Rideau Canal Road Trip: Ottawa to Kingston in Two Days - 1000 Towns of Canada

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Capital to Kingston: A Rideau Canal Roadstop Guide

Two days along Canada’s UNESCO waterway — stone locks and lockmaster’s cottages, a canal-summit hamlet, the prettiest lockstation on the system, an engineering-marvel dam built by the future Mr. Redpath Sugar, and a limestone finish in Kingston where the whole canal empties into Lake Ontario.

Created by Nicolas Schmidt, Queen’s University

The Rideau Canal is North America’s oldest continuously operated canal, a 202-km chain of locks, lakes and rivers that Colonel John By’s Royal Engineers cut through the Canadian Shield between 1826 and 1832 to give the British an inland military route from Montreal to Kingston in case another war with the Americans broke out. The war never came, but the canal did — and 190 years later it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where all but two of the 45 stone locks are still cranked open by hand exactly as they were in 1832. This is the drive that follows it, town by town, from the capital down to Lake Ontario.

The route: Day 1 — Ottawa → Merrickville (the “Jewel of the Rideau” · the lockstation, the Blockhouse Museum, Pickle & Myrrh) → Smiths Falls (Rideau Canal Visitor Centre) → Rideau Ferry (canal-side photo pause) → Perth (heritage stone town + Stewart Park, lunch at Gather) → Foley Mountain Conservation Area (Spy Rock lookout) → Westport (dinner + overnight at The Cove Inn on the harbour).

Day 2 — Newboro (canal summit) → Chaffey’s Lock (widely called the prettiest lock on the Rideau) → pub lunch at The Opinicon → Jones Falls (the three-lock flight and Colonel By’s stone arch dam) → Kingston (Fort Frontenac, waterfront, Market Square) with a schnitzel dinner at Amadeus Café before the drive back to Ottawa.

Book The Cove Inn in Westport well ahead — it’s the only proper overnight in the harbour village and fills up on summer and fall weekends. Check the two-day note in Good to know before you pick your dates — the Smiths Falls visitor centre is closed at weekends and Gather and Amadeus are closed on Sundays, so the classic Saturday–Sunday weekend is the one pair of days that does not work. The Rideau Canal itself is only navigable and its locks only staffed from mid-May to mid-October — the water is drained low in winter and the lockstations close, so plan the trip inside that season. Fill up in Perth before Day 2 — services thin out along the canal-country roads between Westport and Kingston.

Day 1 — Ottawa → Westport (7 stops · ~158 km · 2 hr 35 min driving)

→ Merrickville stone-village walk + Smiths Falls canal HQ + a Rideau Ferry pause + Perth heritage lunch + Foley Mountain lookout + harbour-side overnight in Westport

🚗 Leave Ottawa by ~8:30 a.m. · ~77 km · 1 hr 5 min southwest via Hwy 416 and County Rd 43. Park along St. Lawrence St. and start on foot.

1Heritage Village · Anchor · Canal Walk

Merrickville — the "Jewel of the Rideau"

★ 5.0·Downtown Merrickville — St. Lawrence, Main and Elgin Streets, Merrickville, ON K0G 1N0

Set aside two hours to walk Merrickville — the picture-book canal village called the "Jewel of the Rideau," known for its 19th-century stone buildings, working locks, artisan shops, and a strong community of makers. Walk the Merrickville Lockstation — locks 21 to 23, three detached locks spread along the river at the earliest mill site on the Rideau — and the adjacent Blockhouse Museum, then browse the makers along St. Lawrence and Main. First coffee is at The Village Bean on St. Lawrence Street, which opens at 6 a.m. seven days a week; the Yellow Canoe Café two blocks down is the lunch stop rather than the breakfast one — it does not open until 11. Save room for a caramel or artisan sweet from Pickle & Myrrh — the shop that started with owner Erin Kergen's homemade caramels and grew from a farmers-market stall. The Blockhouse Museum keeps a summer season only — its 2026 season closed on 6 September — so outside July and August the 1832 blockhouse is an exterior stop.

