Rideau Falls

Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario, marks where the Rideau River joins the Ottawa River in two roughly 35-foot cascades divided by Green Island. Early French observers named the falls for their curtain-like appearance, and the river later took its name from them; Samuel de Champlain praised the site as “a marvelous fall.” In the 19th century, the falls became part of an industrial district, with stoplog dams built to control water and generate power, structures that still shape the site. The Rideau Canal, completed in 1832, bypassed the falls and Hog’s Back Falls to create a navigable route, and after the Second World War the surrounding area was redeveloped as Rideau Falls Park.

Ontario · Canada