Paddling at Morris Island Conservation Area

Morris Island Conservation Area is a gorgeous place to hike. Recently, I found out that it’s a gorgeous place to paddle too!

There are tons of rocky outcroppings and small islands along the shore of the Ottawa River that make paddling there really fun and interesting.

A note of caution: It is suggested that paddlers remain “within the bay islands” as there’s a hydro dam down river that causes fluctuating water levels. And let me tell you, it’s a VERY big dam- I wouldn’t want to get anywhere near it. Fortunately, you can see it from a long way off. It’s northeast of Morris Island Conservation Area, so I felt pretty confident paddling west on the Ottawa River, away from the conservation area and the dam. There were also barriers in the water on the northeast side of the Morris Island Bay, signaling that paddlers shouldn’t head in that direction.

Originally, I had planned to paddle for half the day and hike for half the day (Morris Island is on the #roadtrip edition of the Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge!), but the mosquitoes were just too wild. On a summer day though, you could easily spend the whole day out there, making it totally worth the drive!

Getting There

Driving out to Morris Island is certainly a bit of a road trip- it takes about fifty minutes to get there from Ottawa. And there’s not much on the way, one you’ve left Kanata. It’s a nice drive though, with lots of trees and farmer’s fields along the way. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.459261, -76.271367.

The parking lot at Morris Island is huge, and I’ve never seen more than a handful of cars there.

Parking costs $6 for 4 hours. The parking meter accepts cash and credit cards (no debit!).

There are universally accessible washrooms near the parking lot, but they weren’t open when I went (due to COVID).

Boat Launch

The official boat launch for paddling at Morris Island is 100 metres down the accessible trail, at the west side of the bay. You can see on the map the little canoe icon indicating where it is.

100 metres doesn’t sound very far, but if your kayak weighs a million pounds like mine, it’s pretty far. Fortunately the accessible trail is super flat and easy to walk on- if you have one of those little wheelie carts it would work on this trail no problem. And if you’re going early in the season, pack bug spray. They were BRUTAL in May.

Not a Boat Launch

Right off of the parking lot there are two incredibly short trails worn down to the water (literally just a few feet long). These trails are rocky, and “after” I launched and got out here I noticed a sign saying that these were not launch spots (again, because of the dam to the northeast). For a spot that wasn’t a launch spot, it sure felt easy and stable getting into, as the water wasn’t too deep. Anywhoo, definitely don’t use this launch spot since it’s not a launch spot.

(Although, if you’ll allow me to rant a bit, this type of blanket “danger” statement drives me up the wall a bit. It’s very clearly posted to avoid any sort of liability, versus actually provide any real information that would allow a paddler to make a more educated decision. IMO a better sign would say something like, “if you launch here you are doing so at your own risk. There is a large hydro dam northeast of here. The current becomes much stronger near the floating barrier by the dam. It is advised that you keep far away from this barrier, as if you are unable to paddle out of the current, you will be pulled into the dam and you may drown.” Or something like that- I’m not an expert on dams!).

Paddling Route

After I “accidentally” launched from this spot, I stuck close to the shoreline to make sure I wasn’t going to get caught up in any unexpected currents. This route was the best in my opinion anyways, because I got to paddle near all the rocky outcroppings and the cool little islands popping up along the shore.

In doing so, I also found myself paddling into the bay automatically, versus getting anywhere near the dam. I actually paddled under the bridge on the causeway- it felt like a tight squeeze! I’m 5’8’’and I would say I had about 6 inches of clearance, so a taller person, or being in a taller boat like a canoe might not allow you to do this.

The Bay

But the southside of the bay was super cool, and worth the squeeze. There are a ton of old, dead tree stumps on that side of the bay. Not too far in, I actually stopped paddling forward because I realized there was a turtle sunning itself on basically every stump. It was so cool! I didn’t want to paddle through and disturb them, so I just enjoyed the view for a bit.

By the time I paddled to this spot, I had gone about 2.5 km. Like any paddle though, you could make this trip shorter or longer based simply on how much you decide to meander around.

I headed back the same way I had come, after checking out the REAL boat launch in the bay.

Getting my kayak out was just as easy and stable as getting it in had been (and I am NOT graceful when it comes to entering or exiting a kayak, let me tell you).

All in all, I had paddled about 5 km. Paddling at Morris Island Conservation Area is definitely worth the trip, especially if you bring a lunch and plan to hike or fish while you’re there too.

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

Whenever I’m hiking or paddling 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.