Sault Blog

This past June, visiting family in Ottawa, I took the opportunity to bicycle the incredible Ottawa River Pathway urban trail, a ritual that I always do when I visit our Nation’s Capital.

On the Ottawa River Pathway urban trail, at Westboro Beach, I encountered a newly revitalized urban river beach/park aptly named Westboro Beach. The National Capital Commission manages the beach/park and oversaw the recent renovation project. This $20M project revitalized and modernized the existing beach/park facility. Westboro Beach is one of the green spaces covered by the Ottawa River South Riverfront Park Plan. The Plan calls for the creation of a continuous 9-km riverfront park connecting LeBreton Flats to Mud Lake.

Some of the new key renovated features and amenities for the beach/park include:

A new interpretive centre and the adaptation of the existing unique concrete structures to create a new net-zero-carbon pavilion, housing a full-service restaurant, a seasonal café, outdoor showers, and bathrooms.

Supervised swimming area directly in the Ottawa River, with lifeguards present in the summer months (no swimming pools in the Ottawa River at this location).

The revamped area includes riverfront lookouts for enjoying the scenery and a new children’s playground, kayak launch, picnic areas, and beach volleyball courts.

All areas of the beach/park are entirely wheelchair accessible right down to the water.

I stopped at Westboro Beach lookout and witnessed a bustling restaurant, beach, and swimming area. This revitalization beach/park project is a winner. Reading the online reviews, the community really likes, enjoys, and appreciates the Westboro Beach renovations.

Westboro Beach is successful for many reasons, including, first and foremost, its location. Westboro Beach’s primary goal is to serve the immediate communities around the Westboro Beach area. The Hintonburg, Westboro, and Carlington neighbourhoods, located around the area of Westboro Beach, are very convenient and accessible for their citizens to recreate. Westboro Beach is directly on the Ottawa River Pathway and is bicycle-friendly, and the best way to get there is by bicycle. OC Transit bus stops are very close public transportation, and a parking facility was built on the other side of the Parkway. There is also an agreement for a Light Rail transit stop at Westboro Beach Stage #2 in the future, so the remainder of Ottawa’s citizens will have economical transit access to Westboro Beach. Westboro Beach offers free admission, making a family beach/picnic day an attractive option for families who are struggling financially.

I was really impressed with the Westboro Beach/Park revitalization project, and I took some time to reflect on how we in the Sault are trying to do the same thing: build a parkway along the St. Mary’s River. I thought about how the Sault wants to emulate the success of the Ottawa River Pathway and the series of parks and amenities along the pathway that make it one of the greatest urban bike paths in Canada. Westboro Beach gives us, the Sault, something to try to achieve.

Mark Menean, http://www.saultblog.com
Thank you, National Capital Commission, Press Release. Spring 2025