rkalsi

Hi. Not sure if you got many replies but last year I did Ottawa to Perth the first day on the Ottawa Carleton Trailway (nice and flat) then started on a newish rail trail from there heading South towards Perth. Its rougher and frequented by ATV's, but do-able. From Perth I took part of the Cataraqui trail, but it was just 2 ruts...more of a horse trail, so I got off it and went along #15 down to #42/33/3 down to near Ivy Lea where I camped for the night. The waterfront trail along there is great but very inconsistent with some sections no paved shoulder, so can feel dangerous. I haven't biked through Kingston on it but this year did a section from Cobourg East to Presqu'ile (pretty good) and West to Port Hope.(some shoulder but again, inconsistent).
I haven't found a great route from Ottawa South to the Waterfront trail yet.
Hope that helps a bit.
Maps: Get the Eastern Ontario and Mid Eastern Ontario trail Recreational Trail maps (ontariotrailmaps.ca)
Also found Peterborough and Kawarthas Cycling and Trail Maps helpful

scycheng

I have ridden most of this route over the years. The OBC's Ottawa to Kingston and back weekend ride uses some of this route on one or 2 of their routing options. The main route form Kingston to Westport has way too much traffic for my taste.

I bypassed Perth though it is really worth of a detour if you need a camping spot. Perth is one of the prettiest towns in Eastern Ontario if not Ontario. Merrickville is likely the prettiest village in Ontario.

As someone else said, you can always camp by the locks. There will be running water. The route goes through/by many of the locks but I don't intentionally detour to any lock.

Routing to get to Parliament Hill gets trickier due to urban traffic and constuction but this route avoids most of the worst bits. Have fun and good luck.

https://www.komoot.com/tour/839135107?ref=wtd

user2

Not sure if you've already done this trip, but I've toured a bit between Perth and Ottawa (I live in Gatineau).

Camping at lockstations has been mentioned already. I would highly recommend this. It's $5.25 per person, and typically the staff are very friendly and let you set up camp in a quiet grassy area. There are bathrooms, and some stations (such as Upper Beveridges) even have showers. Camping is only allowed for people arriving by boat/canoe/bicycle/walking, so you're not competing with car campers, and you don't need reservations. The lock stations themselves are interesting and historically significant. Most are still hand-operated using human power, and it's quite interesting to watch the boats pass through. There are typically lots of benches and picnic tables too. After the stations close around 6pm or 7pm, the staff go home and things get pretty quiet. The more rural lock stations are probably quieter and better for camping than the more urban ones such as Smiths Falls and Merrickville, although the urban ones have the advantage of being very close to stores and restaurants.

Here is the official info on camping at lock stations: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/r...ing/tente-tent

For a low-car route, you can take the Ottawa Valley rail-trail running from Smiths Falls to Carleton Place. I rode the section from Franktown Station to Carleton Place yesterday and it was pretty good. It was all fine crushed gravel, a bit loose in spots, but still easily doable on my 40c tires (I'm sure even 25c would be doable).

From Carleton Place, you can ride the Trans Canada Trail (rail trail) all the way to Ottawa. This trail is in great shape, mostly hard packed and quite fast. Nothing spectacular along the rail trails really, mostly just farms, trees and a few swamps. In Stittsville (western Ottawa) the trail passes through a park with a convenient outdoor water bottle refilling station/fountain. If you're heading towards downtown Ottawa, Britannia Beach on the Ottawa river is a nice spot for swim along the way.

Alternatively, you could get from Smiths Falls to Ottawa taking a more eastern route, following local roads to Osgoode, then take the Osgood Link Pathway (rail trail) all the way to Ottawa. I took this route from Smiths Falls to Ottawa via Osgoode last year. I found it more interesting than the western route via Carleton Place, but also had more traffic (although not terrible). It passes through more towns and some sections provide a nice view of the Rideau River.