The Rideau Corridor: Kingston to Ottawa Through Westport and Merrickville

Kingston and Ottawa are about 195 km apart by the fast road, and most people never see anything between them but the inside of a car on Highway 401 and 416. There is another way to make the same trip. The Rideau Canal links the two cities along a 202 km waterway of locks, lakes and small stone villages, and a road trip that follows it turns a two-hour transfer into one of the better half-days in eastern Ontario.

This guide is written from the curb, the way a dispatcher who knows these roads would plan it: which road is which, where a car can safely stop, which lockstations are worth the detour and which are not, how long each leg really takes, and when the quick route or a train is the sensible choice. If you want a Kingston limo service or an Ottawa limo service to do the driving, that is part of what we do, but the guide is useful whether you hire a car or drive yourself.

Is the Rideau route worth the extra time over Highway 401?

Be honest about what the trade is. The scenic road is slower, has some gravel and country-road sections, and is far better with a stop at each of three or four places than with a plan to see everything. If you have a flight at Ottawa airport in three hours, take the highway. If you have a free afternoon and a camera, take the canal.

What is the Rideau Canal, briefly?

The Rideau Canal runs 202 km between Ottawa and Kingston, according to Parks Canada, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. It is a working heritage waterway, and the navigation season on the canal runs from Victoria Day to Thanksgiving, roughly mid-May to mid-October. Outside that season the locks are not operating for boats, although the roads, villages and many viewpoints are still open to you.

Parks Canada's page for the Rideau Canal National Historic Site is the place to confirm the current navigation season, lockstation hours and any construction notices. We do not repeat hours here, because they change.

The fast way and the slow way

There are really two routes, and it helps to name them.

• The fast route. Highway 401 from Kingston east, then Highway 416 north to Ottawa. It is a large modern divided highway, about 195 km, usually about two hours. This is the route for the airport, the train connection or a morning meeting.
• The Rideau route. Highway 15 north from Kingston, which runs beside the canal as far as Smiths Falls, then county roads through Merrickville, Burritts Rapids, Kars and Manotick to Ottawa. Parks Canada and local heritage guides split it into a southern, central and northern section.

The Rideau route is a driving tour more than a transfer. Plan the day around three or four stops, not around the destination.

Stop one: Jones Falls and the road out of Kingston

From Kingston City Hall, you drive Ontario Street past Royal Military College and Old Fort Henry and turn onto Highway 15 north. The first stretch to Morton is about 25 minutes. Just north of Morton, County Road 11 turns off to Jones Falls, which many Rideau guides call the most scenic lockstation on the canal.

What makes Jones Falls worth the detour:

• A flight of four locks. Jones Falls has the highest lift on the Rideau, 58.4 feet according to published heritage accounts.
• The stone arch dam. When it was completed in 1831 it was the highest dam in North America at almost 60 feet.
• The blacksmith's shop. Built around 1843 and restored by Parks Canada in 1978–79, it is operated as a living museum.
• Sweeney House. The defensible lockmaster's house on the hill, built in 1844, is open for interpretation.
• The Redpath Trail. A one-kilometre loop past the flight lock, the visitor centre, Sweeney House and the dam.

The lockstation has picnic areas and a parking area. It is a good first stop because it gives you the most dramatic engineering early, while you are still fresh.

Stop two: Chaffeys Lock, Newboro, Westport and Perth

North of Jones Falls, Highway 15 passes Elgin, and a few kilometres off the road at Chaffeys Lock sits the Lockmaster's House Museum, built in 1844 as a low-cost substitute for a blockhouse. Chaffeys Lock sits between Indian Lake and Opinicon Lake and is Lock 37 on the canal. The museum is seasonal and run by a local heritage society, so confirm that it is open before you detour.

At Crosby you can leave Highway 15 for County Road 42, which runs west to Newboro and then loops through Westport and Perth before rejoining Highway 15 near Lombardy. Westport is a small waterfront village on the canal system, and local guides recommend the view of Westport from Spy Rock on the Perth–Westport road. Perth, founded in 1816 as a military settlement, is the largest of the loop towns and has a proper main street for lunch.

The loop adds time. If you are short of hours, skip it. If you have the time, Westport and Perth are the reason many people choose the Rideau route in the first place.

Stop three: Portland and Smiths Falls

Staying on Highway 15, you come to Portland, a village on Big Rideau Lake, the largest and deepest lake on the system, with marinas in town. Further on is Smiths Falls, where the Rideau Canal runs through the middle of the town. Local guides count four sets of locks at Smiths Falls, plus the Rideau Canal visitor information centre, a railway museum and a heritage house museum, and Parks Canada has an office at 34 Beckwith Street South.

Smiths Falls is a practical stop: it has the most services on the route, which makes it the natural place for a washroom stop and a meal if you did not eat in Perth.

Stop four: Merrickville and its blockhouse

From Smiths Falls, County Road 43 runs east to Merrickville. This village is the best compact stop on the whole route.

