Smith’s Falls Extravaganza: Rideau Trail Day 17 – (almost) 11C to 12D

Date of Walk: Saturday October 12, 2024

Total Distance: 15.45km

Total Time: 3:10:09

I took too long to write about this walk and have blocked out some of the parts I didn’t like as a result! You know, the parts at the beginning through fields of tall grasses, weeds, thorny things and wet things. And by wet things, I mean a full out Marsh that absent the occasional orange triangle I would have sworn we were way off track. Definitely not a busy/popular section of trail at this time of year 😉 Good thing we were later in the season though, as we found a gigantic wasp nest immediately beside the trail at one point. I certainly do not miss the bug filled walks of the summer from a bug perspective. Nothing swarming around any longer!

The section of Rd43 heading into Smith’s Falls was a bit harrowing due to how busy the road is and how fast people like to drive along it, but once we made it into town things were back safe. The trail took a really great walk through Smith’s Falls along the Rideau River and past a couple of locks. It was tricky to navigate around the area of 12B, we never did see the 12B sign (I assume it was around the back of one of the buildings near the lock) and were frustrated trying to find where we were supposed to cross the road, and made multiple “mistakes” before we found the right way – just gave us some nice views of the little island and the gardens around this space. Pretty frustrating and some clear places where those little orange signs would have come in quite handy. We finally managed to cross Highway 29 and get back on track (after a bit of wandering in search of signs!) to continue along the River. Found an interesting outdoor fitness area and stopped there for about 15 minutes to try out all the equipment. We also failed to find the 12C trail marker, and note that we had to detour slightly around Old Slys lock which had the trail section closed due to construction. We took Old Slys road up to Queen Street and walked a little ways up Queen street before re-meeting the trail through the industrial section of Smiths Falls. The last residential section of Smith’s Falls was a striking contrast to the first section, with very different types of homes. That said, it seemed very family friendly with lots of Halloween and fall decorations. We finished up the day at the 12D Marker, having parked the Jeep just around the corner by Hyland-Corbett Park.