Ottawa Greenspaces

There were complaints about Ottawa city planner Jacques Gréber when he started creating a horseshoe of green space around Ottawa in the 1950s (frustrated developers called him “Jacques Grabber”). But thanks to him, we now have 200 square kilometres (124 sq mi) of greenbelt around the downtown core alone. For picnicking, swimming, Frisbee, hiking, snowshoeing – you name it – here are some locations worth considering (depending on your goals, of course). (Inline skaters can use the miles and miles of paths that line either side of the Rideau Canal, from Wellington Street/Rideau Street all the way down to Hog’s Back, and back.)

Andrew Haydon Park, Acres Road and Carling Avenue: In the west end of the city, this park is named after a former mayor of the City of Nepean. It sits on the Ottawa River and has a view of Britannia Bay. Includes a picnic area, artificial lake, road concession, and yacht club. Considering the state of some parts of the Ottawa River, swimming is not recommended.

Commissioners Park (at Dow’s Lake), Carling Avenue at Queen Elizabeth Driveway: Home to the Dow’s Lake Boathouse, with concessions and restaurants, this is a popular spot during many regattas, as well as during the Tulip Festival in May, and the Winterlude carnival in February.

Confederation Park, Elgin Street at Laurier Avenue: Across the street from the new City Hall (110 Laurier Ave. W.), this is the site of various events throughout the year, including Winterlude, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and Canada Day celebrations, as well as many others. The fountain here once stood in Trafalgar Square in London, England.

Dow’s Lake: Formerly Dow’s Swamp, Dow’s Lake was created during the construction of the Rideau Canal, and its proximity to Confederation Park, the Central Experimental Farm, and Dow’s Lake Boathouse make it a good spot for picnickers and boat enthusiasts.

Garden of the Provinces, Wellington at Bay Streets: Across from the Library and Archives Canada building, this park commemorates the union of 10 provinces and the territories with flags, bronze plaques featuring the provincial flowers, and a symbolic fountain overlooking LeBreton Flats and the start of the Ottawa River Parkway.

Gatineau Park: a 15-minute drive north of downtown Ottawa, this park is home to a whole slew of trails for biking, walking, snowshoeing, skiing, or hiking. Hog’s Back Falls (officially known as Prince of Wales Falls), Hog’s Back Road at Colonel By Drive: Near Carleton University, these falls are where the Rideau Canal passes through the first locks in Ottawa, with a swing bridge to enable sailing boats to pass under the roadway.

Hog’s Back Park and nearby Vincent Massey Park are both popular spots. Jacques Cartier Park, Rue Laurier, Gatineau: This park, situated between the Interprovincial and Macdonald-Cartier bridges, has great views of Rideau Falls and Nepean Point, and is a popular festival events location, with the Outaouais Tourism office nearby, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization across the street. Pathways connect to Leamy Lake and the Gatineau River.

Leamy Lake Ecological Park and Archaeological Site, Leamy Lake Parkway, accessed from Boulevard Maissoneuve, Gatineau: Where the Gatineau River meets the Ottawa River, this was once a stopping-off point for the First Nations peoples as well as French fur traders, and has since been recognized as a rich site for archaeological digs. The park also has a lake with swimming and windsurfing, and a concession stand. The new Casino de Hull is directly across from Leamy Lake beach.

Major’s Hill Park, Mackenzie Avenue (behind the Château Laurier Hotel): The city’s oldest park, it was developed in 1874 for its view of the Parliament Buildings, and was once the home of Lieutenant-Colonel John By (though his home is long gone). Currently the park is the site of the Astrolabe Theatre and the noon gun, fired daily off Nepean Point.

Mer Bleue Conservation Area, Anderson Road off Inness Road: This parkland is a peat bog, more typical of what you might find in Canada’s far north, despite being located southeast of the city.

New Edinburgh Park, Stanley Avenue and Dufferin Road: On the eastern bank of the Rideau River, this park has plenty of wildlife, including blue herons, muskrats, turtles, and butterflies. In the winter, there is an outdoor skating rink. Pine Grove Forest, Hunt Club at Conroy Roads: This 12-square-kilometre (7.5-sq-mi) urban forest, managed by the National Capital Commission, combines natural and planted forest, and offers wide and level trails for hiking.

