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Set on the Rideau River and part of the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site, this park offers water-based adventures. Swim at Main Beach, which has a gradual, family-friendly drop-off, or fish for bass and pickerel, or try boating or paddling upstream or down, passing through the hand-cranked locks along the 202-kilometre canal that has connected Ottawa with the St. Lawrence since 1832.
Charlottenburg Park
Less than 20 kilometres east of Cornwall, this conservation area sits along the St. Lawrence. Swim at the beach, or hike and bike on the four-kilometre, looped path, which connects with a larger network of trails. You could ride all the way upriver to the Thousand Islands and Toronto, or downstream to Montreal.
Summer is the height of the tourist season—for better and worse. This is the best, hottest time to get outside, swim, and paddle. But it’s also very busy, with Canadians making the most of the warm months before the inevitable arrival of a long winter. April can be rainy, and days warm through May, with the best camping in June, July, August, and early September. In autumn, the trees change colour, with the height of the fall colours peaking around Canadian Thanksgiving in early October. If you love the snow, come for ice fishing and cross-country ski trails.