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🚗 ~18 km · 20 min south on County Rd 43 from Merrickville into downtown Smiths Falls

2Canal · Museum · Lockstation

Smiths Falls — Rideau Canal Visitor Centre

★ 5.0·Rideau Canal Visitor Centre, 34 Beckwith St S, Smiths Falls, ON K7A 2A8

Halfway between Ottawa and Kingston, Smiths Falls is the operational heart of the Rideau Canal — Parks Canada's canal headquarters, with a combined lock, the Detached and Old Slys lockstations nearby, and the excellent free Rideau Canal Visitor Centre on Beckwith Street beside the water. Spend an hour on the interactive exhibits (canal engineering, the 1826–1832 construction under Colonel John By, life along the waterway) and walk along the lock. If you have time, cross the street to the Heritage House Museum in a restored 1867 stone mansion, or the Rideau Canal Museum in the old Smiths Falls Detached lockstation. A working canal town, still doing the job it was built for. One thing to plan around: the Visitor Centre keeps office hours — Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. — and is closed at weekends, which is the single biggest constraint on when you can run Day 1.

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🚗 ~16 km · 17 min southwest on Hwy 15, then west on County Rd 1 (Rideau Ferry Rd)

3Lake View · Photo Stop · Short Stop

Rideau Ferry — canal pause on Big Rideau Lake

★ 5.0·Downtown Perth — Gore, Foster & Wilson Streets, Perth, ON K7H 1H9

A 15-minute stretch-your-legs stop where the Rideau Canal opens into Big Rideau Lake. A causeway carries County Rd 1 across a narrow channel — pull off at the small public dock on either side for the classic canal-boat photo. There isn't much town here (the historic Rideau Ferry Inn is closed), but the water and the passing boats are the reason to stop. If it's a warm day, this is the swim break. From here the road runs north into Perth — there is no direct route south to Westport, which is why this stop sits between Smiths Falls and lunch rather than after it.

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🚗 ~12 km · 13 min north on County Rd 1 into downtown Perth.

4Heritage Town · Walking · Riverside Park · Anchor

Perth — heritage stone town + Stewart Park

★ 5.0·71 Gore St E, Perth, ON K7H 1H8

One of Ontario's best-preserved historic towns. Perth was laid out in 1816 as a military settlement; today the Tay River threads through a downtown of stone Georgian and Victorian buildings, a scenic park with river bridges, and a lively festival and boutique scene. Walk the compact heritage core (Gore, Foster, and Wilson Streets are the best blocks), then cross into Stewart Park — a serene riverside park donated to the town in 1947, where the Tay River forks around walking bridges. Note the plaque marking Perth as the hometown of John Ross Matheson, the local judge who steered the Canadian flag through committee in 1965. Watch the small-town-Canada film scenes here: Perth featured in Anne with an E and other productions.

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🚗 Walking distance · Gather is at 71 Gore Street East, two minutes from Stewart Park

5🥪 Lunch

Lunch at Gather Restaurant — Perth

★ 5.0·Rideau Ferry Rd (County Rd 1) at the causeway, Rideau Ferry, ON K7H 3C6

A short walk from Stewart Park, Gather is Perth's beloved farm-to-table lunch spot — an intimate, plant-forward dining room at 71 Gore Street East built around local Lanark County produce, artisan cheese, and thoughtful vegetarian and gluten-free options alongside the mains. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. — closed Sundays and Mondays. Come for the seasonal soup-and-sandwich pairing, stay for the excellent local craft beer list. Reserve on busy Saturday afternoons or arrive right when they open. Alternatives on Gore Street include Fiddleheads Bar & Grill (relaxed pub food beside the Tay), Hush Kitchen & Craft Bar (small-plates + wine), or Perth Brewery Beer Hall (tap-room lunches) if Gather is full.

