Road Trip Ottawa to Petawawa – Upper Ottawa Valley
Ottawa
Petawawa
170
km
2h
drive
All seasons
season
The Itinerary
The upper Ottawa Valley runs northwest from the capital along the river that forms the Ontario-Quebec boundary, and the landscape shifts as you go: farmland and limestone give way to the granite and pine of the Shield, with the Laurentian hills rising on the Quebec bank. The valley has a distinct identity built from Algonquin, French, Irish, Scottish and Polish settlement and a century of square-timber logging that floated white pine down this river to Quebec City.
The drive from Ottawa is about 170 km on Highway 417 and Highway 17 through Arnprior, Renfrew and Cobden. The best-known stop is at Foresters Falls, where Whitewater Brewing Company sits close to the set of rapids that made this stretch of the Ottawa a centre for commercial whitewater rafting; outfitters have been running class IV water here for decades and take complete beginners. Pembroke, the largest town in the valley, has spent thirty years covering its downtown walls with large-scale heritage murals depicting the timber era.
Petawawa is dominated by CFB Petawawa, one of the largest army bases in Canada, established in 1905, and the Canadian Forces Forestry Museum nearby preserves the equipment of the logging trade. Bonnechere Caves at Eganville, a short detour south, are limestone solution caves formed in an ancient tropical sea bed and open for guided tours from May to October. Round Lake and Algonquin Park's eastern side lie further west if you want to keep going.
The drive from Ottawa is about 170 km on Highway 417 and Highway 17 through Arnprior, Renfrew and Cobden. The best-known stop is at Foresters Falls, where Whitewater Brewing Company sits close to the set of rapids that made this stretch of the Ottawa a centre for commercial whitewater rafting; outfitters have been running class IV water here for decades and take complete beginners. Pembroke, the largest town in the valley, has spent thirty years covering its downtown walls with large-scale heritage murals depicting the timber era.
Petawawa is dominated by CFB Petawawa, one of the largest army bases in Canada, established in 1905, and the Canadian Forces Forestry Museum nearby preserves the equipment of the logging trade. Bonnechere Caves at Eganville, a short detour south, are limestone solution caves formed in an ancient tropical sea bed and open for guided tours from May to October. Round Lake and Algonquin Park's eastern side lie further west if you want to keep going.
Points of Interest
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✦
Whitewater BrewingCraft brewery beside the Ottawa River rapids.
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Rafting Ottawa RiverClass IV rapids, with commercial rafting running for 30 years.
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Bonnechere CavesGuided tours through karst caves near Eganville.
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Pembroke MuralsLarge outdoor heritage murals throughout the downtown core.
Protected areas along the route
🌿
PETAWAWA TERRACE PROVINCIAL PARK (NATURAL ENVIRONMENT CLASS)
Provincial Park
🌿
BARRON RIVER PROVINCIAL PARK (WATERWAY CLASS)
Provincial Park
🌿
MUD LAKE/CREEK CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
ALEXANDER STEWART PROVINCIAL PARK (NATURE RESERVE CLASS)
Provincial Park
🌿
WESTMEATH PROVINCIAL PARK (NATURAL ENVIRONMENT CLASS)
Provincial Park
🌿
HAWKINS PROPERTY CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
WESTMEATH BOG CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
CONSTANT CREEK SWAMP AND FEN CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
SNAKE RIVER MARSH CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
Hubert Property
Enhanced Management Area
🌿
WHITE LAKE CONSERVATION RESERVE
Conservation Reserve
🌿
Multiple Natural Resource Use
General Use Area
Take this route offline
Cell coverage thins out fast once you leave Ottawa. Export the map as a geo-referenced PDF before you go and open it in BorealMaps — your GPS position shows on the map with no signal at all.
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- Departure Ottawa
- Destination Petawawa
- Distance 170 km
- Duration 2h
- Category Medium (100–250 km)
- Best season All seasons
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