access the green loop. We passed by the visitor’s centre on our way and quickly found ourselves on the boardwalk across the way. This boardwalk was slightly shorter, clocking in at just over 300 metres.
When we came to the end of the boardwalk, we turned to our left to walk the long section of the orange loop. Here, we could have turned to our right and headed back to the parking lot for a much shorter hike.
View of the boardwalk on the red loop, from the viewing platform.
Back on the Orange Loop
Now that we were back on the orange loop, the trail widened up again and we were easily able to walk side by side. The trail remained dry for the length of it and our feet were almost dry by the time we finished our walk!
All of the terrain at Cooper Marsh Conservation area was incredibly flat, with not a rock or root in sight. It was very easy walking. I even saw someone pushing a stroller along the grassy trail!
Around the 2 km mark the trail ran parallel to a road for a short time. Not long after the trail began to run alongside a small creek.
The rest of the trail made for super easy walking.
The St. Lawrence River
At the 3.3 km mark there was another big structure built, allowing for a view over the St. Lawrence River. Shortly after the trail split. Here, we had the option of turning to our right to complete the 2 km long Brown Trail as well. Since there were no lookouts out that way, we decided to skip it and headed on straight on.
View over the St. Lawrence.
On our way back we passed another bird-watching cabin that had been thoughtfully designed to allow for the best chance of spotting some cool birds. Although at this point we had already spotted a ton of different, cool birds along the trail. So we didn’t feel it necessary to sit in these structures.
Not long after, we passed the split where the brown trail rejoined ours. Eventually, we arrived back at the small clearing where the red loop’s boardwalk began. Knowing what was in store for us on the way back if we didn’t stick with the orange trail, we veered away from the marsh and followed the wider trail all the way back to the service road.
Another bird watching cabin… Someone please message me if these structures have an actual name.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we arrived back at the parking lot we had walked a total of 4.9 km. With a baby and toddler in tow, you don’t even want to know how long that took us. But the walking at Cooper Marsh Conservation Area was so easy that I could be done MUCH more quickly than we accomplished it.
Although, with how much thought and planning has gone into bird spotting at Cooper Marsh, it would be a bit of a shame to rush through the area without seeing what you could spot (we also saw lots of evidence of beavers along the way).
Our daughter loved spotting so many birds along the trail during our hike. And was equally as happy about ice cream in Cornwall on the way home- all in all, a pretty great day!
If you love boardwalks, birds, or both, Cooper Marsh is the spot for you!
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route at Cooper Marsh.
Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the Indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Elevation gain (or lack thereof) along the trail.
