Welcome to The Ottawa Valley

Paddle Routes of the Ottawa Valley Now Available!

The Ottawa Valley Tourist Association (OVTA) in partnership with the County of Renfrew Economic Development Department and local paddling enthusiasts have assembled a collection of paddle routes to help visitors and local residents explore the numerous waterways of the Ottawa Valley. It is a sampling of the many flat water and whitewater paddling opportunities for canoeists and kayakers of all skill levels and interests in this region. There are a range of trips from a few hours and kilometres in length to weekend and multi-day routes. The new, complimentary guide provides directions with put in and take out locations, points of interest, skill levels and description of the routes.

“This is a great resource for paddle tourists, tourism businesses and local residents. This guide enables us to share the undiscovered paddling gems of the Ottawa Valley with other paddlers” says Alastair Baird, Economic Development Officer for the County of Renfrew. “With the variety and number of excellent paddling routes available, it gives paddlers a reason to come back and visit this region often”, states Mr. Baird.

Waterways have been the life veins of Canada for millennia- used by our First Nations people, early European explorers, missionaries and soldiers, traders and voyageurs, loggers and settlers and now- recreational paddlers. The Ottawa River was the primary access route to much of North America in the early years of exploration and settlement. The Ottawa and its’ many tributaries flowing out of the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec and the Algonquin Highlands of Ontario, provide thousands of kilometres of rivers, lakes, rapids and wetlands - something for every paddler to explore and enjoy. This region is blessed to have over 900 lakes and seven major river systems.

Streams and creeks, marshes and wetlands, rivers and lakes, rapids and waterfalls, cliffs and forests are what you can expect to experience and enjoy. Wildlife abounds- moose and deer, beavers and bears, eagles and hawks, wolves and waterfowl- all for you to see, photograph and remember.

The Ottawa Valley - Ontario’s Adventure Playground is a Paddlers’ Paradise!