07/08/2026
For many of us growing up in Ottawa, “a day at the beach” meant heading to Mooney’s Bay — one of the four beaches operated by the city.
The Mooney’s Bay beach was relocated to its current spot — on the east side of the bay — in July 1952.
This move was made primarily for safety reasons.
The previous (and smaller) beach, established in 1936, was located at the north end of Mooney’s Bay, near the Hog’s Back Dam. Unfortunately, the strong currents above the Hog’s Back Falls had contributed to a number of drownings.
There had also been a popular “swimming hole” at the south end of Mooney’s Bay, at the end of Walkley Road.
Mooney’s Bay itself is an artificial bay on the Rideau River, created during the construction of the Rideau Canal.
The north end of Mooney’s Bay is where Colonel By deemed that the Rideau Canal should split away from the Rideau River for the remainder of the canal’s journey northward.
Lt. Colonel By installed the Hog’s Back Dam to raise water levels in order to submerge the rapids and deepen the shallow spots that existed in the four mile stretch down from Black Rapids.
Building the dam proved to be a frustrating “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” scenario.
When each of the Royal Engineers’ designs failed to hold against the Rideau’s torrential spring floodwaters, Colonel By turned to the wisdom and experience of nearby entrepreneur Philemon Wright.
Philemon Wright’s coffer dam design — consisting of massive square timbers filled with similarly massive rocks — had already, for years, proven its resilience against the raging waters of the Chaudière Falls.
The introduction of the dam dramatically altered the landscape around the Mooney’s Bay area, including the sudden and picturesque cascade of today’s Hog’s Back Falls (officially known, by the way, as “Prince of Wales Falls”).
In the pre-Rideau Canal era, the “Three Rock Rapids” had still been treacherous yet slightly closer to being navigable, dropping a more conservative six feet over a 2,000 foot distance.
Raising water levels above the Hog’s Back Dam swelled the river and created what we now know and love as Mooney’s Bay.
(Canal construction also created Dow’s Lake from Dow’s “Swamp”… but that’s another story…)
So why do we call it Mooney’s Bay? Glenn Clark, of the Gloucester Historical Society, suggests that Mooney’s Bay was named for Patrick Mooney who operated a tavern at the corner of Riverside Drive and Walkley Road.
Another theory is that Mooney’s Bay was named for the three generations of Mooneys who, for almost a century, served as the lockmasters at Narrows Locks (1856-1946), further south along the Rideau Canal.
Adjacent Riverside Drive, Glenn Clark reminds us, was known as Bowesville Road, as far north as Billings Bridge, until Ottawa annexed the area from Gloucester Township in 1950.
Bowesville Road (originally known as the “Bytown and Prescott Carriage Road” and later as the “Long Island Road”) was initially built to bypass the chaos of Hog’s Back, and was the main connection southward in the days before Bank Street ran down that way.
Near today’s Terry Fox Athletic Facility (renamed 45 years ago this week, just five days after Terry Fox passed away) at Mooney’s Bay was once the Cowan Ice House. It burned down in the 1940s.
Also along the northeast shore of Mooney’s Bay, during that same era, were the docking facilities of Paul’s Boat Lines.
Paul’s Boat Lines (founded by the late Paul Duhamel) operated tour boats on Mooney’s Bay from 1936 until 1949, before pursuing more lucrative opportunities downtown, offering Rideau Canal and Ottawa River cruises.
Closer to the beach, many bathers over the years have expressed curiosity about the arch-shaped white bridges that cross no water. (The park once featured a series of decorative canals, but these were later filled in.)
An elaborate series of innovative play structures, with coast-to-coast themes, were installed just in time for Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.
In recent years, children have enjoyed re-enacted pirate ship adventures on Mooney’s Bay — and the H.O.P.E. volleyball tournament is an annual July classic.
So… let’s grab our towels and head to the beach everyone!
(Many thanks to the resources of Glenn Clark, the Gloucester Historical Society and Rick Henderson for contributing information surrounding one of our city’s most iconic Summertime destinations.)
Image: City of Ottawa Archives MG393-NP-31052-001 CA004093
