It was a nice day, most of the trails were either muddy or icy, or both. So we decided to go for a country drive to check on some waterfalls west of the city. The next day I checked out the waterfalls in the city.
In Carleton Place, the Mississippi River goes over a weir and through some sluice gates
Almonte has two sets of falls on the Mississippi. One at the base of Mill Street, the downtown shopping area. The second set is not far away, just a bit west by the Textile Museum.
(The best viewpoint for the second set of falls has been blocked off (with PRIVATE PROPERTY signs) by an old mill that was converted to a condominium.)
Blakeney, just west of Almonte has a set of waterfalls/rapids. There are two higher rapids, that can't be easily photographed, as the water churns its way through small islands over a 300m distance.
Getting closer to Arnprior, Pakenham offers great ice cream cones in the summer, an historic unique five span bridge and a set of rapids.
West of Arnprior, between Eganville and Renfrew, there are five waterfalls on the Bonnechere River. We didn't get to them this time, but we have visited them several times in past summers. There are also waterfalls east of Ottawa on both the Ontario and Quebec side and waterfalls west of Ottawa on the Quebec side. Can't do them all!
The next day I headed out and visited Hogs Back Falls, Chaudiere Falls, Rideau Falls and Princess Louise Falls in Orleans.
Hogs Back had a heavy flow of water going through. Unlike the summer when herons often fish within the falls, there was no way that will be happening for a few weeks at least.
Not that many years ago, you could access a newly developed plaza to get a close up view of the Chaudiere Falls. One year they even had a sound and light show at the falls. That area seemed to be blocked off by construction so I had settle for views from the bridge going to Gatineau.
The flow over the Rideau Falls was like a miniature Niagara Falls. But the colour of the water was something else...
The Prince Louise Waterfalls in Orleans aren't well known. They are a small set of falls that go over the escarpment adjacent to St Joseph Blvd east of Place d'Orleans.
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