This summer, a friend and I paddled to the Rideau Falls on the Ottawa River.
I had seen these urban waterfalls before, sipping beer on the patio at the Tavern on the Falls. Both views are equally beautiful. And depending on your kayak, equally comfortable!
There IS a lot of boat traffic on the Ottawa River through this section of town, and while it’s a short paddle, safety should never be underestimated. Please make sure to wear your lifejacket!
A gorgeous view of the Rideau Falls taken by @shawnaactually.
Getting There
This was actually my second attempt at getting to the falls. Earlier in the year I had put in my kayak at the Blair Road Boat Launch, anticipating a round trip of over 10 km to the falls and back. But I got rained out, and this time around went for a much shorter route.
Still managed to muck it up again though.
I knew that we had to put in at Jacques-Cartier park just over on the Quebec side. What I DIDN’T realize was that there was a full-on public boat ramp (owned by the National Capital Commission) at the Jacques Cartier Marina. If I were going to paddle this route again, that’s absolutely where I would put in. Paddling from the Marina would add about a kilometre to your trip, and you would be looking at a maximum of 3 km round trip. You can use these coordinates to get to the marina: 45.432014, -75.707358.
But, having put very little planning into this trip, my friend and I found ourselves parking next to the Bike rental service at the very north end of Jacques Cartier Park, and then wondering where the heck we were supposed to put in.
You can use these coordinates to get to the tiny parking lot we parked at: 45.441530, -75.707894.
Or these ones to get to the bigger parking lot in the park: 45.440566, -75.705566. (Or, you know, do what we should have done and launch at the boat launch above).
Turns out we could have found a much better boat launch than this one, but it did the trick in the end!
The “Put-in”
So then we lugged our kayaks the 100 metres across the park, aiming to put in at the northeast shoreline of the park. There was a ton of brush and ground cover between the park and the shore, but we found a tiny footpath that had been beaten into the dense foliage and followed it down to the shore.
We’re perseverant, if not that bright!
It was slightly downhill to the water, but manageable in the sport sandals I had on.
When we reached the shore, it was actually quite easy to get into the river. The shoreline was shallow and sandy, making it easy to get into our boats and set off.
From where we put in, we could see the falls right across the river. At least the paddle would be easy!
A close up of the trail down to the water.
Paddling There
We basically headed right across the river towards where we could see the Rideau falls. The paddle across was only 600 metres, but in that time we crossed paths with a handful of power boats, a sea-doo, and an entire sailing club!
Everyone was very respectful of our tiny little boats, but for folks who only like calm water and no wake, this section of the river could still feel quite intimidating.
What it looks like when you’ve paddled to the Rideau Falls. Photo by @canadian__kayaker_adventurer!
The Falls
Paddling down near the bottom of the falls was pretty cool. Definitely worth the trip! It was such a unique perspective of the city that I had never experienced before. I’ve always thought that we’re very lucky to live in a city with such amazing access to waterways and green space, and this trip reinforced that for me yet again.
There are actually two sets of falls that go around Green Island and make up the Rideau Falls- these are the little guys on the southwest side of the island.
Map
Our short GPS tracked route across the river.
Whenever I’m paddling, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of the 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.
