Hog’s Back Falls is a pretty spectacular sight at this time of year as a result of the spring melt off. The falls were created at the time of the construction of the Rideau Canal, as explained in this very interesting post. On day 18 of 30 Days of Biking, my son and I biked over to check them out, and discovered some wonderful vantage points.
To get there we followed the O-Train path as far as Young St. That’s where the path surface changes from asphalt to packed dirt. (UPDATE Spring 2019: The path is now paved all the way to Prince of Wales Drive!). We rode through the arboretum and crossed the canal locks at Carleton University. (The purple line is an alternate route should the path through the Arboretum still be snowed in).
That got us on the canal pathway which we followed all the way to Mooneys Bay. The canal is still empty allowing for some great views of the locks, including this one at Mooneys Bay. The patine on the stonework is pretty fantastic. Nic says it looks like the walls of a medieval fortress!
Canal lock at Mooneys Bay
The path circles under and up onto Hogs Back Road over the falls. You can’t really see the falls from this path, but you sure can hear them. Once on the other side of the bridge the path circles under Hogs Back Road once again, which takes you into Hog’s Back Park, from where you can go right up to the edge of the falls.
View of falls from the south shore
There’s a path that goes right over the falls, allowing you to stare straight down into the torrential frothing.
One point perspective of Hog’s Back Falls
On the north shore you can follow the path down onto the exposed rock.
Exposed rock
There are a few short sets of stairs so you may wish to lock your bike on the opposite shore. We brought ours, allowing us to follow another path on the north side of the falls under Hogs Back Road. This path joins the one that continues along the canal.
Path under Hogs Back Road on the north side of the river
I know this way-finding description around the falls is confusing, so zoom in on the above map to the area around the falls and it will make more sense.
I highly recommend riding over and checking out the fury of the falls before the snow melt excitement subsides.
Courtwood Crescent is short street with small office buildings nestled in a tight triangular industrial zone south of the Queensway, west of Carlington Park, and east of Maitland. At the mention of industrial zone the backs of most cyclists justifiably bristle. That’s where trucks hang out, from pick-ups to transports, and where drivers of such vehicles often don’t expect to see two wheeled self-propelled pedallers. But they should, because everyone needs to feel safe biking to work. So here’s how I accessed and got out of the Zone on a job errand, on day 17 of 30 Days of Biking.
First, I had to get myself a new riding windbreaker. The 18 year old MEC-collectors-item I’ve been sporting was getting very tired, even with the new reflecto sewn on by Carla that helped me survive riding through the winter. So I stopped off at Bushtukah, who didn’t quite have what I was after, and MEC who did. Only realised when I got home that the jacket I LOVED (and bought) was a women’s large. It’s a windbreaker that needs to keep me dry and visible. Whatever works.
MEC Derecho Jacket
Purchase made, I rode south on Roosevelt, then across the lights at Cole and Carling. South of Carling is where things start getting industrial – i.e. lot of trucks, road sand accumulated over the winter street cleaners will probably never see, and supersized potholes. Even so there was enough shoulder space to feel safe with minimal street parking. The traffic felt less erratic and dangerous than the stretch along Richmond between Bushtukah and MEC.
Woodward Ave
What I find unique about this area of town, is that right beside the industrial muck and trucks sits a park, with an excellent hockey arena, two baseball diamonds, and a toboggan hill. Rather than re-trace my treads home, I cut along the paths on the edge of the baseball diamonds to the residential area on the other side. These were fine, although a little mushy as stone dust paths tend to be at this time of year.
Path behind baseball diamonds
Once beyond the baseball diamonds, accessing the Experimental Farm pathway required a bit of a stair climb up to Caldwell Ave.
Stairs up to Caldwell
I got on to the Experimental Farm Pathway from Caldwell. Sad to see a bunch of ash trees recently felled along Ash Lane in the middle of the farm, probably more victims of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle. Some creative tree cutter made the best of it by carving this champignon out of the trunk.
My son is a trooper. After yesterday’s 10 km loop around town I was worried it would take quite an effort to convince him to join me on a ride over to Hog’s Back Falls. Not only was he keen, he suggested we ride even further out towards Britannia Bay to a favorite store of his called Games Workshop. It recently relocated to a mini-mall beside the Coliseum Cinemas. So, for day 13 of 30 Days of Biking we saddled up and headed off!
