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On days that my daughter is feeling grumpy, and intent on sharing her feelings with me, going outside is good for both of us!
So lately, I’ve been keeping an eye out for toddler friendly trails that are easy for us to get to. And Mud Lake seemed like just the ticket at the beginning of March. When all my daughter wants is “up up up,” I figure we may as well go hiking!
Mud Lake was super easy to get to. And it scored big points with my daughter because there was a family of ducks right at the trailhead. The trail was flat and easy to hike, and kept us close to the lake for so much of it that we often caught nice glimpses over the (frozen) water. There were also tons of birds. And little squirrels running around everywhere!
I spotted the remains of an ice rink that had been lovingly built on the lake, making me think that this was probably a popular spot during the winter.
The trails at Mud Lake are open year round, but dogs are not allowed.
Mud Lake: toddler tested, toddler approved.
Getting There
Mud Lake is in the village of Britannia, right in Ottawa. There are lots of ways to access the trail network from the surrounding streets. If you take a look at Google Maps, they’ve done a good job of mapping out the trail. You can see all the little offshoots that can be used to access it.
These coordinates will take you right to the spot where we started the trail: 45.373119, -75.797927.
It was actually a bit difficult to decide where to start, because we could have started at any number of places. But I spotted a map posted by the side of Cassels Street. That made me think this was the official trailhead. So we started there!
The map showed different points on the trail (Point A, B, C, etc…), as NCC Greenbelt Trails often do.
The Trailhead (That We Chose)
Right beside the road, we spotted a little family of ducks, which my daughter adored. We chatted quickly with a woman who let us know that Mud Lake was a favorite spot for birders. Later on, we noticed that almost every single person out on the trail had huge beautiful cameras, so I suspect she was right.
As we hiked along, the trail stayed relatively close to the shoreline of the lake. After hiking 300 metres we spotted our first trail marker. A green arrow pointed us in the right direction.
At the half kilometre mark, we had reached Point A. There was a map posted at Point A letting us know where we were.
Trail markers were few and far between. But we only got lost once!
The First Lookout
From here, there was a lookout off to our left, so we headed out 95 metres to get there. A little platform had been built over the lake and the view was nice, but not too much different from other spots along the trail where it naturally met the shoreline.
We returned to the trail, and a few hundred metres later we had arrived at Point B (where there was also a map). The trail had been really flat so far, and easy to follow. We spotted a ton of squirrels and birds as we walked along. Here, we also began to spot blue triangles. They signify that this section of the trail was part of a “blue loop” on the Rideau Trail (which is a really cool long trail that runs from Kingston to Ottawa).
Beautiful blue skies on the day we visited Mud Lake.
We reached Point C after hiking 1.2 Kms. and turned to our left to continue onto Point D (the Lincoln Fields entrance was to our right). Immediately after, we crossed over a little boardwalk and then a short bridge. There were stairs leading up from the bridge on the other side, but they were covered in snow and with the melt it was a bit steep and slick. I chose my footing carefully!
A little green arrow pointed us to our left, and we continued to follow the shore of the lake. Here, some spots had started to melt, so this section could definitely get icy in the spring.
The bridge at Mud Lake.
Another Lookout
We reached Point D, where we had a choice to make. There was a shortcut that we could have used, on our right hand side, but the map said the longer way would take us to a lookout! Naturally, we chose the lookout, and turned to our left.
Here, the trail was a bit more grown in, with trees close by and overhead. If I had been wearing my daughter in her higher carrier, I think she would have bonked into quite a few branches. After hiking 1.6 Kms. we reached a posted sign saying the lookout was to our left and point E was to our right.
We headed out to the lake. This lookout didn’t have a platform, but it didn’t need to because we were right at the shoreline.
Checking our map quickly, we continued to follow the shoreline, but this proved to be the wrong way to go. The trail began to get narrower and narrower until it basically ended. I suspect this wasn’t the official trail, but a herd path made by people shooting photos of birds.
So, we headed back to the last posted sign and followed the directions on it to get to Point E (after adding a few hundred metres onto our hike by mistake).
We passed by a huge boulder which we knew from looking at the NCC’s map was a “glacial erratic.” It had been spray painted. PLEASE DO NOT SPRAY PAINT ANYTHING IN NATURE.
Does this photo make me a birder?
Headed Back
We reached Point E after hiking 2.2 Kms, but you’ll get there quicker if you learn from our mistake. Beyond this point, the trail was unmaintained. It was still super easy to follow, and wound its way through a scrubby section of forest. Then, we reached a spot where there was a bike rack and a gate. A wide trail split off on our right hand side. There was a sign on the gate that said “welcome to Mud Lake,” so we went through the opening in the gate to head back in the direction we had come from.
There were no trail markers or posted signs in this section of the trail, but the trail was still easy to follow. The trail spat us out near the Britannia Water Purification Plant, and we began to head back to the car. Just before the entrance to the plant there was a small parking lot. We could have hopped on a short section of trail on the northern side of the road. But it was such a short section that we decided to skip it and see if the ducks were still at the trailhead.
They were!
Easy hiking at Mud Lake.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we arrived back at the car, we had hiked a total of 3.6 Kms. Despite some very slow toddler hiked sections of the trail, we were able to cover that distance in just over an hour.
Mud Lake is definitely a great spot for toddlers and kids (and birders!) to enjoy the magic of wildlife up close. The trails were easy, and gave us that “immersed in nature” feeling right in the city. Now, does anyone know how to teach a toddler how to Leave No Trace?
Loving every minute.
I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route around Mud Lake.
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 on the trail. There wasn’t any!
Gear I Brought
- Hiking Boots
- Wool Socks
- Base Layers (top and bottom)
- Buff Merino Wool Headband
- Baby Bamboo Base Layer (PikaLayers that were gifted to us)
- MEC Infant Bunting Suit
- Baby Hat
- Stonz Booties (for baby to walk in)
you did a great job of describing our little oasis of nature here in the city. I’m one of those birders with big lenses 🙂 Hope you and your kids enjoy many years of nature there. One note, although someone may have made a skating area on the lake, that is actually not allowed. No messing with what’s there, no fishing, no boating, no bikes.
lets keep this wonderful spot pristine for the nature that lives there.
Great report! PS- Suzanne’s information is incorrect, you are allowed to fish there and launch a canoe of kayak. Skating is also allowed and is a popular activity during the winter months. Keep these great reports coming 😀
Parked at Britannia beach walked a short distance to the Howe entrance followed the easy marked trail to the frozen lake. Could not find the resident turkey called Gertie this day but the cardinals chickadees and squirrels kept me company the whole trail . Sat on the big Pink rock by the foot bridge for a break chickadees landed on my arm waiting for a hand out . I carry seeds and cracked corn . You can physically distance easily as there are side pathways and you can see people coming from a distance away easily . Short trail but a bird watchers little heaven . Ice cream shop is open at the Britannia village entrance .