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This year, the NCC is running a ski trail pilot in Vincent Massey Park in the Heron Road/Riverside Drive area. It is basically an extension of the existing trail along the east side of the Rideau River which until last season stopped near Billings Bridge.
A welcome urban ski addition
Last weekend we decided to try it out. We don’t always feel like driving to Asticou to get an hour of skiing in, as it is a 25 minute drive each way if all goes well. Before Christmas, for several reasons, it took us 50 minutes to get to Asticou. By the way, the bus(es) would take over an hour and a half each way from where we live.
For us it is a welcome addition, as we live less than 3 kilometers away from Hog’s Back and Vincent Massey Park. So on a sunny Sunday morning we were skiing in Vincent Massey Park. I bike there often but being there on the skis feels very different, almost a completely different park. The sun was out, there was lots of snow, the tracks were in excellent condition and it wasn’t busy.
On the way out from Hog’s Back, where we parked, we stayed close to the river on a narrow path. It is where there is usually a footpath, leading towards a set of stairs closer to Heron Road. The super narrow sidewalk underneath the Heron bridges was skiable, but contaminated with lots of salt and sand, so not a good place for skis. We took our skis off and walked to the south entrance of Vincent Massey Park instead.
Vincent Massey Park
There we followed the tracks on the bike path towards the new pedestrian and cycling bridge, connecting the park with Carleton U. Past the bridge, we skied underneath the O-train and through the more wooded area toward Riverside.
From there on, you are pretty close to traffic unfortunately, but it is the only way to connect to Billings Bridge, where you can ski underneath the bridge further north. We turned at the tiny wall that was once part of the blacksmith building of Billings Estate but had to be removed for Riverside Drive (“Progress is a four lane road”).
Returning to the pedestrian bridge area near Carleton University, we veered left into the woods. This is the former staging area for the bridge construction, and was turned into a nice path that leads to the Tupper parking lot on the corner of Riverside and Heron after the pedestrian bridge construction was finished. From there, you can loop back to the south entrance of the Park.
While Hog’s Back is not part of the new trail section, it is adjacent to Vincent Massey Park. It is the short stretch between the falls and the south end of Vincent Massey Park at the Heron road bridges that you will have to cover on your own. We incorporated that part in our trip. Which is not hard as there is bound to be someone before you who already set the trail anyway.
Parking
The parking lot on the corner of Riverside and Heron looks like it has about 800 parking spots but it is basically empty in the weekends. It is run by Indigo and my guess is that you pay with the Indigo app. Open 24/7.
The NCC, that runs Vincent Massey Park, has its own parking lot for the park, with a few hundred parking spots. (2026: $1 per half hour)
Finally, Hog’s Back has its own smaller parking lot too but it is not on the official main trail (yet). Or take light rail Line 2 to Carleton and ski all the way to Hurdman and take light rail (Line 1) there.
The trail is free and maintained by volunteers, so consider donating to your local community members who make this possible. Here is the link if you’d like to support the Rideau Winter Trail on GoFundMe. Donations can also be made by e-transfer to [email protected].
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