Usually we would have ridden west along the Ottawa River Pathway starting at the Portage Bridge, but with rumours of river banks flooding, and memories of how much the path was inundated last Spring I decided to cut through Hintonburg to the bike lane along Scott. Traffic is usually less frantic on the weekend, and I didn’t want to push my luck on the distance my son could ride as it’s a more direct route than riding along the Ottawa River pathway. At the western end of Scott we followed the path along the transit-way that joins the path along the south side of the parkway. This section of bike path was fine, apart for just a few muddy puddles like so.
Puddle pedalling
I did notice some cyclists riding along the path on the north side of the driveway, so when we arrived at the intersection west of Woodroffe I made the executive decision to take the parkway underpass and continue along the north side. It was great. The views of the melting ice on the river are quite spectacular.
Ottawa River in Spring
There was only one slushy patch around Mud Lake, but otherwise the path was very rideable.
Just a bit of slush
We accessed Carling from Burland St, which was a bit of a mistake. We should have done so one block west at Kempster where there is a traffic light. On the ride home I was reminded of how windy it can get along the river, particularly in the spring when there are no leaves to dampen the wind. It was really strong, but still the boy braved on. On the way back we also noticed patches of trees with the bottom portions of the bark freshly chewed off. Hope they survive.
Chomped tree trunks
So, all in all, a fine outing indeed. I am very proud of my lad.
The neighbourhood of Champlain Park, located just west of Tunney’s Pasture, is home to some of the oldest forest born trees in Ottawa, including a number of magnificent bur oaks that are more than 200 years old. A recently installed interpretive exhibit on the exterior wall of the Champlain Park field house, titled ‘Trees as Witness to History’, displays a section of one Champlain Oak that grew along Northwestern Ave up until 2011. I highly recommend riding by and checking it out.
Here’s a winter ride to get there from Chinatown. Once beyond the Somerset bridge over the O-train tracks, the route weaves it’s way along quiet residential streets.
Trees as Witness to History display
Clicking on this link takes you to a map showing the location of surviving trees from the bur oak forest in and around Champlain Park.
Here’s a healthy 24 km route almost entirely along bike paths. It begins at Carleton University and loops all the way back to the campus. It’s also a ride down memory lane, as it travels past a number of locations my older sister Cathy still recalls from the time she went to Carleton. Here goes.
Cathy graduated from the carleton University School of Industrial Design, as did I a number of years later. The Industrial Design studios were shared between the Architecture building shown on the left in the photo below, and the Engineering building on the right. This bike ride starts in the passageway between the two buildings.
Starting out
Head right on through the passageway up to and across Colonel By Drive. Hop on the path along the canal and head left towards Mooney’s Bay.
Path up to Mooney’s Bay
The path eventually goes under and along Hog’s Back Road over the falls. It then curls under the road once again, popping out in Hog’s Back Park, a favourite spot of Cathy’s where she would go to study. Here’s a view from the look-out over the falls just inside the park.
View from Hogs Back Falls
After taking in the Falls, follow the path as it winds through the park and along the river. When the path gets to Bank Street you’ll notice this white bike commemorating the death of a cyclist who was run over by a cement truck at this busy intersection. UPDATE: May 2016 – The ghost bike has been removed by the city.
UPDATE: Summer 2019 – The bike lane has been modified so that it now dips down under the bridge to avoid this terrible intersection when riding along the river.
Commemorative bike
The path then continues all the way along the river with great views like this.
Path along the Rideau River
The next favorite spot of Cathy’s was the Towne Cinema located just off our route on Beechwood Avenue. The cinema has closed and relocated to Rideau Street and renamed the ByTowne Cinema, but the original art deco glass tower and marquee remain. On one of my visits to see Cathy when she was going to Carleton, she and her roommates decided to take me to a late showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Towne. Because it was restricted, and I was only 15 or 16, they dressed me up in drag, smothered my face in make-up, and wrapped me in a great big ratty old Sally-Ann fur coat. I remember shivering in the entrance, not sure if it was my nerves or the snow penetrating through the thin pumps I was wearing. Anyway, I got in, and it was great!
It’s astounding. Time is fleeting!…. Where the Towne Cinema used to be.
Continue along the path all the way to Sussex Drive, past the Minto bridge.
Minto Bridge
Now Sussex is the only significant stretch on this loop that isn’t along a bike path. There is a bike lane, but it ends a bit further on, like so. UPDATE 2017 : Painted bike lanes have been extended all the way to the National Gallery!
