The Rideau River (, ) is a river in

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawr ...

, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

at the

Rideau Falls The Rideau Falls () are two 11-metre (36 ft.) waterfalls located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River. The falls are divided by Green Island, with Ottawa's Old City Hall just to the south. To the w ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Its length is . As explained in a writing by

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

in 1613, the river was given the name "Rideau" ( for, fr, , curtain) because of the appearance of the Rideau Falls. The Ojibwe language, Anishinàbemowin name for the river is . The

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

, which allows travel from Ottawa to the city of

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

, was formed by joining the Rideau River with the Cataraqui River. The river diverges from the Canal at Hog's Back Falls in Ottawa. In early spring, to reduce flooding on the lower section of the river, workers from the city of Ottawa use ice blasting to clear the ice which covers the river from Billings Bridge to Rideau Falls by cutting "keys" through the ice and using

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s to break off large sheets of ice. This practice has been going on for more than 100 years. The regulatory authority charged with protecting the Rideau River and its tributaries is the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

History

Samuel de Champlain, who was the first European to have seen the river, named it for, fr, rideau, curtain due to the resemblance between Rideau Falls and a

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain) water. Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's windows to block the passage of light. For instan ...

. In earlier times, the river was used as a transportation route between the

and

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

. The fertility of the lands along the banks of Rideau river attracted

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

settlers looking for good farmlands, which led to growth of settlements in the surrounding regions. After the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, a

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

, designed by

John By Lieutenant-Colonel John By (7 August 1779 – 1 February 1836) was an English military engineer. He is best known for having supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal and for having founded Bytown in the process. It developed and was desi ...

, was built through Rideau River connecting

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

to Ottawa.

Tributaries

* Adrians Creek * Duck Creek * Tay River * Black Creek * Otter Creek * Rosedale Creek * Irish Creek * Babers Creek * Atkinsons Creek * Rideau Creek * Dales Creek * Brassils Creek * Murphy Drain * Kemptville Creek * McDermott Drain * Cranberry Creek * Steven Creek * Mud Creek *

Jock River The Jock River, known locally as the Mighty Jock, is a river in Ottawa and Lanark County in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Shows the course of the river highlighted on a topographic map. It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin and is a left tri ...

* Black Rapids Creek * Nepean Creek * Brewer Park Pond (connected via a culvert) * Sawmill Creek

Communities

Communities along the Rideau include: *

, Ontario *

Manotick, Ontario Manotick ( ) is a community in Rideau-Jock Ward in the rural south part of the City of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a commuter town, suburb of the city, located on the Rideau River, immediately south of the suburbs Barrhaven, Ontario, B ...

Kars, Ontario Kars is a village on the Rideau River within Rideau-Jock Ward in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Prior to joining the city in 2000 it was part of Rideau Township. History Kars was originally named Wellington Village. In 1857, to distinguish it f ...

* North Grenville, Ontario * Merrickville, Ontario *

Smiths Falls, Ontario Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is administratively separated from the county. ...

Islands

* Barnes Island * Beech Island *

Cummings Island Cummings Island is an uninhabited island in the Rideau River in the city of Ottawa in Canada and the site of a former settlement. History The island's first settler was Charles Cummings, who built there his house in 1840 and operated a ferry a ...

* Green Island * James Island * Kilmarnock Island * Libby Island *

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

* Maple Island * Nicolls Island * Porter Island * Sanders Island

References

External links

*
Rideau Valley Conservation Authority
*
Biodiversity of the Rideau River (CMN, nature.ca)
{{Canadian Heritage Rivers System Rivers of Ottawa Canadian Heritage Rivers