Well, I think it is safe to say that I am not meeting expectations for shorter, more focused posts, as I previously promised, but – here is to trying again!
A couple of months ago, Justin and I got to travel to Kemptville, Ontario, and stay at our friend Craig’s childhood home. The purpose of our trip was to have a true “Canadian” vacation and go ice skating outdoors, and since Kemptville is around 40-minutes outside of Ottawa, it provided us with a great base for our exploring! We managed to fit in three skating opportunities, which I will tell you about below.
Our first, and most important prospect was to skate on the iconic Rideau Canal. The Rideau Canal runs through downtown Ottawa, and a little under 8km of the Canal gets cleared for ice skating each winter. It was an incredible experience to skate under bridges, past several parks and historic buildings, and there are several huts along the Canal where you can buy drinks and snacks – I enjoyed my first ever BeaverTail while on the ice! We were very lucky that the weather was cold enough during our first two days in Ottawa because a couple of days later, the temperatures were above 0°C and the Rideau Canal was closed.
For our second day, we crossed the border into Quebec to skate on the Patinage en forêt in Lac-des-Loups, which is about 45-minutes outside of Ottawa. “Patinage en forêt” directly translated means “skating in the forest,” and that is exactly what we did! Unlike the Rideau Canal, Patinage en forêt is a manmade skating trail, featuring 6km of trails amongst the trees, providing the perfect escape into nature.
We spent around an hour enjoying all the skating trails – I was showing off my skating “tricks” (which were actually just c-cuts), we watched the squirrels and birds in the different animal feeders amongst the trees, and there are a couple of fire pits near the entrance which were a great spot to warm up and take a break. Overall, we really enjoyed our time at Patinage en forêt!
Our last skating opportunity during our Ottawa adventure was at the Little Penguin Trail. Otherwise known as Le Sentier du Petit Pingouin, the Little Penguin Trail is also located in Quebec – in the city of Gatineau (which is opposite to Ottawa/on the other side of the Ottawa River). This was another manmade skating trail, but was different than Patinage en forêt as it was situated on a golf course.
We spent around an hour at the Little Penguin Trail, completing two laps around the golf course for a total of 10km. What made this trail fun, but also scary at the same time, was that there were a couple of small downhill sections – I definitely needed a bit of help stopping at the bottom of the first hill!
We really enjoyed this trail, and we were lucky we started our time at the Little Penguin Trail early enough in the day, as it warmed up later in the morning (above 0°C), forcing the trail to shutdown to new visitors.
Overall, I would say our skating adventures were a success! An added bonus – despite feeling like Bambi on ice, I managed to stay on my feet at all times while skating, even though there were a couple of close calls ツ.
Before I wrap up this post, here are some things we did other than skating:
- We walked around the shops in ByWard Market, a historic area in Downtown Ottawa. At the time of our visit, there was an artist sculpting animals out of wood with his chainsaw – it is surprising the level of detail and precision he could achieve with such a large tool!
- We checked out some of the ice sculptures in Downtown Ottawa that were part of Winterlude 2026. This year was the 48th year for Winterlude, which is an annual festival that takes places in Ottawa each year. In addition to ice sculptures, it also includes other activities such as live entertainment, winter sports and cultural events. While we did not take part in any of the other festivities surrounding Winterlude, it sounds like there is no shortage of things to do or see.
- We enjoyed bagels with cream cheese (vegan, of course) from Kettlemans Bagel. While these Montreal-style bagels were good, they did not compare to the fluffy bagels we had in Burlington, Vermont, last fall (a trip I have not gotten around to documenting… yet). We also managed to find vegan dinner options at JOEY Rideau, Manor Lounge and Grand Pizzeria. Overall, I would say that Ottawa was very vegan-friendly.
- Other than Beaver Tails, another post-skating treat we indulged in were donuts from SuzyQ Doughnuts. I was very excited to see multiple different vegan flavour options, but ultimately landed on pistachio – it did not disappoint!
- We snapped a mandatory picture of the OTTAWA sign – if we did not have this picture, were we even there?
Well, I think that summarizes out true Canadian adventure! Hopefully, if you find yourself in or near Ottawa one winter, you can use this post to inspire your itinerary!
Always grateful,
Michelle
Exploring With Gratitude 