OUTDOOR FUN
To skate or paddle on a UNESCO World
Heritage site, head to downtown Ottawa's
Rideau Canal. The 19
th
-century engineering
wonder, and the recreational paths alongside
it, attract runners, cyclists, boaters and
paddlers from spring through fall. In winter,
its groomed ice surface becomes the world's
largest skating rink (www.pc.gc.ca/en/
lhn-nhs/on/rideau).
Seeking wilderness? Just a 15-minute
drive from Parliament Hill, you'll find an
entrance to Gatineau Park, a 361-sq. km (139
sq. mi.) retreat studded with lakes, rocky
outcrops, hiking trails, waterfalls and
historic sites (www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places/
gatineau-park).
CAPTIVATING MUSEUMS
You can get a sense of Canada's history,
geography and culture in Ottawa-Gatineau's
national museums, including the following.
Learn about plants, animals and
landscapes across this vast country and
beyond at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Highlights include national dinosaur and
mineral collections, mammal and bird
galleries, the Water Gallery and its salt-
water Pacific Discovery Tank (filled with
sea stars, spiky urchins and more), the
Canada Goose Arctic Gallery, the Bugs Alive
gallery, and a temporary photography
exhibition called Wolves: Shape-shifters in a
Changing World. This year, the museum is
also presenting Under the Canopy: Animals
of the Rainforest, where you can see live
geckos, snakes and a two-toed sloth
(www.nature.ca).
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WOLF EXHIBIT, CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE • MARTIN LIPMAN
