A city loop that stitches the capital together by water: up the Rideau River, along the canal into downtown past Parliament, and home on a mix of creek paths, roads, and open farm fields.
Distance
45 km
Elevation
306 m
Ride time
2–3 hr
Difficulty
Easy
The route
About this ride
What surprised us most? Open farm fields just minutes from the city centre.
The canal delivers you straight to the heart of downtown. Parliament Hill and its Gothic Revival towers are worth stopping for, and just behind them Sparks Street, a pedestrian-only promenade, is where the coffee is. From there the loop swings west along the Ottawa River pathway, with the water on one side and Gatineau's hills across it, before ducking inland onto the Pinecrest Creek pathway. That green corridor carries you back toward Woodroffe and old Nepean, where the route trades pathway for a stretch of neighbourhood roads for the run home. It's here you get the ride's real surprise: open, working farm fields sitting just minutes from a national capital. It's gentle throughout, mostly flat with only a few rises, which makes the 45 km feel like a tour rather than a workout.
Stops along the way
7 of 7 showing
0 km · loop start/finish
We started out in Nepean, near the Chapman Mills Conservation Area on the Rideau River, because that's where we were based. You don't have to. The stretch of Prince of Wales here can be busy, so pick any point on the canal or river pathway that's easy for you to reach and ride the loop from there.
Open in Maps →~10–20 km · into downtown
The centrepiece of the ride: a dedicated, car-free path running beside the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, all the way into the core. Smooth, scenic, and flat. In winter this same water becomes the Skateway, so you're riding a route people skate to work on a few months earlier.
Open in Maps →~20 km · downtown
Worth getting off the bike for. The canal drops you right below Parliament's Gothic Revival towers and the locks where the canal meets the Ottawa River. A quick stop, a few photos, then coffee is a block away.
Open in Maps →~20 km · Sparks Street
The aptly named coffee stop, on the pedestrian-only Sparks Street just steps from Parliament. A newer spot with European-cafe flair, serving espresso and batch brew. Open Mon–Fri 7–7, Sat–Sun 9–6 (worth a quick check before you count on it).
Open in Maps →~20 km · Sparks Street
Also on Sparks Street, and made for riders: vintage bikes on the walls, a patio, locally roasted coffee, and a crowd that gets why you're in Lycra. Run by the people behind Escape Bicycle Tours and Retro-Rides. Great vibe for a mid-loop cool-down. Open daily (Mon–Fri from 7, weekends from 10).
Open in Maps →~24 km · river pathway
Pro tip: check the Ottawa River water levels before you leave. We loved the sections we could ride, but there was much more water over the river pathway than we bargained for. In high water some stretches flood, so have a plan to reroute onto the parallel roads if needed.
Open in Maps →~35 km · Woodroffe / Nepean
The Pinecrest Creek pathway is a green corridor that ducks under the Queensway and leads back through Woodroffe. From there the last stretch home is on neighbourhood roads, and it opens onto working farm fields that feel impossibly rural for being minutes from a capital city. The best-kept secret of the loop.
Open in Maps →From the ride
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