Nice park for night camping or just spending your day along the lake. Specially the picnic place around the lake with muddy beach is great for picnic with kids (gets really crowded on sunny weekends). Toilet access near the beach is good. It has a sandy volleyball court as well. You'll have to pay for day pass (I think $15 if you are not staying overnight). It has nice camp grounds as well encircled with large trees with toilet access. Please beware of the tons of mosquitoes in and around camp grounds and make your life living hell so please carry some bug sprays and after bites. Wish they had more toilets around the camp grounds. You can get ice and some bare minimum snacks as well from the front office at the entrance. All in all, had a nice experience here with my family.

Made some amazing memories here with a group of 15 people in their 20's, and we didn't even get so much as a ticket. Given the size of our group, and the amount of alcohol we brought, we were sure to at least get a fine for excessive noise, but the wardens were very reasonable and respectful. Shawn, Tyler and Jones showed us a lot of respect and kindness. Jones even went above and beyond and offered to move us to a more secluded area where we could stay up as late as we wanted without disturbing the other campers. Insuring that both us and the other campers had the best weekend possible. 10/10 will be back again!

Went for a weekend had a great time. The beach was clean, the water was nice if a little shallow. The campsites were a good size for about two tents. Don’t believe other reviews about getting tickets from Shawn. Me and my friends are all a bunch of drinking degenerates in our early to mid 20’s and we went the whole weekend without a single ticket. Shawn came by twice and was so kind about asking us just to respect our neighbours because we were easily the loudest on our block. Then the second day this really hot ranger named Jones came by and set us up in a different area away from everyone else. The staff make me want to come back next year. If you are getting tickets from Shawn, Tyler, or Jones you probably deserve an extra one for being a jerk because they were all super nice people. Hope Tyler gets some Pink Whitney soon.

Rideau River Provincial Park is a family oriented park especially for families with young children. It's close to Ottawa. The camp sites has quite everything you need. Drinking water, washrooms, supervised swimming area, kids playground, boat ramp, BBQ area and more. To enter the park, you need a daily pass. For camp sites, you need to reserve in advance

Friendly people and rangers. Good facilities, they have electrified and non electrified camp sites. Canoe rental (36$ for full day)is an extra thing they have. The beach is shallow and good for children. A 30 mon ride from Ottawa, this was a good starter camping experience for us

Great campground. The staff are lovely. Kids enjoyed the discovery program about trees. Great trails in the area, beach was busy but nice. The kid program boxes were a hit as well

It was a nice experience for camping. All camping goods are available in the store located at the entrance.moreover, maintenance is awesome and only disappointing thing is slots are too close to eachother where you have to keep your voice low to avoid disturbance to others. During night times you can also hear people snoring. Washrooms are also near to the site and there is a river for boating. kayak

Nice location along the bank of the Rideau. Campsites were clean and well maintained, as were bathrooms and other amenities. The real highlight, however, was the wonderful Warden Jones. She took the initiative and offered us a campsite that improved the experience of both our group and our neighbours, and dutifully checked in regularly. She was friendly and polite, and deserves a pay raise.

Enjoyed staying at Rideau river provincial park. Would definitely stay again. Camp sites are big. Park is very clean. Staff was always helpful if you have a question. They do sell wood. Only thing I would say is next time we will be picking a spot closer to the water, our spot was close to the highway so at night you could hear the cars driving by really fast.

Had a great time in a cabin. Nice park with small beach. Highly recommended for families

Soft Sided Roofed Accommodations Camping Nightmare If you're an avid camper stay away. It's too close to the city so you may end up next to new campers who think it's a hotel and don't respect others around you. The soft sided roofed accommodations are lovely. Problem is they are too close next to each other and isolated from the wardens route so if your neighbors are loud and ignorant there is no recourse. Book both cabins next to each other with another family you know and you can probably have a decent time. Take away is...if you actually like camping and are used to listening to nature don't bother with the roofed accommodations. I don't know about the sound level at the tent camping sites. It's basically Mooneys Bay....

Great spot for families! Nice beach. Lots of parks. Really close to Kemptville to get supplies for camping. Campsites are clean and well groomed. Staff is friendly and it never feels too crowded.

Nice staff like I mean really nice staff I didn't pass one staff member who didn't look happy to be there and always asked what they could do to help or if we needed anything

Great beach area playground is really nice and has a couple extras sand box area for volleyball or sports near beach area Ample parking spots Beautiful wooded picnic area

Great beach, playground, and picnic area! Water stays shallow for a ways out, which makes it perfect for small children. Free day pass for military!

