Explore the Rideau Canal and Friends of the Rideau by following these links:
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Friends of the Rideau
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 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 1925. 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.
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The Rideau, which extends 202 kilometres 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.
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.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Have a look at our Tourist Information Page
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.
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 The Sweeney Diary: the 1839 to 1850 Journal of Rideau Lockmaster Peter Sweeney edited by Ken W. Watson. This new book contains a transcription of the entire twelve-year span of the diary. In addition, local historian Sue Warren has greatly fleshed out the diary with her feature article on the Life and Times of Peter Sweeney and a full listing of who’s who in the diary. New for 2008. 198p. 2008. (click here for more info or see our sales section for ordering information) |
To see our full selection of books, charts, and other interesting items, visit:
Go Ahead
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Brochures and Guides
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 2010 Guide to the Rideau. For more information have a look at the
Watson's 2010 Guide Page.
Information Links - we've opened up a new section with links to various on-line documents of interest. For information see the Information Links Page.
Awards
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.
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Our Books
To assist with our mandate of public awareness of the Rideau Canal we offer every book still in print about the Rideau (see our Sales Section). This includes books about the Rideau authored by FoR directors' Ed Bebee and Ken Watson. Ed's Fish Tales: The Lure and Lore of the Rideau, published in 2007, expands on the stories first brought to light in his hit book Pathfinders, The Guides of The Rideau, published in 2004. Ken's The Rideau Route: Exploring the Pre-Canal Waterway, published in 2007, looks at the pre-canal, setting the stage for its construction as detailed in A History of the Rideau Lockstations published in 2000.
In addition, Friends of the Rideau has re-published Robert Passfield's beautiful colour book, Building the Rideau Canal, A Pictorial History.
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| The "Harriet By"
It is with much regret that we've had to shut down our tours on the electric boat, Harriet By. New Transport Canada regulations have made it impossible for us to operate this boat.
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| World Canals Conference TalksVarious talks from the World Canal's Conference (held Sept. 14-17, 2008 in Kingston) have been posted to the World Canal Conference 2008 page |
Wash/Wake on the RideauParks Canada has proposed an action plan to help deal
with the issue of boat wash/wake on the Rideau Canal.
See: Proposed Action Plan
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We want to make your stay unforgettable.
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©1997-2010 Rideau Waterway Co-ordinating Association (Friends of the Rideau)
Comments about the website
email: webmaster@rideaufriends.com
Website design & maintenance donated by: Ken W. Watson
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