View down Sussex. Update 2017: the bike lane now extends beyond this point all the way to the National Gallery
Once at the National Gallery, go past Maman the giant spider, cross St Patrick, as shown on the above map. Then turn right onto the bike path lane heading towards the Ottawa River.
There’s a lane off to the left at the northern tip of Major’s Hill Park that immediately heads downhill to where the canal meets the river. Take it. If you find yourself on the path heading over the Alexandra Bridge towards Gatineau you missed the turn off. The lane down to the river ends at the last set of Rideau Canal locks. Push your bike over one of the wooden locks.
The locks to cross
Bike up the hill beside the locks. The path goes under Wellington Street at the top of the hill like so. A very cool space to discover.
Under Sappers Bridge
The path comes out on the NAC drop off lane. Follow it for a short distance where you will notice the bike path re-appear on your left along the edge of the canal.
Another one of sister Cathy’s favorite hang-outs was the Black Cat Café on the east side of the Pretoria Bridge. It has since been replaced by a pub.
Looking across to where Black Cat Cafe used to be
She also loved to walk along the canal on her way to Carleton. Except, of course, for that time a creep flashed her. In later years she also cross country skied along the canal in the Canadian Ski Marathon, which used to end at Landsdowne Park. They’ve long since stopped that, I believe because of the complex logistics involved in laying a snow trail from Hull to the canal. Now it ends in Gatineau. I did participate one year with her. I wasn’t able to complete the 2 day, 100 mile trek (she did and has many times over since), but I did attend the closing dinner, and recall the trail blazing Jackrabbit Johannsen chiding the Courieur de Bois skiers (who not only completed the marathon, but had to carry a full pack and sleep out over night), comparing their sissy adventure to what it was like ‘back in his day!’ By this time he was well in to his late 90’s. It was pretty funny. Cathy has earned the Gold Courieur Des Bois a few times since.
Canal near Landsdowne
Continue on the path along the canal, around Dow’s Lake, and through the arboretum, where you’ll see the Arts Tower (since renamed the Davidson Dunton Tower) looming in the distance. Push your bike over the locks, cross Colonel By one more time and voila – our adventure is complete!
Figuring out how a place got its name can lead to interesting discoveries. Like the neighbourhood of Beacon Hill. There once was a lighthouse in the middle of the Ottawa River, located a few kilometers down river from the Chaudière Falls. The warning beacon it sent to boaters was visible from a hill south of the river, thus the name, Beacon Hill. Here’s a 20 km loop that goes along the river’s edge to where you can see the remaining foundation of the lighthouse, then veers inland and up the hill before heading back into town.
If you go early there’s a good chance you’ll catch some rowers out on the river behind Parliament Hill.
Rowers on the Ottawa
To get across the Rideau Canal, push your bike over one of the two lower locks. I prefer crossing over the second as the wooden walkway is slightly wider than the one closest to the river.
The locks to cross over
Head up the lane on the other side of the canal, then over to Sussex Drive. Follow Sussex all the way to the roundabout just beyond the entrance to the Governor General’s residence. Get on the bike path on the opposite side of the roundabout and follow it all the way up to where it joins the Rockliffe parkway overlooking the river. I was very pleased to discover they have completed the bike path extension down to where it continues along the waters edge.
New section of bike path along Rockcliffe Parkway
There are a few path links down to the crushed gravel bike path along the shore. My favorite is the first link just left of the entrance to the rowing club boathouse because it affords you great views of the old boathouse, like this.
Rowing Club
Follow the packed gravel pathway for a nice long stretch.
Ahhh… Que bella!
To catch a glimpse of what’s left of the lighthouse, continue along the shore for a bit beyond the directional sign that points off to Ogilvie Road, and you’ll see the remaining foundation through the gap between the two islands. You can’t miss it. Near the bottom of this link there’s a photo of what the lighthouse looked like still intact.
Lighthouse foundation
Retrace your route along the gravel path as far as the Ogilvie road turn off. Cross the Rockcliffe Parkway and follow Ogilvie Road as far as Laverendrye Drive. Turn right onto Laverendrye, which will take you to the base of Ski Hill Park. My sister taught skiing there, so the name is true to form. Now it’s a popular toboggan hill. Follow the paved path up the hill to Naskapi Drive, like so.