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🚗 ~31 km · 35 min southwest on the Scotch Line (County Rd 10) and Perth Rd, then Grady Rd and 2 km up the gravel of Foley Mountain Lane

6🥾 Hike

Foley Mountain Conservation Area — Spy Rock lookout

★ 5.0·Foley Mountain Conservation Area, Foley Mountain Ln, Westport, ON K0G 1X0

High atop a granite ridge above Westport and the historic Upper Rideau, Foley Mountain Conservation Area is the mid-afternoon anchor of Day 1 — 800 acres of walking trails, a swimming beach on Sand Lake below, and the famous Spy Rock Scenic Lookout, a cliff-face view over Upper Rideau Lake with billion-year-old granite falling away beneath your toes. The Spy Rock walk from the main parking area is short (~15 min each way) and family-friendly. Rideau Valley Conservation Authority charges a $10 day pass — there is no gatehouse; pay at the machine in the car park (cash or card) or by phone. Open dawn to dusk, year-round. Allow ~2 hours including the lookout and a short loop trail.

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🚗 ~3 km · 7 min back down Foley Mountain Lane into the harbour village of Westport

7🛏️ Overnight

Westport — dinner & overnight at The Cove Inn

★ 5.0·2 Bedford St, Westport, ON K0G 1X0

Westport is a small harbour village on the Upper Rideau — cafés, a couple of wineries, a brewery, and one landmark inn where boaters, cottagers, and canal travellers converge for the night. The Cove Country Inn sits right on the harbour: comfortable rooms above a warm restaurant known for lake-view dining, live music most nights of the week, and one of the best trout-and-steak menus in eastern Ontario. Book the room well ahead in summer — the Cove is the anchor of the village and fills up. If the Cove is full, Scheuermann Vineyard & Winery (a 5-min walk uphill) serves wood-fired pizza with its wines through the summer, and Westport Brewing Company has fresh beer with harbour views. Country Kitchen Restaurant on Bedford is a friendly no-frills backup for straightforward dinner. The kitchen runs 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, year-round — so leave Foley Mountain in time to be at the table before eight.

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Day 2 — Westport → Kingston (6 stops · ~102 km · 1 hr 50 min driving)

→ Newboro canal summit + Chaffey's Lock + Opinicon pub lunch + Jones Falls dam + Kingston limestone finish + schnitzel dinner at Amadeus

🚗 After breakfast at the Cove · ~9 km · 10 min south on County Rd 10, then Hwy 42 (County Rd 42)

8Lockstation · Hamlet · Photo Stop

Newboro — canal-side hamlet at the summit of the Rideau

★ 5.0·Newboro Lockstation, 10 Blockhouse Lane, Newboro, ON K0G 1P0

Newboro sits at the summit of the Rideau Canal — the highest point on the whole 202-km waterway between Kingston and Ottawa, and the top of the isthmus that separated the Rideau and Cataraqui watersheds before the canal linked them in 1832. The lockstation and its stone blockhouse are photogenic; the hamlet itself is tiny (a general store, a couple of cafés, the historic Kilborn's on the Rideau merchant building), but it's a quintessential canal stop. Walk the lock, read the Parks Canada interpretive panels on the difficult cut-through-solid-rock construction, and continue south. One catch: Newboro's lock was electrified in 1966 — it and the Smiths Falls combined lock are the only two on the canal that are not worked by hand, and public objection stopped the conversion going further. For hands on the crank, wait for Chaffey's.

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🚗 ~17 km · 19 min — County Rd 42 south, a short hop on Hwy 15, then 8.6 km west on Chaffey's Lock Rd (County Rd 9)

9Lockstation · Photo Anchor · Canal

Chaffey's Lock — the prettiest lock on the Rideau

★ 5.0·Chaffey's Lock, 1723 Chaffeys Lock Rd, Rideau Lakes, ON K0G 1E0

Widely called the prettiest lockstation on the Rideau — a single stone lock in a natural, wooded setting, with the historic Chaffey's Lock Lockmaster's House Museum just above it. If a boat happens to be passing through, stand on the pedestrian bridge over the lock and watch a Parks Canada lockmaster crank the gates by hand (the Rideau is still operated with the original 19th-century hand-cranked mechanisms — one of the reasons UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site). Allow 45 min for the lock and the small museum. The Lockmaster's House Museum runs a summer season only, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., seven days a week — outside those months the lock and the walk are still the reason to stop.

