Ottawa area camping

[The Big Kid]

Hi all,

this summer, on our families cross Canada mis-adventure, we are thinking of stopping in Ottawa.

request recommendations of central camping for 2-3 nights, that is convienient to the touristy stuff (the Zoo- aka Parliment-, war museum, etc), as well as the airport(considering flying kids to sisters house, then take a week of just me and the missus to get to sisters house).

I have been looking at maps/ websearches, but now I am looking for some horses to start flapping thier gums(aka straight from the horses mouth).

Interested in any stories, good and bad, about any that people have experience with.

We are looking at around 10-12ish July.

thanks

TBK

[The Big Kid]

Hi all,

this summer, on our families cross Canada mis-adventure, we are thinking of stopping in Ottawa.

request recommendations of central camping for 2-3 nights, that is convienient to the touristy stuff (the Zoo- aka Parliment-, war museum, etc), as well as the airport(considering flying kids to sisters house, then take a week of just me and the missus to get to sisters house).

I have been looking at maps/ websearches, but now I am looking for some horses to start flapping thier gums(aka straight from the horses mouth).

Interested in any stories, good and bad, about any that people have experience with.

We are looking at around 10-12ish July.

thanks

TBK

[George Eh]

Hi Big Kid, we have stayed at a couple of campgrounds in Ottawa and have found the Ottawa Municipal Campground to be quite nice. It is very much like a Provincial park but is run by the city and is just off Hwy 417 not far from the city center. Here is an url to the campsite Ottawa Municipal park. WE also stayed at Ottawa's Poplar Grove Camp which is 23 km s of the parliament bldgs but it was closer to my sisters home than the Ottawa Municipal Park. It is very much like most private parks with smaller lots, pull thrus and not much privacy but we just used it as a base and it was handy at the time. Of the two I preferred the municpal park. There is also Rideau River Prov Park about a half hour from Ottawa but I never stayed there as it was closed for renovations and ended up at Poplar Grove. Here is the url for Poplar Grove and Rideau River. Hope this helps some.

[brad03ca]

Hello George... Our Campground Review Section,(Canada) was deleted in a recent server crash, and should be back by next week sometime.
If you get a chance Please add these parks to our C/G Review list.
I have around seven to resubmit myself. I think this is a good service, especially adding your personal comments about each park you list. Could make the difference between a good stay and bad stay to someone else......Brad

[LazyDog]

Hey Kid

Sorry for the delay in a reply but I was looking for other RV answers and stumbled upon your post.
George has hit the nail on the head regarding campgrounds close to the 'action' in Ottawa. Your best bet is the municipal campground; you'll need to have your own wheels though because the public transportation from there to downtown is convoluted and slow. I agree with his assessment and would add that the Rideau River campground is open, ready for business and quite nice as it's a provincial campground. Unfortunately it's about 45 minutes to downtown. Can't comment on the Poplar Grove campsite but would addHither Hills to the list which is much as George describes Poplar Grove but is 15 minutes to Parliment Hill and a straight shot up Bank street.
I hope you and your family do take the time to stop by and check out what Ottawa has to offer. There are many attractions and opportunities that those of us who live in the vacinity take for granted and are funded by Federal tax $. Plan to spend some time and get you money's worth!

[Colette and Joe]

We stayed at Recreationland in Rockland. Our daughter lives in Westboro, so we had about a 15 min drive to her house, but we just avoided rush hours and it was enjoyable. The cg was great and the people were great and the town of Rocland was wonderful.

[The Big Kid]

thanks for the input,

now if I can just get my grown ups to make a decision I would know when I can go on my trip which then tells me which direction I can go.

[LazyDog]

Colette and Joe

Next time you visit your daughter, may I suggest you try the Municipal Campground? You'll find yourself a true 5 minutes from Westboro and in a nice CG too!

[Colette and Joe]

Rich, that was our first consideration. It looks like a terrific park. This was mid-August and we needed 50amp and wanted sewer if possible. It was for the birth of our daughters first baby, so we could not do a lot of pre planning for the dates.
So even though it was east of Ottawa, Recreation land had full 50amp hook ups. That made living much eaiser. While we were there, Joe had a filled tooth break, we went into Rockland and found a dentist who took us right away and was fantastic.
We did determine that when/if we go back, we would love to try Ottawa Municipal if we can get in.
The kids next assignment (US Navy) will be in Grotton, Ct come this Dec. so we will get to explore that area of the country.
We sure did love the Ottawa area. We realy wanted to get there in Feb. for Winter Fest, but could not find ANY place to park the RV ( , the only way we travel.

[LazyDog]

Hard to get better advertising than that ..... at any price! Thrilled you were treated so well in the Ottawa area!
Unfortunatly WinterFest has been a rather wet affair the past few years. Seems the Global Warming issue likes to make itself known right about that time of year! Perhaps a change to WaterFest is more in keeping! If you get back again in the winter don't forget your skates for one of the world's longest rinks (seems there's a bit of a dispute)! It's truly a wonderful time to be here!