Built between the years 1826 and 1832, the Rideau Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada and an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Humans have been traveling the waterways of the Rideau region for millennia. But the Rideau Canal, created by connecting existing rivers and lakes with human-made locks and canal cuts, created a contiguous route between the cities of Ottawa and Kingston, Ontario. It was originally constructed to provide a safe passage between Montreal and Kingston, via Ottawa, allowing boats to bypass the shared international border of the St Lawrence River which was vulnerable to American attack in the years following the War of 1812.
Americans never did attack again on the St. Lawrence River. Although the Rideau Canal system was not strictly necessary for its intended purpose, it became an important waterway in the development of early Canada. When railway eventually usurped shipping as a mode of commercial transport the Rideau became a route for pleasure craft, as it is today.
The direct, navigational route length of the Rideau Canal is 202 kilometres, 19 km of which is human-made locks and canals. The rest is rivers and lakes (some of which were formed by dams) which creates an actual 1,091 kilometres of shoreline. As such, the "Canal" is more aptly described as a waterway which is generally easy to navigate and easy to paddle because the locks move boats through gradual elevation changes, creating a "slackwater" system with very little current.
The Rideau Canal has historical significance. As a waterway it spans urban, rural, and natural environments. The 24 lockstations of the Rideau Canal are managed by Parks Canada and many have maintained their original early-19th century structures. Camping is available at many of the lockstations and at private establishments along the shores. Communities along the route allow boaters and paddlers to re-supply.
For more information about this route I highly recommend the expertly written and illustrated PDF document: Watson's Paddling Guide to the Rideau Canal by Ken Watson, available here: http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/paddling/guides.html
Regularly updated, this comprehensive resource has all the information necessary to get paddlers from start to finish (either direction) or help them navigate any section in-between. It covers planning; safety; water conditions; paddling FAQs; Rideau Canal regulations, usage, and history; detailed guides and maps for each section; camping info; and Canal geology and wildlife.
Our trip on the Rideau
For our inaugural multi-day canoe camping trip, where we take our canoe on the water and camp along the way, we wanted a fairly easy route that would allow us to get our feet wet, so to speak, in canoe camping techniques.
As experienced hikers and backpackers, we have our systems nailed down in that domain. We have the gear we need, we know what to expect, we know how to deal with the unexpected.
We're new to canoe camping. We have most of the gear we think we'll need. We've been practicing the basics of paddling this summer but we have so much to learn before we head out into the backcountry where we intend to do multi-day, portaging trips in the future.
The Rideau Canal with its mixed urban, rural and natural environment; slackwater system (no river currents due to the locks); easy camping access; and just a few hours from our home in Montreal, seemed like the perfect introduction to canoe-camping. A historical and iconic Canadian activity, in an historically significant Canadian place.
For this particular trip, our first on the waterway, we are starting in Kingston and paddling as far north as we get in approximately 8 days.
We're on the Canal for a good time. Not the partying kind, but the "explore part of our national history and natural treasures" good time.
We anticipate traveling 20 kilometres or so per day but that will depend on how much shoreline we explore and what kind of diversions we take. We plan to camp at the lockstations which are very reasonably priced (in 2020) at $5.01 per person per night.
We're really excited to learn about canoe camping while paddling this route.
