Where can you bike to a museum, ride the rapids to your campsite or hike to the restaurant? Eastern Ontario is most well known for its historic waterways, including the Ottawa and St Lawrence rivers. The haunts of the early French explorers and fur traders still take modern day adventurers down Ontario’s most sought after white water. Major cities, such as Kingston and the Ottawa Capital Region, are on the doorstep of countless opportunities; offering that chance to blend urban and rural adventures.

There are enough festivals happening in the summer and fall to keep you and your lawn chair on the move (from jazz to folk to blues to kayaking). But if you’d prefer to be on your feet, the trail systems are top notch and areas such as Frontenac offer a variety from short day hikes to die hard wear-out-your-boots long distance treks. A drive through the Opeongo Hills and Madawaska region (the highest elevations in the southern part of Ontario) will take you to more trails, a chance to try ‘spelunking’ in the caves and excellent waters for paddling.

The thousand islands don’t have a thousand islands? It’s true, there are close to 1,800. Downstream from Kingston, the island hoppers of the Gananoque region enjoy boating, camping and sailing; along with sandy beaches (but who really likes sandy beaches?).
Paddlers travel frequently down the Rideau Heritage Route which also offers good trails for cycling. A short drive from Ottawa, Toronto or Kingston, there are thousands of acres of crown land and over 5,000 lakes in an area appropriately referred to as Land O Lakes.

Winter in Eastern Ontario has many tying up their skates to enjoy the lengths of the World’s Largest Outdoor Skating Rink (on the Rideau Canal) and to chomp into a Beaver Tail. Don’t worry, it’s actually just a pastry! Eastern Ontario also boasts several down hill ski areas, many trail systems for cross-country and naturally, about all the snowshoeing ground you could ever imagine.