The final day: 118 km from Brockville into downtown Ottawa, opening on back roads and the trip's first true gravel, and finishing on a car-free rail-trail into the heart of the capital.
Distance
118 km
Elevation
325 m
Ride time
5–6 hr
Difficulty
Moderate
The route
About this day
The last day of four, and it turns out the province saved some of its best roads for the finish.
The middle of the day belongs to Kemptville, roughly the halfway mark and the one town worth slowing down for. It grew up as a mill village on Kemptville Creek in the 1820s, took its name from Sir James Kempt, and matured into the main service centre of North Grenville. The old core around Clothier and Prescott Streets is walkable and easy on the eye, with heritage storefronts, churches and bridges over the creek. The town sits just south of the Rideau River, on the historic Rideau Canal corridor, and is wrapped in green: the 800-acre Ferguson Forest Centre, Eastern Ontario's largest tree nursery, sits right on the edge of town. It is a natural, well-earned lunch stop before the last push north.
Leaving Kemptville you are back on open roads for a while, and then the day changes character one final time. The route picks up the Osgoode-Leitrim pathway, a rail-trail laid on an abandoned railway corridor that runs about 20 km of compacted stone dust, car-free, through a calm patchwork of forest and farmland straight toward the city. It carries you almost all the way in, and it is the perfect way to arrive: no traffic, no fuss, just the quiet click of tyres on hardpack as Ottawa draws closer. From there the route threads on through the southwest neighbourhoods and finishes downtown, on the doorstep of Parliament and the Rideau Canal, four days and roughly 500 km after leaving Toronto. On the day we peeled off a little early at Nepean, around the 107 km mark, to stay the night, but the published route carries right on to the city centre. A long way from the Toronto lakefront where it all began.
Stops along the way
6 of 6 showing
0 km · Brockville
Where we started the final day. A specialty coffee shop on King Street West in downtown Brockville, all good espresso and sustainability. The cakes were delicious, so don't skip the counter. A proper send-off before you roll out.
Open in Maps →~10–30 km · north of Brockville
Shortly after leaving Brockville the roads feel far removed from the highway, and then you hit the trip's first true gravel road. After three days of pavement it felt like a little bonus we didn't know we needed. Nothing technical, just a nice change of texture through open farm country.
Open in Maps →~55 km · Kemptville
The halfway stop, and a highlight. A European-style artisan bakery on Prescott Street in old-town Kemptville, with absolutely phenomenal sandwiches on bread baked in house daily, plus soups, scones and their famous bacon butter tarts. You have to check it out. Note: open Wednesday to Saturday only, so check the day before you count on it.
Open in Maps →~55–85 km · Kemptville toward Osgoode
Leaving Kemptville you're back on open roads, rolling north through North Grenville farmland toward the edge of the city. Straightforward riding, easy to settle into, with the last of the day's road miles before the pathway takes over.
Open in Maps →~85–105 km · Osgoode into Ottawa
The best way to arrive. A rail-trail on an old railway corridor, about 20 km of car-free compacted stone dust running through forest and farmland almost all the way into Ottawa. Flat and traffic-free, it takes the stress out of riding into a city. A perfect final stretch.
Open in Maps →118 km · downtown Ottawa
Off the pathway, the route threads through the southwest side and finishes downtown near Parliament and the Rideau Canal. Four days and roughly 500 km after leaving Toronto, you've ridden across the province to the capital. On the day we stopped a little early at Nepean (~107 km) to stay the night, so trim it there if you prefer. Either way, the trip is done.
Open in Maps →From the day