Great camping experience not even an hour out of the downtown Ottawa core. We have been going to Rideau River for almost a decade now and have always enjoyed it. The staff is courteous, washrooms are clean and the beach and playground area are well maintained. The north side of the park, between the main park road and the highway, can get a bit noisy; I would recommend booking on the south side, the side closest to the water. Given the proximity to the city, the beach area and covered dining area can get quite busy on the Saturday; nothing unmanageable. Site recommendation: 143, 142, 133,135

Greate place for families with young children, nice sandy shallow beach for kids, great picnic area highly recommended!

Great place to go camping with your family

Camping spots are good and picnic with friends and family. But Water is not clean as expected. For kids it will be fine.

Descent park and okay camping for a short get- away. Close to Ottawa. Small campsites and constant noise from the road behind the sites. Too few toilets, so there was always a line. Try the smaller beach, which was less crowded.

Title: Noisy and Disappointing Experience at Rideau River Provincial Park Rating: ★★☆☆☆ My recent visit to Rideau River Provincial Park, specifically campsite 21, was far from enjoyable. The proximity to a busy road resulted in constant noise from passing cars, trucks, and motorcycles. The lack of distance from the road made it difficult to relax and enjoy the park's natural beauty. Additionally, the noise disrupted sleep and raised safety concerns. Overall, the persistent noise pollution greatly diminished the camping experience.

Rideau River Provincial Park is the best camping experience I have ever had. The staff are warm and friendly and helpful. Rideau River is a small provincial campsite. The campsites are large and full of huge tall pine trees. The campsite borders the Rideau River. At night a huge orange moon rises up over the river: great for star gazing. We stayed in a cute pine cabin which was very roomy and clean. The cabin had a porch and a sunroom. Then there is a main room with two beds and a table and chairs. There is cathedral ceiling and big windows. The cabins are very private and wheelchair accessible. The park has a long and winding hiking trail that is approximately one hour in length one way. The forest is wild and filled with enormous pine trees. There are many other excellent hiking trails in the area. Rideau River is not a "buggy" campsite. We were not overrun by insects : a simply lovely private place. Nancy

Booked a last minute site for Labour Day weekend. Our usual park was booked and this park is closer to where we live. The site was smaller and there were more people, but the sites were well maintained and most everyone respected the rules of the park. We were surprised at how the park quieted down in the late evening and we slept very soundly. There seemed to be no raccoon visits in the night. We would certainly pick this park again for a nice weekend away.

We camped here for three nights in late September 2023. Let’s talk about the highlights first 1/ great proximity to Ottawa 2/ Starbucks is only 10 minutes away 3/ very close to the town of Kemptville 4/ large lot sizes Now for the not so great. 1/ woke up at 6AM to several shotgun blast. I grew up with the sound of duck hunters so I knew right away what it was. There’s no mention / warning on their website and nothing said at time of registration. A bit upsetting, especially for our dog 2/ very small beach 3/ no real fishing from shore or the dock because of tremendous amount of weeds. 4/ kayaking was okay, but again there was a tremendous amount of weeds, and a lot of boat traffic that didn’t bother to slow down. Overall disappointing and sorry to say we won’t be back.

Small provincial park with easy access to the Rideau river. The river can get “weedy”, but I am not a swimmer so just being by the water is good enough for me. The staff is wonderful, knowledgeable and friendly. It’s close to home and we keep going back!

We have been coming to Rideau River provincial park for over twenty years. The reason we keep coming back is because the staff make us feel like family especially Caitlin Jones who is one of the wardens that goes way beyond her job with compassion and love for the campers and animals in the park. Not to forget Dan who is one of the maintenance crew that must be a super hero because he is always give a hand to anyone who need one. Thank you guys for every thing that you do. I recommend Rideau River Provincial Park to everyone. JOEL AND CHANTAL

Great camping spot with a nice beach.

It's a great place to enjoy some time with family or friends. I went to camp and it was a great experience. There are beaches for swimming and you are able to kayaking.

Large camp sites, lots of options, good fishing in area, great for memories.

Tonnes of dogs, kids and partiers on the weekend, don't expect to sleep much

I didn't bother reading reviews beforehand thinking that no provincial park would be allowed to operate next to a highway...I was wrong. I thought I selected a nice quiet section with bigger space between neighboring sites, but our site was backing onto the highway which was literally 40 ft away. I could have had a much quieter time in the city in my own backyard. The only good part is that the facilities were nice, separate shower rooms, nice playground for kids.

Great Campsites, the staff is friendly. Had a great time!

This was our first time tent camping. Must say that everything went well. The staff are very nice and friendly. The park is small enough to walk around easily. The river and beach have a lot of weeds growing in them which may not be ideal for swimming. Other than that a very good park for camping 😊

Clean and safe, no frills camping. Bathrooms cleaned regularly, showers quite clean. Firewood is sold in a shed, but I guess it's kept outside before going in the shed. Rained the day before we went and all the wood we bought was soaked (10 bags or so across 4 families in one pit).

