Why this ride
From Ottawa it runs 403 km to Ottawa; allow about 5 h 27 of riding. The stops in between: Fort Henry, Cathcart Tower, Fort Frederick and Shoal Tower. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ottawa long day · Shoal Tower
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 403 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 27
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Seaway Trail
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 2 km this is Seaway Trail, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 2 km
- Named road
- Seaway Trail
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Ottawa
Ottawa is a capital that still has the feel of a lumber town. It began in the 1820s as Bytown, named for Colonel John By, the army engineer who was sent to build a canal to link the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario, and the Rideau Canal, finished in 1832, still runs through the middle of the city. In winter it freezes and becomes one of the longest skating rinks in the world, with commuters gliding to work in scarves and hats, and in summer boats pass through the locks beside the grand Château Laurier hotel. The canal is a UNESCO site, and the whole waterway to Kingston is a good place to follow by bike.
Read the complete Ottawa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ottawa is where the day begins. Next is Fort Henry.
2. Fort Henry
Fort Henry stands on a limestone headland above the point where Lake Ontario narrows into the St. Lawrence River, and its job was to protect the eastern end of the Great Lakes. A first fort was thrown up here during the War of 1812, and the big stone fortress you see today was built between 1832 and 1837, after the British worried that the Americans might one day try again. It never fired a shot in anger, which is the usual fate of well-built forts, and it has been restored as a museum, where the Fort Henry Guard in red coats and white gaiters stage drills, marches and musket volleys in summer.
Read the complete Fort Henry write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort Henry comes up about 194 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cathcart Tower.
3. Cathcart Tower
Cathcart Tower stands on Cedar Island, a low, rocky speck in Lake Ontario just off Kingston's harbour, and it is one of a ring of stone towers the British built in the 1840s to guard the city. They are called Martello towers, after a design the British had copied from a tower on Corsica, and they were meant to be squat, thick-walled gun platforms that were hard to knock down. Kingston has four, built in a time of tension with the United States over the Oregon boundary. None was ever tested in battle.
Read the complete Cathcart Tower write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 196 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathcart Tower. Next is Fort Frederick.
4. Fort Frederick
Fort Frederick occupies Point Frederick, a peninsula across the harbour from the old city, and the first thing to understand is that it is now part of a military college. The Royal Military College of Canada was founded here in 1876, and cadets in scarlet or green still march across the parade square and jog around the campus. The point has been a naval and military site for more than two centuries, which gives it an unusual density of history.
Read the complete Fort Frederick write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort Frederick, about halfway. Next is Shoal Tower.
5. Shoal Tower
Planning note
Shoal Tower sits at 200 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort Frederick.
6. back through Fort Frederick
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort Frederick write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort Frederick comes up about 204 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cathcart Tower.
7. back through Cathcart Tower
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathcart Tower write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 207 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cathcart Tower. Next is back through Fort Henry.
8. back through Fort Henry
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort Henry write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort Henry, late in the day. Next is Ottawa.
9. Ottawa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ottawa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 403 km.
Leg by leg
Ottawa to Fort Henry
Ottawa → Fort Henry is 194 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Fort Henry to Ottawa
back through Fort Henry → Ottawa is 194 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Ottawa afternoon · Rideau Canal · 128 km
- Great Lakes Seaway Trail East · 265 km
- Seaway Trail: Rochester New York to Cape Vincent · 241 km