June 2018 – OttawaVeloOutaouais

A Company of Fools is Ottawa’s longest running professional Shakespeare Company. This summer they will be performing Twelfth Night in parks Throughout the region. On June 30th the show previews in Lynwood Park located in Bells Corners. Hannah is considering biking there from her neighbourhood in Bel-Air Heights so here’s a bike route that is almost entirely along multi-use paths! (UPDATE – Fall 2018 : The Twelfth Night tour is over, however this route continues to serve as a convenient connection from Bells Corners to areas further east!)

Our journey begins at the intersection of Iris & Navaho. I headed a short distance along Iris Street to where it crosses the Experimental Farm Pathway. That’s where I got onto the path and headed west.

Joining the Experimental Farm Pathway heading West at Iris Street

The Experimental Farm Pathway ends at Woodroffe however there are traffic lights to get across the street to where the Pinecrest Creek Pathway begins on the other side, just beside the fire station.

Crossing at Woodroffe and turning infront of the fire station to where the Pinecrest Pathway continues on the other side.

The path curves down hill, at the bottom of which I took the exit that heads across the Transitway.

Exit off the Pincrest Creak Pathway that crosses the Transitway

After curling up and under Baseline Road the official path circles around a bus parking lot, however most continue straight to avoid this detour.

The path continues parallel to Woodroffe, then veers west just before reaching the Legacy Skatepark. It then continues westwardly, twice crossing Centrepoint Drive.

Bike path west, away from Algonquin College

The path dips under the train tracks and ends a bit further at Craig Henry Drive.

Path just before Craig Henry Drive. Follow the light posts to avoid taking a wrong exit.

Craig Henry Drive has a painted shoulder but it is not signed as a bike lane so there is a chance you may have to bike around the odd parked car. I followed Craig Henry Drive all the way to Greenbank Road.

On the opposite side of Greenbank I continued along Canfield Road for a short distance before hopping onto another path. Canfield Road is a residential street however some drivers do speed along this stretch of road. For those wishing to avoid riding along Craig Henry Drive and Canfield Road I have indicated an alternative route on the map in orange.

To access the path off Canfield I took the closest cut in the curb which is a few yards away from the path, infront of some communal mailboxes.

Accessing the path heading west off Canfield Road

This section of path weaves it’s way through a wooded area before crossing McClellan Road, and then follows power lines all the way to Bruce Pit.

Woodsy section of path before crossing McClellan……and along power lines after crossing McClellan

Once arrived at Bruce Pit I turned right and followed the packed stone dust path that circles the Pit.

Entering Bruce Pit onto the stone dust path

The path around Bruce Pit is quite lovely. There’s a fence along one side as the centre of Bruce Pit is a huge dog park.

I crossed Cedarview Road on the west side of Bruce Pit and then rode along the bridge, that has bike lanes, over the 416 highway.

Once on the other side of the 416 I cut through to the northwest corner of Bell High School campus. Just beyond the black chain link fence there is a short path off to the right that I followed down to Stinson Avenue.

Path beyond the chain link fence leading down to Stinson Ave

Stinson Ave is a quiet residential street, as are Delta St, Evergreen Dr and Ridgefield Crescent which I followed all the way to our final destination, Lynwood Park. If you are a fan of mid-century modern houses there are lots of well preserved examples in this part of Bells Corners.

Mid-Century Modern home in Bells Corners

Here’s a bit of Lynwood Park.

And finally, a taste of what the set will look like in the park.

Twelfth Night final model in Lynwood Park. Designer – Me!

If anyone is looking for a bike route to any of the parks where Twelfth Night will be staged, feel free to send me a starting point and I will try to post a route. Here is a link to the schedule of parks and performances throughout the summer.

Happy trails!

The annual Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival Pow Wow will be held this coming weekend in Vincent Massey Park. I went last year and it was fantastic! For those thinking of biking to the Pow Wow, here is a route that starts at the Gathering-Ring, an art installation on the Ottawa side of the Portage Bridge, just off the bike path. This route is almost entirely along multi-use pathways.

From the Gathering-Ring we headed north a short distance before turning off to the right down onto the Ottawa River Pathway that circles under the Portage Bridge. On either side of the wide underpass a group of artists have just completed a series of large paintings in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day that takes place annually on June 21st.

Two of the paintings installed on the walls of the Portage Bridge underpass

A short distance further along the pathway there is another wide underpass. An exhibit of large photographic reproductions of works by indigenous artists from across the country are on display along the walls of the underpass.

Exhibit: From here to there (then and now)

The path continues past the Mill restaurant, then crosses Booth Street and follows the edge of the Ottawa River.

Just beyond the War Museum there is an interpretive display describing the river as a vital travel route for Indigenous peoples and others that followed.

Interpretive display on the Ottawa River

We then turned off the Ottawa River Pathway onto the Trillium Pathway and headed south, all the way to Prince of Wales Drive.

Exit to the left from the Ottawa River Pathway onto the Trillium Pathway

Trillium Pathway heading under SJAM Parkway

The section of the Trillium Pathway between Carling and Prince of Wales Drive is gravel or dirt, however there are plans to have it paved.

UPDATE – Fall 2018 – This section has been paved – YAH!

Trillium yeah — Trillium Path between Carling & Prince of Wales Drive – before and after being paved

We turned right along Prince Of Wales to get to the lights that cross over into the Arboretum. There is a bike lane along Prince of Wales, but the painted lines along this section are so worn out as to be indiscernible. We hugged the old exit lane to the no longer existing Sir John Carling Building.

POW — Section of poorly maintained bike lane along Prince of Wales Drive

Once safely across Prince of Wales Drive we followed the stone dust path through the Arboretum, then up along the paved pathway to the Hartwell Locks.

We pushed out bikes across the top set of locks, carrying our bikes up and down the three steps on either side.

We then followed the Rideau Canal Pathway all the way to Mooney’s Bay.

The path circles up along Hog’s Back Road and heads across the bridge over the Hogs Back Falls. Once on the other side we turned right onto the Rideau River Eastern Pathway that circles back under Hog’s Back Road.

The Rideau River Pathway meanders a bit before heading down a long hill, flattening out just as it passes under Heron Road, and winding up in Vincent Massey Park on the other side.