Explore the Rideau Canal and Friends of the Rideau by following these links:
Annual Spring Meeting 9:30 am (for 10) to noon Saturday, May 10, 2008 Royal Canadian Legion Hall, Merrickville
Our feature this year is a talk and walking tour on the theme of How A Lock Works. Gord Giffin, Superintendent of the Rideau Canal will provide a talk and be our tour guide of the Merrickville Lockstation. Learn about the fascinating engineering of a Rideau lock and the workings of a Rideau Lockstation.
Everyone is welcome. Come out and meet some Friends!
We're A World Heritage Site
The Rideau Canal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Read the Details
Wash/Wake on the Rideau
Parks Canada is soliciting your opinion about boat wash/wake on the Rideau Canal. Is it a problem? Let them know. See: Wash/Wake Survey
The Rideau Canal Waterway is a popular vacation spot for boating, cruising, recreation, fishing, tourism, Canadian heritage appreciation, and enjoying the outdoors. The locks that connect the beautiful lakes and rivers that make up the Rideau Canal Waterway were first opened in 1832. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1926. In 2000, the Rideau Waterway was designated a Canadian Heritage River, recognizing its outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values. This designation also celebrates the role of the Rideau Waterway in Canada's history, not the least of which was the founding of our nation's capital, Ottawa. In 2007 it was designated a World Heritage Site, recognizing the canal as a masterpiece of human creative genius.
The Rideau, which extends 202 kilometers from Kingston to Ottawa, is the oldest continuously operated canal in North America with the locks at most of the 24 lockstation still hand-operated, much as they were when the canal first opened in 1832.
(click on map for larger view)
The log drives, steamers such as the Rideau King, and barges are now long gone, replaced by recreational boaters and vacationers who enjoy fishing, cruising, and relaxing in unparalleled surroundings.
Drop by the historic Depot run by the Friends of the Rideau at Merrickville, right beside the Canal. Exhibits, museums, historic sites, books and videos, trails, interpretation centres, marinas, camp grounds and resorts throughout the Rideau Corridor will make your visit a memorable one.
The waters teem with panfish - bluegills, pumpkinseed, black crappie - while the back bays, weedbeds, and shorelines are home to smallmouth and largemouth bass. Some of the Corridor lakes boast lake trout. Pike are plentiful, and the waters of the Long Reach are famous for muskellunge. Bring your boat or rent one at the many marinas in the Rideau Corridor.
We were awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the Rideau Canal Office of Parks Canada for our work in support of Rideau 175 and on ongoing support of Parks Canada's mandate (click for more info)
Free boating and general information packages are available by contacting the Rideau Canal Office of Parks Canada at 613-283-5170 or by email at: RideauCanal-info@pc.gc.ca (please include your postal mailing address in your email)
General Rideau info is available by calling the Parks Canada Call Centre at: 1-888-773-8888
Looking for Charts? (hydrographic maps) Click Here
Friends of the Rideau 1 Jasper Avenue Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, K7A 4B5 Tel : 613-283-5810 Fax : 613-283-2884 email: info@rideaufriends.com
SUPPORT THE RIDEAU
A membership in Friends of the Rideau is only $20 CDN. Your membership will help to support our work to enhance and preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the Rideau. If you love the Rideau, consider taking out a membership today. Please see our membership page.
The Rideau Route: Exploring the Pre-Canal Waterway by Ken W. Watson. A new book about the Rideau Canal which reveals the secret world that lies below the waters of the Rideau Canal – the drowned landscape of the original Rideau Route. New for 2007. 146p. 2007. (click here for more info or see our sales section for ordering information)
Fish Tales: The Lure and Lore of the Rideau by Ed Bebee. A new book with sketches and rollicking stories of legendary fishing guides and nine Rideau Corridor communities, shaped to share a sense of the world as they knew it. 270p. 2007. (click here for more info or see our sales section for ordering information)
2007 Edition of the Rideau Boating and Road Guide
The new 2007 edition of the Rideau Boating and Road Guide is now available. This is the definitive travel guide to the Rideau - no trip should be without it!! It is only $12.95 - see our sales section for ordering information. (please note that this guide will be current until 2009)
To see our full selection of books, charts, and other interesting items, visit:
Go Ahead Press the Button!!
We have a section on the website which contains several brochures and guides in Adobe PDF format so that you can save these to your own computer and easily print them. We are also very pleased to make available Watson's 2007 Guide to the Rideau. For more information have a look at the
Watson's 2007 Guide Page.
We've received several awards over the years for the volunteer work we do to help to promote and conserve the Rideau Canal. These include the Parks Canada Co-Operating Association Award, two certificates of recognition from Parks Canada and the first Rideau Canal Advisory Committee Rideau Heritage Award. For more information see our Awards Page.
In addition, Friends of the Rideau has re-published two formerly out of print classics, Robert Legget's definitive work on the history of the Rideau Canal; Rideau Waterway and Robert Passfield's beautiful colour book, Building the Rideau Canal, A Pictorial History.
Take a boat tour on the beautiful and quiet electric launch, "Harriet By." Forty-five minute tours are offered daily from The Depot in Merrickville. For more information just click on the link.
We want to make your stay unforgettable.
Friends of the Rideau Newsletter - Rideau Reflections
The Rideau Canal Waterway is a popular vacation spot for boating, cruising, recreation, fishing, tourism, Canadian heritage appreciation, and enjoying the outdoors. The locks that connect the beautiful lakes and rivers that make up the Rideau Canal Waterway were first opened in 1832. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1926. In 2000, the Rideau Waterway was designated a Canadian Heritage River, recognizing its outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values. This designation also celebrates the role of the Rideau Waterway in Canada's history, not the least of which was the founding of our nation's capital, Ottawa. In 2007 it was designated a World Heritage Site, recognizing the canal as a masterpiece of human creative genius.
The Rideau Route: Exploring the Pre-Canal Waterway by Ken W. Watson. A new book about the Rideau Canal which reveals the secret world that lies below the waters of the Rideau Canal – the drowned landscape of the original Rideau Route. New for 2007. 146p. 2007. (