• The lockstation. Three detached locks with a total lift of 7.6 m (24.9 feet) at the lower end of an artificial channel, with two basins.
• The blockhouse. The Merrickville Blockhouse is the largest of the four blockhouses built on the Rideau Canal. It could house a garrison of 50 men and now operates as a museum run by the Merrickville and District Historical Society, not directly by Parks Canada.
• The village. Merrickville grew from a milling community that was thriving when canal construction began in 1827. The mills were not destroyed because the locks were built in an excavated channel on the east bank.

A practical note from the curb: the Blockhouse Museum has no washrooms. Between the May long weekend and Thanksgiving weekend, the historical society directs visitors to the Parks Canada facilities at the lockstation, next to the turning basin. In winter, plan your washroom stop at Smiths Falls or in the village's own cafés instead.

For more on the Merrickville section, see Parks Canada's page on the Merrickville lockstation.

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Stop five: Burritts Rapids, Kars, Manotick and into Ottawa

The last third of the trip is the gentlest. From Merrickville, Donnelly Drive runs along the west bank, and County Road 13 passes through Kars and Manotick. Highlights on this stretch:

• Burritts Rapids (Lock 17). A four-kilometre trail explains how the canal was built.
• Baxter Conservation Area, near Kars. A beach, trails and group camping.
• Manotick. The restored Watson's Mill, built in 1860, is one of the best-preserved mills in Ontario.

Into Ottawa, the road follows the canal on either bank: Colonel By Drive on the east side, Prince of Wales Drive on the west. Hog's Back Falls and the Central Experimental Farm are natural last stops before downtown. Your drop-off might be Parliament Hill, a Byward Market hotel or Ottawa Station, or the airport, which our Ottawa airport page covers.

Where a car can and cannot stop

The roads on this route are a mix of provincial highway, county road and village main street, and the stopping rules are different on each.

• Highway 15. A provincial highway that runs beside the canal. Do not stop on the shoulder for photographs; use the lockstation parking areas.
• County and gravel roads. Some of the gravel roads can be washboard depending on the last grading, according to heritage-route guides. Drive slowly and expect dust on dry days.
• Lockstations. Most lockstations have a parking area, but on summer weekends the popular ones can fill. Arrive early at Jones Falls and Merrickville.
• Village streets. Merrickville, Perth and Westport have compact main streets with limited parking. The chauffeur confirms the best drop-off spot with you, often a side street within a minute's walk.

Our rule on a trip like this is simple: the car does not wait in a no-stopping zone, and the schedule leaves slack for two longer stops than you planned.

A sample day: Kingston to Ottawa along the canal

This is one version. Adjust it for your own interests.

1. Morning pickup in Kingston. A start before ten gives you time. Take Highway 15 north.
2. Jones Falls (Morton is about 25 minutes from Kingston, so allow a little more for the turn-off; plan 60–90 minutes there). The locks, dam and trail.
3. Optional Chaffeys Lock and the Westport–Perth loop. Add roughly an hour for each additional stop.
4. Lunch in Perth or Smiths Falls.
5. Merrickville (60–90 minutes). The blockhouse, the lockstation, a walk.
6. Manotick and the drive into Ottawa. Watson's Mill if it is open, then Colonel By Drive.
7. Arrive in Ottawa late afternoon. Leave extra time if you have a train or a flight.

Allow four to six hours of driving and stopping in total. The distance on the fast road is about 195 km; on this route it is longer, and the booker shows the exact fare and your pickup and drop-off timing for the plan you choose. For a trip where the car stays with you all day, an hourly chauffeur booking is the better fit than a one-way transfer.

Seasons, weather and what changes

• Late May to mid-October. The navigation season. The locks operate, the lockstations are staffed and boats move through. Summer weekends are the busiest.
• Late September and October. Fall colour along the canal, and the weekends fill up. This is the best season for photography and one of the busiest for the Merrickville and Perth main streets.
• Winter. The navigation season is over. The roads are open, but many seasonal museums are closed and the country roads need winter-ready vehicles and unhurried driving. If you want the lockstations in action, plan the trip for the navigation season.

Tell the booker what time of year it is and where you want to stop, so the chauffeur and the vehicle suit the roads.

Groups, families and who this trip suits

A chauffeured Rideau trip suits couples, small families, visiting parents and anyone who would like to enjoy the scenery without driving unfamiliar country roads. For a family group, ask for child, toddler or booster seats at booking. For a larger party of twelve to fourteen, the Executive Sprinter is the vehicle, and the exact vehicle is confirmed at booking.

Wheelchair and mobility needs vary by lockstation. Parks Canada's site is the best place to confirm access at specific locks, and the chauffeur can help you reach the nearest point of access.

Honest alternatives: highway, train, bus or your own car

The Rideau route is a leisure trip. If your priority is getting from Kingston to Ottawa, here is how the options compare.

The train is the honest winner if you travel alone and your pickup and destination are both near stations; check VIA Rail's own timetable at viarail.ca for current times, because they vary by train. A chauffeur wins on a group, on luggage, on a door-to-door trip, and on the scenic route, which the train cannot do at all. For the Toronto end of the same corridor, see our Toronto to Kingston and Toronto to Ottawa route pages.

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If you are continuing east, our guide to Brockville and the Thousand Islands Parkway covers the next stretch along the St. Lawrence, and the evening at Fort Henry in Kingston is a good bookend to a day that starts in the city. You can also browse our attractions hub and the blog.