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🚗 ~500 m · a 6-minute walk along Chaffey's Lock Rd from the lock, or two minutes in the car

10🥪 Lunch

Lunch at The Opinicon — Chaffey's Lock

★ 5.0·The Opinicon, 1697 Chaffey's Lock Rd, Elgin, ON K0G 1E0

An extraordinary lunch stop. The Opinicon is a beautifully restored historic Rideau Lakes resort right at Chaffey's Lock — a rambling white-clapboard hotel that has been welcoming canal travellers since the late 1800s. Lunch here means the Pub — the social heart of the place, cozy banquettes and an old-timey bar, open Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. — and the Ice Cream Shop, a hand-scooped counter with mint-green walls that keeps the same Thursday-to-Sunday hours late in the season. The Dining Room, with its screened porch over the lock, is dinner only, Friday to Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m., so it is an evening booking rather than a lunch one. Take a sandwich and a cone and eat by the water. A destination in its own right.

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🚗 ~24 km · 26 min east to Hwy 15, south, then west again on Jones Falls Rd (County Rd 11)

11Lockstation · Engineering Marvel · Photo Anchor

Jones Falls Lockstation — the three-lock flight and the Great Stone Arch Dam

★ 5.0·Jones Falls Lockstation, Lock Rd, Rideau Lakes, ON K0G 1E0

The engineering masterpiece of the whole Rideau Canal. Jones Falls is a flight of three connected stone locks (plus a fourth detached lock upstream) that lifts boats 18 metres in one place — one of the tallest lock flights in North America when it was built between 1827 and 1832. The stone arch dam above the locks — designed by Colonel By, 18 m high and 107 m long, cut from sandstone out of the Elgin quarry by the Scottish masonry contractor John Redpath (yes — later of Redpath Sugar) — was the highest arch dam in North America when it was finished in 1831. Walk the loop past the 1843 blacksmith's shop and Sweeney House, the defensible lockmaster's house on the hill above the locks, and out onto the top of the dam for the view down the flight. Allow ~1 hour.

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🚗 ~50 km · 50 min south on Hwy 15, then over the Waaban Crossing into downtown Kingston. Park along Ontario St. or Princess St.

12City Anchor · History · Waterfront · UNESCO End Point

Kingston — Fort Frontenac, waterfront & historic downtown

★ 5.0·Springer Market Square, King St E at Brock St, Kingston, ON K7L 1W8

The southern terminus of the Rideau Canal — and the first capital of the United Province of Canada (1841). The limestone downtown is one of the most walkable historic quarters in Ontario: Kingston City Hall (a National Historic Site), Market Square and the Kingston Public Market (Ontario's oldest, running since the 1780s), Fort Frontenac at the mouth of the Cataraqui, and the waterfront promenade with a full view across to Fort Henry on the Point Henry bluff. If you have energy for one more thing, cross the causeway to Fort Henry — the massive British 1832 fortress overlooking the canal's mouth, active as a national historic site with cannon-firing demos and the changing of the guard on summer evenings. Walk the Queen's University campus (1841 Royal Charter, one of the country's most prestigious universities) if you have time.

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🚗 ~600 m · 8 min walk west from Market Square up Princess Street

13🍷 Dinner

Dinner at Amadeus Café — Kingston's Austrian dining room

★ 5.0·170 Princess St, Kingston, ON K7L 1B1

A Kingston institution — an Austrian dining room on Princess Street serving schnitzel, spaetzle, sauerbraten and a proper Wiener schnitzel with lingonberries, alongside a serious Austrian and German beer list. Warm, unpretentious, family-run, and consistently packed on Saturday nights: reserve. Open Tuesday to Saturday only — and only Saturday opens before 4 p.m. (noon), which makes Saturday the one day this finish works without a long wait. Alternatives if Amadeus is full include Chez Piggy (a beloved bistro in a converted 19th-century limestone stables), Le Chien Noir (French bistro across from City Hall), or Atomica (contemporary wood-fired-oven cooking on Princess). Toast the Rideau, then head back to Ottawa (~200 km / ~2 hr via Hwy 401 → Hwy 416) or stay a night in Kingston if the weekend still has room.