Seven Beautiful Beaches
By Alastair Baird
Pine Point Beach
ONE: Pine Point in Deep River’s west end is a beautiful sandy beach with a rocky point featuring several hardy pine trees. It is a great spot to relax, sunbathe, and swim. It is unsupervised but with a shallow area reaching far off shore. There is an abrupt drop off to deeper water, so children and weak swimmers should be closely watched.
Porta Potties and ample parking.
Black Bear
TWO: Black Bear Beach and Campground, Garrison Petawawa, is a large sandy beach with lifeguards on duty in the summer season from noon to 5 pm seven days a week. Washrooms, change rooms, and shade from trees at the top end of the beach make this a great beach for a full day of relaxation. Extending upstream from Black Bear Beach to the west on the Ottawa River, the beach extends for several kilometers forming one of the longest beaches in Canada. Perfect for that long romantic walk on a beach!
Petawawa Point
THREE: Petawawa Point in Petawawa is a large beach located where the Petawawa River enters the Ottawa River. The Point has lots of great swimming and offers canoe, kayak, and stand-up paddleboard rentals. There are washrooms and change rooms and treed areas with picnic tables providing shade from the sun when needed.
Braeside Beach
FOUR: Braeside Beach in the Village of Braeside is a smooth stone beach on the Ottawa River with washrooms and parking on an expansive section of the Ottawa River. Offshore of the beach are remnants of the logging era on the Ottawa River: large log and rock cribs built in the river to act as anchoring points for the log booms. These large log booms, held by huge timbers chained together, contained thousands of logs from the forests of the Ottawa River drainage basin which were towed to the riverside sawmills.
Robert Simpson Park
FIVE: Robert Simpson Park Beach in Arnprior is located where the Madawaska River enters the Ottawa River and has a sand beach with lifeguard services in the summer season at specified times and dates.Robert Simpson Park features a bandstand with live entertainment on Sunday afternoons all summer, washrooms, and a canteen for hot and cold treats.
Lake Dore
SIX: Lake Dore features a great sand beach at Melissa Bishop Park just off Highway 41 on Township Park Road at the recreation centre. Soft sand, clean water, amenities and ample parking. Located very close to Shaw Woods, a great place for a hike amongst the trees and nature observation.
Burnstown Beach
SEVEN: Burnstown Beach, in the cozy hamlet of Burnstown on the Madawaska River, is ringed by huge white pines, and the clear, clean waters of the Madawaska River originate from the centre of Algonquin Park. Washrooms, play structures and nearby cafes, ice cream and coffee shops make this a great beach outing.
