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Rideau Canal

Kingston · Canada

Background

World Heritage since
2007
Type of site
Cultural
Built by Colonel By
1827–1832

The Rideau Canal is a monumental early 19th-century construction covering 202 km of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottawa south to Kingston on Lake Ontario, built for military purposes when Britain and the United States vied for control of the region. UNESCO calls it one of the first canals designed for steam-powered vessels, the best-preserved slackwater canal in North America, and the only canal of its era still operating along its original line with most of its structures intact.

Its 46 locks raise boats 83 m from the Ottawa River to the Rideau Lakes and drop them 50 m to Kingston; it opened in 1832 and is run by Parks Canada from May to October for pleasure boats, the oldest continuously operated canal in North America. Wikivoyage says Colonel By of the Royal Engineers built it from 1827 to give Montreal and Kingston a route away from the American border, founding Bytown, now Ottawa, at its northern end; only about 19 km were dug, the rest using lakes and rivers.

More on the UNESCO listing More on Wikipedia

  1. 1783The route is first surveyed by Lt Gershom French
  2. 1812The war with the United States exposes the St Lawrence supply line
  3. 1827Construction begins under Colonel By
  4. 1832The canal opens for shipping
  5. 2007Inscribed as World Heritage

Find Your Way Around

The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them

  1. 1
    Ottawa Locks
    The flight of locks down to the Ottawa River, with the Bytown Museum beside them.
  2. 2
    Bytown Museum
    Wikivoyage's pick for the canal's history, at the Ottawa Locks.
  3. 3
    Rideau Canal Visitor Centre
    Four floors of exhibits in a 19th-century stone mill at Smiths Falls.
  4. 4
    The Rideau Lakes
    The summit of the route, where the canal widens into lakes kilometres across.
  5. 5
    Kingston and Fort Henry
    The southern end on Lake Ontario, with the fort built to guard it.

Know Before You Go

From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides

May to October
The locks operate through the boating season.
Life Jackets and Weirs
Wikivoyage: always wear one; stay clear of the marked dams and weirs, and never go near the base of an overflow dam.
Swim Outside Ottawa
Swimming is common along most of the canal, but not in the Ottawa section.
Two Ends
Kingston from Lake Ontario in the south, Ottawa from the Ottawa River in the north.

The Ottawa End

Not yet in a GoGo guide

  1. 10:00
    Ottawa Locks and Bytown Museum2 hrs
    The lock flight and the canal's story.
  2. 13:00
    Along the Canal in Ottawa90 min
    The waterway through the capital.

Best Time to Visit

Best months: Jun–Sep. Freezing days in Dec–Mar.

Typical highs

Best monthsRain: wettest Oct (112 mm), driest Mar (59 mm)

Climate: NASA POWER

Sources
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, listing 1221 · Wikipedia: Rideau Canal · Wikivoyage: Rideau Canal (CC BY-SA 4.0) · UNESCO listing