Path up Ski Hill Park
There’s quite an eclectic mix of architectural styles to take in as you wind your way down the other side down to Montreal Road, like this hacienda at the intersection of Rothwell Drive and Cedar Road.
Hacienda
Continue weaving your way down to Montreal Road, then follow it as far as the Aviation Parkway. There is a bike lane that starts just east of Burma Road. Once arrived at the Aviation Parkway, get on bike path at the north west corner of the intersection. Follow it as far as Hemlock Road. Turn west onto Hemlock Road, which will take you to St Laurent Boulevard. Head south for a bit along St Laurent to the back entrance of Beechwood Cemetery. Don’t bother trying to navigate a direct route from one end of the cemetery to the other, just wind your way westwardly and you’ll eventually make it to the other side.
Beechwood Cemetery
Follow Beechwood to the path that runs along the eastern shore of the Rideau River. The section of Beechwood between MacKay and the river is pretty narrow and can be tight with traffic, so you might want to walk your bike along the sidewalk for this block. Get on the Rideau River Pathway and follow it as far as the Montreal Road bridge which has a bike lane heading west over the bridge. Turn down Charlotte, which curves west and becomes Laurier, which you can follow all the way back downtown.
Next Saturday, September 28th, a number of homes throughout the city that employ green technologies will be welcoming visitors who want to discover how it’s done. It’s all part of the Envirocentre Green Homes Showcase. What a great idea. Here is a recommended bike route along roads, bike paths and alleyways to a few of those houses located west of Centretown.
This tour starts at the top of the Somerset St bridge above the O-Train tracks, easily accessible from the O-Train bike path.
First stop – 69 Fairmont Avenue.
69 Fairmont Ave
Second stop – 15 Garland St, an infill house that you can tour mid-way through construction.
15 Garland St
Third stop – 296 Royal Avenue. Lots on passive solar design going on here.
296 Royal Avenue
Fourth stop – 10 Firwood Crescent. Geothermal heating and more!
10 Firwood Crescent
Fifth stop – 1288 Kingston Ave – isn’t included on the Envirocentre’s map or Showcase, so it won’t be open for tours, but it is a pretty amazing house that’s been turning greener and greener over the last 30 years. Here it is as seen from the bike path that runs between Kingston Avenue and the Experimental Farm. It’s my sister and brother-in-law’s place. The two big solar panels on the left corner are for water heating. The two smaller ones flanking them are for electricity. All the others covering the roof are for electricity too, that feed back into Ottawa Hydro’s grid. The window’s are triple paned fiberglass. Many, many years ago the weeping tiles around the bottom of the foundation were dug up, cleaned and reset. Before re-filling the foundation we added 3 inches of blue foam insulation to about 2-1/2 feet above grade, then parged before re-filling. That was a big job. It helped pay for my big bike tour around Europe.
‘Hey Glenn. want to go for a bike ride?’
‘Sure, let me get the canoe ready.’
‘Oh-kay.’
That’s sort of how the conversation went which led to today’s Ottawa Velo Outaouais adventure! You see my old friend Glenn Gobuyan is even more crazy passionate about biking than I am. He rides everywhere and has bike toured all over Canada and the planet. On one particular exploit he strapped a kayak to a bike trailer designed and built in Guelph, as described in this blog he kept during the trip. The trailer also pulls a canoe, which he did this afternoon, all the way to Mooney’s Bay. Here’s how the journey went. Blue line’s how we biked there, red line’s our canoe route, and green line’s how he biked home.
Our adventure started in Westboro, just behind MEC.
And they’re off!
We biked over to Dow’s lake, along the canal, and up to Prince of Wales Drive which we followed to Hog’s Back and Mooney’s Bay, eliciting lots of double-takes and smiles along the way.
Pulling the canoe along Prince of Wales Drive
We put the canoe in at the Rideau Canoe Club (thank you very much RCC) and paddled up stream along the Rideau to the train bridge and back.
On the Rideau
Biking back along Prince of Wales Drive we parted ways at the edge of the Experimental Farm where Glenn continued on home with his canoe in tow. SO, a fine adventure. Glenn has previously managed to carry two bikes and passengers in the canoe, which takes a special attachment to keep the bikes stable. We decided to leave that to a future adventure, so stay tuned!