Vincent Massey Park, Heron Road (west of Riverside Dr., 733-7704): Just north of Hog’s Back Park and Mooney’s Bay, this park, named for Canada’s first Canadian-born Governor General, is used for events involving large groups, with numerous picnic tables and fireplaces as well as softball fields, horseshoe pits, and a bandstand; in winter, it has some of the best tobogganing hills in the city. A parking fee of $4 is charged from May to October each year.

For the Birds

One of the foremost birders in North America is Ottawa-born Bruce Di Labio, who currently lives just outside Ottawa in the village of Carp. A member of the Ottawa Field- Naturalist’s Club (which is the oldest natural history club in Canada, dating back to 1879), Di Labio spent much of the 1980s working for the Museum of Nature in ornithology before working for the Canadian Nature Federation as Staff Naturalist and finally launching his own birding business in 1998. He conducts birding classes, field trips, and local group tours in Canada, and has also led birding tours to Arizona, Alaska, Texas, New Jersey, California, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Churchill, Manitoba. (See also the Ottawa Field-Naturalists)

Life’s a Beach

If you feel safer with lifeguard supervision while you’re out in the sand, here are some beaches the City keeps an eye on: Britannia Beach (2805 Carling Ave., 820- 1211), Mooney’s Bay Beach (2926 Riverside Dr., 248-0863), and Westboro Beach (follow Ottawa River Pkwy. to Kitchissippi Lookout).

Ottawa Pools

There are a number of public pools around town, including many outdoor ones attached to community centres. They include:

Brewer Pool (100 Brewer Way, 247-4938),
Canterbury (2185 Arch St.,247-4865),
Champagne Pool (321 King Edward Ave., 244-4402),
Deborah Anne Kirwan Pool (1300 Kitchener Ave., 247-4820),
Dovercourt (411 Dovercourt Ave., 798-8951, x234),
Goulbourn Recreation Complex (1500 Shea Rd., 831-1169),
Jack Purcell Pool (320 Jack Purcell La., 564-1027),
Kanata Wave Pool & Leisure Centre (70 Aird Pl., 591-9283),
Lowertown Pool (40 Cobourg Str., 244-4406),
Nepean Sportsplex (1701 Woodroffe Ave., 580-2828),
Orléans Recreation Complex (1490 Youville Dr., 824-0819),
Pinecrest (2250 Torquay Ave., 828-3118),
Plant Bath (930 Somerset St. W., 232-3000),
Sawmill Creek (3380 D’Aoust Ave.),
Splash Wave Pool (2040 Ogilvie Rd., 748-4222),
St-Laurent (525 Côté St., 742-6767),
Walter Baker Sports Centre (100 Malvern Dr., 580-2788).

Ottawa Sailing Clubs

The original site of the Britannia Aquatic Club, founded in 1887, was an old mill on Lac Deschênes. As the Britannia Boating Club, they had a number of teams in competitions, and won the Canadian War Canoe Championship in 1902, later won by the Ottawa Canoe Club in 1904; further, boat club member and Ottawa resident Frank Amyot won the gold medal in 1,000-metre (0.6-mi) paddling at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Currently known as the Britannia Yacht Club (828-5167), they have ample facilities for boating, sailing, and tennis, as well as a large banquet hall.

Carelton Cup

Called “The Ultimate Canadian Triathalon,” the Carleton Cup combines skating, running, and drinking in an annual race down Rideau Canal to raise money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Started in 1989 as a diversion to make winter more tolerable for Carleton University students, the race traditionally takes place on the first Saturday of Winterlude. It starts at the Carleton University campus, moves down the Rideau Canal, and ends at a pub in the Byward Market. Far from helping Carleton University work against its reputation as a slacker school, the Carleton Cup has become a local tradition and even gained a bit of international attention (it didn’t hurt that comedian Mike Myers once wore a Carleton Cup T-shirt while on Saturday Night Live). Kudos also came from such notable Canadian icons as Pierre Berton, Maurice “Rocket” Richard, and Stompin’ Tom Connors.

