Month: May 2023

The most amazing display of trilliums I’ve happened upon in our region can be found in a section of forest near the southern edge of Gatineau Park, and they are in full bloom right now! Here’s a bike route to get there.

This ride begins on the Portage Bridge over the Ottawa River. The route travels along a combination of surfaces including paved pathways, roads, stone dust paths, and packed dirt trails through the forest.

If anyone needs a route to get to the starting point please let me know.

On the Gatineau side of the bridge follow Voyageurs Pathway by turning left under the bridge.

The path continues alongside Rue Laurier before veering closer to the river’s edge through Parc des Portageurs.

Continue along the Voyageurs Pathway which weaves up and down  through trees with great views towards the Ottawa River. The path is named after the Voyageurs who portaged their canoes past this section of rapids.

Just beyond the small beach in Parc Moussette take the exit off the path to  Boulevard de Lucerne, then to Rue St-Dominique, then ride across the intersection of Boulevard Alexandre-Taché. Follow the bike path along Boulevard Alexandre-Taché linking Rue St-Dominique to the Moore Farm Pathway.

Ride up along the stone dust path through the heritage farm. The stone dust is pretty loose in some stretches, so if you have skinny tires you may have to push your bike along those short sections, or ride on the grassy edge of the path.

A bit further along the path just beyond the barn, turn right onto a smaller dirt path.

A short distance further along it becomes a packed gravel path. My guess is that it once was an railway bed.

The gravel path enventuaqlly veers left and becomes a a dirt trail through the woods. There are a few roots and rocks to negotiate along this path, but for the most part I found it to be well worn and easily negotiable on my hybrid bike.

I started to notice a few trilliums immediately upon turning onto this dirt path. Gradually more and more appeared as I rode along, as they began to spread out on either side of the path. Absolutely magical.

Eventually the path arrives at an intersection.  Unfortunately these paths aren’t marked. By heading straight ahead the path becomes more rugged and there’s a fenced off compound on the right. That’s a prison. Don’t want to go that way. Instead I turned left at the intersection.

The trail continues under some power lines. This monstrous hydro pole confirmed I was heading in the right direction.

Not too far along from the hydro lines the path gets a little rocky. I suggest walking your bike through this short section leading down to the paved Pioneers Pathway.

Continue along the Pioneers Pathway under the bridge and up to where it intersects the Gatineau Park Pathway. Turn left onto the Gatineau Park Pathway and followed it all the way back down to Boulevard Alexandre-Taché.

There are lights to get across Boulevard Alexandre-Taché to Rue Belleau, which has bike lanes.

At the end of Rue Belleau there is a link to the Voyageurs Pathway . Followed Voyageurs Pathway back to our starting point atthe Portage Bridge and across the river.

Et voila!

It’s not too late to take in the wonderful display of blooming daffodils strewn throughout the Rockcliffe Rockeries. The Rockeries is a lovely public park tucked in the eastern edge of the Rockcliffe neighbourhood overlooking the Ottawa River. Once arrived there’s a path you can follow that cuts through the park. Here’s a 9km bike route to get there from Centretown.

This route follows bike lanes or paths for most of the way. The only spots missing bike lanes are the short connection along Colonel By Drive between the end of the Rideau Canal Eastern pathway to Sussex, and the section of Princess Avenue between the two round-abouts. N.B. – While riding along the Ottawa River pathway, just before arriving at the Rockeries, do NOT cross the Sir George-Étienne-Cartier Driveway (indicated by the red marker on the map) but continue along the paved path on the right side of the road.

There are other flowers and curiosities to discover there as well.

… including tulips.

Here is a 14km bike tour to three big waterfalls that are particularly awesome in the spring! The ride starts at Hog’s Back Falls, then visits the Chaudière Falls and ends at the Rideau Falls. The spring runoff is, of course, what makes the falls so powerful at this time of year, but the higher volume of water also causes flooding along parts of the Ottawa River and Rideau river shorelines. This route avoids bike paths that are flooded, and also takes into consideration ongoing construction detours.

Hog’s Back Falls was originally a set of rapids known as the Three Rocks Rapids, but the building of the Rideau Canal created the more spectacular version we have now. More on the transformation from rapids to falls can be found in these two links:

A Rapid Ride: The Billings shoot Hogs Back “Falls”.  

 Washed Away The Story of the Building of the Hogs Back Dam.

Next stop – the Chaudière Falls on the Ottawa River, just west of Parliament Hill. When french explorer Samuel de Champlain  arrived at the falls he noted how its elongated curved form and volume of water flowing over it ressembled a boiling cauldron, or chaudière. More on the history of the Chaudière Falls can be found here.

The above map shows three great locations from which you can view the falls.

Last stop – the Rideau Falls! The Rideau River ends by spilling down into the Ottawa River in most spectacular form resembling a huge curtain of water, or in French a ‘rideau’ of water.  

Et voila!