Good sized camping sites. Would have liked to see more hiking trail options and watch out for mosquitos, they will carry you away.

Nice beach, it was very quite up until noon and then it got busy. But still, it was pretty nice place to visit with family. They have beach volleyball net as well. There were no beach guards when we went there. Will go there again.

Great campsite. Nice proximity to Kemptville. The sites are large and the trees are luscious. There is a good beach and playground. The sites on the north side of the camp ground are close enough to the highway that it is a bit noisy. That was the case with our site and some of the vehicles on that road are pretty. That was really the only downfall of the park though, other than that though I would highly recommend it!

Would be a nice spot for a first-time camper family, or for those just looking for a campsite to hang out in all weekend. The sites are pretty spacious. Not much else to do in the park. We walked the Shoreline Trail - 1.5k along the river. Most of it not along the shore though.

Scenic and Quiet. IMPORTANT! Even though the park is closed right now you could park outside the gate and walk to the lake.

Clean, relatively quite, easy to maneuver with a large truck and trailer. Fairly packed, but that comes with a provincially camp ground

Beautiful and sunny....lots of space and virtually anybody there.....perfect for exercising during covid👍

Great campground close to Ottawa. If you are camping over night definately try and book a campsite away from the road as you can hear road noise from passing cars if you are sensitive to noise. Great little hiking trail along the water and day use area. I didn't swim but noticed the swimming area is clear of weeds but the entire bank area otherwise is overgrown weeds, lilies and other vegetation. Great for fishing (lots of small fish for kids to catch), but kind of gross if you're on a canoe/kayak/etc).

Closed for the season, but a quiet, beautiful place for a walk.

Peace of mind

You can enjoy fall very well. Swimming is possible but there is no life guard. Explore the park on your bike.

The park is closed today but you can still walk in it. Very quiet, and stunningly beautiful!

Very clean

Good

Best camping facility that I know of! It's beautiful and fun place to go

Camp site was good. Wood was soaked and next to impossible to start a fire. Staff was very cold and not open to helping with any issues we had.

Beautiful park..great for picnics!

Nice park for picnics and shallow water swims. There's also a campground.

Camped here for 4 nights. Overall positive experience with friendly, pleasant staff at the gatehouse and roaming the campgrounds. Campsite and facilities were clean and well maintained. River and river access was excellent. The only downside of the experience was the lack of distance from the local regional road. Noticeable, bordering on annoying, but not quite.

Beautiful park. Lots of trails. Nice gazebo. You can easily spend whole day.

the beach and the water is one of the worst i've been to in Ottawa and surroundings. couldn't even enter the washrooms due to the bad smell!. definitely not worth $15 for entry. barbecue area is nice but there is alot better in Ottawa. first and last time there.

Nice place and over all good park. Beach area wasn't bad either.

Really beautiful place with great service on the patio.

The place is beautiful. Great location friendly staff. My only gripe is the water is murky and full of weeds.

Great park, mostly private sites with not much noise at night!

Don't let anyone know but it's a great place to camp close to the city but far enough away to see stars.

Been camping about 10 years now and this was our first & last time at this park. We just couldn't sleep! The road noise was incredible, the locals drove by in the early morning honking their horns the length of the park and the worst was the 1st time campers locking their car doors with the horns. They kept it up day and night. Saturday night we were wakened at midnight, 2;30 & 4 in the morning by people locking their vehicles. No wardens around to help and unbelievably the girl at the office didn't seem interested. That's the 1st time I have found a provincial park staff member to be less than helpful. Otherwise the park was good, clean, no real swimming area as the deep end is less than waist deep.

Lovely park. Well maintained. The spots are quite large.

Well kept camp ground, but swimming is shallow and grassy beyond thigh depth.

Beautiful and peaceful camping right near the rideau river....large campsites and great staff

ZERO covid 19 measures. Closing down services, and having 6 hour gaps between cleanings on remaining services is NOT how to take effective measures. Thank you for making our experience disgusting and dangerous.

My husband and I have never camped at the campground. Although the beach was nice enough and the camp ground was clean. It was way to close to the road and all day and all night you could hear cars/ trucks drive by. At 1am right across our campsite there were a bunch of campers being extremely loud playing music and over talking each other. So my husband decided to walk to find a park warden with no luck. Next morning we found out that they close at 1am and head home because they’re a small park. They did say there is a police non emergency number to contact. They never made there rounds to make sure people were quiet. We will not be camping hear again!

Beautiful park

Checkin staff had no idea about the campsites. We booked a pull-through campsite but they had no idea if the assigned site was or not. Lugging a long camper we asked if the site could accommodate, staff said to try it. It was a minor miracle we didn't roll the whole truck and camper because there was no way to navigate the tight roads even slow and super wide.

Great for picnics and camping!