Paddling at Petrie Island

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Despite living in Ottawa for ten years, I had never been to Petrie Island. So this May long weekend, we decided to check it out.

Petrie Island is in the east end of Ottawa, in Orleans. There’s a beach at the northeast tip of it, with lots of green space to relax, and trails along the Ottawa River to explore.

At Oziles’ Marina, you can rent a kayak or paddleboat to paddle around with, so even if you don’t have your own, you’re in luck!

I’ve heard different things about the quality of the water around Petrie Island, but the City of Ottawa tests it at all the Ottawa beaches during the summer. So until I hear otherwise from them I’m going to go ahead and assume the water is okay!

Petrie Island was a perfect spot for a relaxing flatwater paddle. We decided to do a loop around the whole Island the day we were there. But, you could also decide to stay out for a shorter paddle, or head a little further down the Ottawa River if you wanted to be out for longer.

Getting There

Petrie Island is at the end of Trim Road, in Orleans. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.502990, -75.486716.

I drove past Oziles’ Marina and over the little bridge to get onto the island. Right away, we saw somebody launching a canoe from beside the parking lot on my left hand side. So we figured we’d just stop there and hop in. Being so close to the put in was perfect, because I didn’t have to carry my boat too far.

As soon as I jumped out of the car I couldn’t help but notice how loud the birds were. It was awesome!

There might be better places to put your boat in, and there’s definitely a boat launch somewhere, but this is where we landed.

Putting In

On the west side of Trim road, near where the walking trail starts, I dropped my kayak into the water. There was a short little hill covered in wood chips so I sat in my kayak and just scooted it down into the water.

Then we set out paddling away from Trim Road, heading towards the western tip of the island.

Here, we were still on the Ottawa River but the channel we were paddling wasn’t too wide. The water was nice and calm, and paddling took very little effort. The water on this side wasn’t very nice or very clear though.

Not too long after we’d started, we reached the tip of the Island and began to paddle out around it, to a more open section of the Ottawa River.

We were lucky enough to spot two little families of geese. Their babies were still little yellow fluff balls, and we gave them a wide berth.

On the (Open) Ottawa River

On the northwest side of the island, the water was a bit choppier because the river was wider. On a windy day, I can picture it getting a bit rough out there. We also found ourselves paddling against the current, but it wasn’t very strong.

This side of the island was noticeably sandier, and we began spotting people out by the water on our way back to the beach.

Paddling past the beach, we began to loop back. We were looking for two big tunnels underneath Trim Road that we were going to use to get back to where we had put in. From the tip of the island, the tunnels weren’t visible, but we stuck with the shore and soon realized that they were in a smaller bay beyond what had looked like a treeline from far away.

Getting Out

Just before the tunnels, on the east side of Trim Road, we spotted another little place to put into the water. This one was actually a lot better. It was dirt right up to the water, and very shallow.

And after going through the tunnel, we realized if we were going to get out and the same place we had gotten in, we’d have to get wet because the hill there was steep and the water deep.

We decided to jump out on the east side, where the water was much shallower and we could paddle our boats (partway) onto land.

Paddling Thoughts

Paddling the entire loop around Petrie Island only took us an hour and twenty minutes. We stuck fairly close to the shoreline of Petrie Island, but you could decide to head further along the Ottawa River if you wanted a longer paddle. You could also explore the inlets on the southern shoreline a little more- in total there’s about 12 km of shoreline around the island!

Petrie Island itself is about 2 km long, and 500 metres wide. In total, we paddled just over 6 km.

I really enjoyed paddling at Petrie Island, and I’m excited to head back and check out the hiking trails.

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!

Other Adventure Report Paddling Posts you Might Be Interested In

Where to Rent a Canoe/Kayak/SUP Board Near Ottawa

Calabogie Lake to Grassy Bay

Map

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.

Gear We Brought

• Flatwater Kayak
• Nalgene
• Level Six Semi Dry Top from Trailhead Paddleshack
• Lifejacket
• Boat Essentials Kit (bailing bucket, rope, and whistle)