Golfing in Ottawa

In 2006, Ottawa pediatrician Kathy Keely took over as the first female president in the 115-year history of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club (1405 Aylmer Rd., 819-777-3866). Female members were granted the same rights as men—including the right to vote and access to the president’s lounge and parts of the clubhouse verandah—only 10 years earlier, ending a century of discrimination. The exclusive club was founded in 1891 during Queen Victoria’s reign, and given its “royal” designation by King George V in 1912.

To take your own “Mulligans,” you can either play here (check for availability) or at a whole slew of other golf courses in Ottawa and around Ottawa, including:

Eagle Creek Golf Course (109 Royal Troon La., Dunrobin, 832-3400),

The Marshes Golf Club at Brookstreet (320 Terry Fox Dr., 271-1800),

Metcalfe Golf and Country Club (1956 8th Line Rd., Metcalfe, 821-3673),

Pine View Municipal Golf Course (1471 Blair Rd., Gloucester, 746-4653),

Rockcliffe Golf Driving Range (CFB Ottawa North, 746-4957)

Casselview Golf and Country Club (in Casselman, Hwy. 417 E.t, exit 66, about 25 minutes from Ottawa, 798-4653).

For the much smaller version of the game, check out the Game Professional Miniature Golf Course (3708 Navan Rd., 841-2323), Mini Golf Gardens (2 Collonade Rd. N., 723-5359), or Capital Golf Centre (3798 Bank St., 521-2612).

Birth of the Mulligan

A “Mulligan” is a golf term that refers to a “do-over,” or free shot to substitute for a mistake. But who was the original “Mulligan,” the lax linksman who gave the shot its name?

Turns out it was David Bernard Mulligan, who during the 1920s ran the Lord Elgin Hotel on Elgin Street for a while before moving to the United States. Originally born in Pembroke, Ontario, Mulligan was a member of a number of clubs, including the St Lambert Country Club in Quebec. A real comedian, he insisted on repeating failed swings during his games, and for whatever reason, he not only got away with it, it also became a running joke.

James Naismith: Dr Hoops

If you travel a bit west of town, between Almonte and the Mill of Kintail, you’ll find a roadside plaque commemorating Dr James Naismith, the inventor of the game of basketball, who was born nearby. A physical education teacher and Presbyterian minister, he invented the game while working in Massachusetts in 1891.

Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame

For further information on Ottawa sporting legends, be sure to check out the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame on the second level concourse at Scotiabank Place.

Founded in 1966, the Hall is open whenever Scotiabank Place is, and has since inducted more than 200 members, including Cyclone Taylor, Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Aurel Joliat, Mark Kosmos, Phil Maloney, Franklin Thomas Ahearn, Francis (Frank) Amyot, Marjorie Blackwood, Donald Booth, Sheryl Boyle, Cyril Joseph (Cy) Denneny, Francois Xavier (Frank) Boucher, and John George (Buck) Boucher.

Sam Bats: A Bat Maker of our Own

Batter Up: Ottawa may be a hockey town, but it’s also home to a little factory that just happens to produce bats for Major League Baseball’s all-time home run king. Barry Bonds and a number of other major leaguers use bats produced by the Original Maple Bat Corporation, founded by Ottawa’s Sam Holman, who produces well over 10,000 bats a year in his inconspicuous shop.

Developed in 1997, the “Sam Bat” is made out of Canadian maple; it doesn’t dent easily and thus lasts longer than any others. Holman claims that living in Ottawa offered an advantage for developing his product.

As the company’s website says: “[Ottawa] was a researcher’s dream centre: home of the Canadian patent library, two first-rate universities, the Wood Council, the Canadian Forest Research Centre, the National and other extensive Libraries – all in the centre of the richest deciduous forest in North America.”

The (Former) Ottawa Lynx

Ottawa’s own minor league baseball team, the Lynx were formed in 1993, and were for many years the farm team for the Montreal Expos (which also no longer exist). The Lynx were sold in August 2006, making
them a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate.

The team played out the 2007 season in Ottawa
at Lynx Stadium (300 Coventry Rd.), but moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the 2008 season, as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Notable Lynx alumni include Orlando Cabrera, Ugueth Urbina, Javier Vazquez, José Vidro, and Canadian Adam Loewen.

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