Someone was wondering via Twitter if there is a safe way to bike from Parliament Hill to the Ottawa Hospital General Campus that avoids the ‘horrible Smyth Road bridge’. Here is a route indicated by the blue line on the map below, starting at Parliament Hill to the Ottawa Hospital General Campus and beyond through the rest of Ottawa South.
UPDATE– Spring 2020: The new path along the O-Train from Ottawa University was a big ground breaking change for this route so I’ve updated it accordingly.
Start
Leave Parliament Hill, cross Wellington and head a short distance down Elgin Street.
Elgin St
Turn down the ramp beside the NAC across for the War Memorial, like so.
Ramp heading down beside the NAC to the canal
Ride all the way down the ramp past the NAC stage door, and get on the bike path that runs along the canal.
Path along the Rideau Canal
Take the pedestrian/bike bridge over the canal across from Ottawa of University, like so.
Bike and pedestrian bridge over the canal
Cross Colonel By Drive and go straight under the O-Train tracks. There is a winding path that gets you up to train level. Follow that path heading south parallel to the tracks. Follow it all the way to Hurdman Station.
Cross under Hurdman Station and Continue straight on towards the Riverside Drive/ Industrial Avenue intersection. Now I won’t deny this is a spooky major vehicule intersection, however don’t let it intimidate you. There are usually many other pedestrians and cyclists crossing at this spot and the path does continue on the other side of Riverside Drive along Industrial Avenue.
Riverside Drive and Industrial Avenue
Continue along Industrial Avenue, past the giant metal flowers installed in Cancer Survivors Park.
Big flowers
The first street you will come to is Alta Vista Drive. There is a bike path that starts at the south east corner of Alta Vista and Industrial. Follow it.
Path off the corner of AltaVista and Industrial
It ends a short distance on at Blair Street. Turn right on Blair, then take an immediate left on Station Boulevard. Follow Station Boulevard right to the end where there’s a bike path that takes you through to Ring Road.
Bike path at the end of Station Boulevard
Turn left on Ring Road that rings around our first destination – the Ottawa Hospital General Campus!
Ottawa Hospital General Campus
For those interested in continuing on further into Ottawa South, exit the Ring Road at the first left which is a car entrance to the grounds of the hospital. Turn right on Roger Guindon Avenue, and follow it all the way to Smyth Road. Across Smyth you will see the start of another bike path. This one is really great, because it travels right across Ottawa South through mostly green space all the way to Walkley Road, and goes past the very impressive Kilborn allotment gardens. Our journey ends here, however for those that wish to travel even further south there are bike lanes along Conroy Road as far as Hunt Club Road. Have a great commute!
Conroy Pit is a very popular off leash dog park within the south-east part of the Greenbelt, but it is also a great place to explore by bike. Here are a couple of routes to get there and back from Centretown.
Getting to the corner of Hunt Club Road and the Airport Parkway off ramp alon gthe blue route is pretty safe, however the next section along Hunt Club and Bank Street was hell. Speeding traffic weaving in and out of four and six lane traffic with no shoulders at all, that kind of hell. So I recommend following the much safer red route I took to get home. More on that later.
I accessed the park at the north west entrance where Quail Run Road ends, like so.
Access to Conroy Pit from the end of Quail Run Road
Once in the park the ground is pretty much packed sand everywhere, with a few loose spots, but nothing too difficult to negotiate on a hybrid bike. It would be a sinch on a mountain bike.
Path through Conroy Pit
There is indeed a pit, on one side of which is a hill used for tobogganing in the winter.
Toboggan Hill
There were a number of dogs running free along the path so I proceeded at a very comfy careful pace lest they decide to charge on over to say hi, or dart across the path after each other. I think there is an unwritten rule you don’t take aggressive dogs to an off leash park. All the dog walkers were very friendly as well, and, by all indications, very good at picking up after their pets so don’t worry about that.
Dog
There are also lots of small paths not plotted on a map that you could spend time discovering without worrying about getting too lost, as the park is pretty contained.
Small side path
The south eastern part is more wooded.
Woods
Heading back to town I followed the bike lane along Conroy Road. It’s a busy commuter artery, but the bike lane was great for getting me safely all the way to Walkley Road.
Bike lane along Conroy Road
At Walkley I hopped onto the bike path that runs along the Killborn Allotment Gardens, and then wove my way home along the route hi-lited in red. Et voila. Being in the pits can be fun!
OttawaVeloOutaouais 