Paddling the Rideau Canal: Paddling Guides to the Rideau Canal

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Paddling Guides to the Rideau Canal

You'll find several travel guides to the Rideau Canal. The most detailed are my full route and day paddling guides which include extensive paddling information, Points of Interest and detailed maps.

Watson's Paddling Guide to the Rideau Canal
(latest update: December 2024)

This is a 192 page detailed guide to paddling the Rideau Canal. It contains a description of the entire route with 18 detailed route maps, plus maps of every lockstation showing the portage routes, and dozens of Points of Interest from Kingston to Ottawa.

If you plan to paddle all or part of the Rideau Canal - this guide is for you. It is available as a free PDF download:

Watson's Paddling Guide to the Rideau Canal

The above is a link to 12 Mb PDF. Clicking this link will open the PDF. You should see a download icon (upper right) on the PDF page, but if not, click on the 3 dots in that area to bring up a menu that will include a download option.

If you have any trouble downloading the PDF, send me an email and I'll provide you with an alternate download site.

Trip Itineraries and Logistics
In 2021 I created a few suggested trip itineraries. A suggestion for a trip itinerary is a common question I receive emails about, but a difficult one to answer due to the many variables. This is in the above full paddling guide, but I'll also include it here as a separate download:

Trip Itineraries and Logistics

Watson's Day/Weekend Paddling Guides
for the entire Rideau Canal
Each of these guides contains a 1:50,000 scale map (when printed at 8.5" x 11"). Adjacent maps overlap and so can be used for longer route paddling. The listing is sorted in geographic order, south to north.

Each listing also contains a link to a PDF file of the guide that can be downloaded and taken with you on your trip.

Note: Watson's Paddling Guide to the Rideau Canal (above) includes these 18 day/weekend guides.

Index Map to the Guides - use this if you don't know which guide you want - you can click on the map to bring up the guide for that section.

Rideau Paddling Guide 1: Kingston to Colonel By Lake - A travel guide with map for paddling the Cataraqui River from Kingston to Colonel By Lake.

Rideau Paddling Guide 2: Kingston Mills to River Styx - A travel guide with map for paddling Colonel By Lake and River Styx.

Rideau Paddling Guide 3: Lower Brewers to Brass Point Bridge - A travel guide with map for paddling the Cataraqui River, Cranberry Lake and Dog Lake.

Rideau Paddling Guide 4: Brass Point Bridge to Jones Falls - A travel guide with map for paddling Little Cranberry Lake, Whitefish Lake and Morton Bay.

Rideau Paddling Guide 5: Jones Falls Locks to Chaffeys Lock - A travel guide with map for paddling Sand and Opinicon Lakes.

Rideau Paddling Guide 6: Chaffeys Lock to Newboro Lock - A travel guide with map for paddling Indian, Clear, Newboro, Benson, Mosquito and Loon lakes.

Rideau Paddling Guide 7: Newboro Lock to Narrows Lock - A travel guide with map for paddling Upper Rideau Lake.

Rideau Paddling Guide 8: Narrows Lock to Tar Island - A travel guide with map for paddling the main (southern) part of Big Rideau Lake.

Rideau Paddling Guide 9: Tar Island to Rideau Ferry - A travel guide with map for paddling the northern part of Big Rideau Lake.

Rideau Paddling Guide 10: The Tay Canal - A travel guide with map for paddling the Tay Canal (Lower Rideau Lake to Perth).

Rideau Paddling Guide 11: Rideau Ferry to Edmunds Lock - A travel guide with map for paddling Lower Rideau Lake and the Rideau River (Poonamalie to Edmunds).

Rideau Paddling Guide 12: Edmunds Lock to Merrickville Locks - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from Edmunds (near Smiths Falls) to Merrickville.

Rideau Paddling Guide 13: Merrickville Locks to The Catchall - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from Merrickville to The Catchall (just past Burritts Rapids).

Rideau Paddling Guide 14: The Catchall to Baxter C.A. - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from The Catchall (just past Burritts Rapids) to Baxter Conservation Area. Includes Kemptville Creek.

Rideau Paddling Guide 15: Baxter C.A. to Kars N. - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from Baxter Conservation Area to a few km north of Kars.

Rideau Paddling Guide 16: Kars N. to the Jock River - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from north of Kars to the Jock River, includes Manotick.

Rideau Paddling Guide 17: Jock River to Hogs Back - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau River from the Jock River (just north of the Long Island Locks) to Hogs Back Locks.

Rideau Paddling Guide 18: Hogs Back to Ottawa - A travel guide with map for paddling the Rideau Canal in downtown Ottawa (Hogs Back Locks to the Ottawa Locks).

Geology of the Rideau - a short description of the geology of the Rideau (the on-line version of the Geology section in each guide).

Full Route Guides
Three full route guides provides information about travelling the entire length of the Rideau.

Watson's Paddling Guide to the Rideau Canal. The most comprehensive guide to paddling the Rideau Canal - see top of page.

Paddling the Rideau Canal - A guide to canoeing/kayaking the Rideau, written by Don MacKay, a canalman with Parks Canada. Includes lots of great hints about paddling the Rideau as well as two travel guides.

MacKay Guides
Don MacKay of Parks Canada has created some interesting guides to various sections of the Rideau.

Edmunds to Kars - Travel time = 2 days. A route guide produced by Don MacKay

Newboro to Poonamalie - Travel time = 2 days. A route guide produced by Don MacKay

Chaffeys to Davis - Travel time = 0.5 to 1 day. A route guide produced by Don MacKay

Jones Falls to Morton Bay - Travel time = 1 day. A route guide produced by Don MacKay

Kingston to Smiths Falls - Travel time = 5 - 6 days. A route guide produced by Don MacKay

Tay River Guide

Paddling The Tay (PDF brochure)

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