Remic Rapids Park

Remic Rapids Park — balanced stone, open water and the best sunset on the Ottawa River

Four kilometres west of Parliament Hill the Ottawa River shallows out over a limestone shelf and breaks into a run of rapids. The shore beside them is a long, low, grassy park with almost nothing built on it — and that emptiness is the point. Since 1986 an artist has come here every summer to stack rocks into human-scale sculptures that stand without glue, cement or wire, held up by nothing but balance and a few small wedging stones. They rise out of the water each June and are taken down again by ice and spring flood, which makes this the rare public artwork that is genuinely never the same twice. Add a wide western horizon, thousands of migrating waterbirds, a paved riverside pathway and a groomed winter trail, and you have one of the capital’s most photographed pieces of shoreline that still, somehow, does not feel crowded.

Highlights

• The balanced rock sculptures — built by hand from local limestone with no bonding material, some standing over two and a half metres tall, stabilized only by small masonry shims.
• An artist’s forty-year project — John Felicè Ceprano, born in Rhode Island in 1947 and resident in Canada since 1973, began the work in 1986 and has rebuilt it every summer since.
• Big-sky river views — the park faces roughly west and north across open water toward the Quebec shore and the Gatineau Hills, which makes sunset the single busiest hour of the day.
• Serious birding — the shoreline is a significant stopover for migratory birds, sitting at the eastern end of one of the region’s most important waterbird corridors.
• Year-round basics — washrooms, parking and bike racks operate all twelve months, which is unusual for a National Capital Commission riverside site.
• Winter grooming — a volunteer-run, salt-free winter trail keeps the shoreline usable for walkers, skiers, snowshoers and fat bikers through the coldest months.

What’s inside

The park is deliberately spare. Its assets are a shoreline, a lawn, a pathway and an artwork, plus the modest infrastructure that lets people linger without needing to leave.

• A shallow rocky shore and gravel bars where the sculptures are built, reachable on foot when the water is low in summer.
• Open, gently sloping lawn between the pathway and the water, with picnic tables spread along it.
• A stretch of the paved Capital Pathway running the length of the park, shared by cyclists, walkers, runners and inline skaters.
• Washrooms and a parking area open year-round, with a posted time limit that keeps turnover high on summer evenings.
• A seasonal National Capital Commission bistro in warm weather, serving simple food and drinks with the river directly in front of it.
• Restored shoreline habitat, the product of partnerships with conservation authorities, plus bike racks and interpretive signage about the sculptures.

What to do and who it’s for

• Photographers and sunset chasers — the combination of standing stones, water and a clear western horizon is unmatched anywhere else in the city.
• Cyclists and runners — the park sits mid-route on a continuous riverside pathway, making it a natural water-and-view stop rather than a destination you have to plan around.
• Birdwatchers — spring and autumn migration bring waterfowl and shorebirds within binocular range of the bank, no boat required.
• Paddlers — the rapids and the calm water above them are a well-known local training ground for kayakers and canoeists at beginner and intermediate level.
• Families — shallow edges, flat grass, short walking distances and an artwork children are actively encouraged to look at closely make this an easy hour with small kids.
• Winter walkers — when the groomed trail is running, this becomes a low-effort, high-reward cold-weather outing minutes from downtown.

Getting there and practicalities

The park lies on the south bank of the Ottawa River between the Tunney’s Pasture area and Westboro, roughly four kilometres west of Parliament Hill. Transit users can take O-Train Line 1 to Tunney’s Pasture or Dominion and walk down to the water in ten to fifteen minutes; cyclists arrive on the riverside Capital Pathway, which passes straight through. Entry is free and the park is never gated. Parking and washrooms operate all year from early morning to late evening, with a posted two-hour limit on the lot — enough for a picnic and a walk, not enough to leave the car all day. Allow forty-five minutes for a quick look at the sculptures, or two to three hours if you intend to bring food, watch the sun go down and walk a stretch of the shore. Seasonal realities matter here: the sculptures are built from June onward and are progressively destroyed by ice and high water over winter and spring, so a visit in April or May may find bare rock. In winter the shoreline is groomed as a salt-free multi-use trail maintained by community volunteers, and the exposed riverbank gets genuinely cold and windy.

When to visit

Spring is the river at its loudest — meltwater surges over the shelf, the rapids run brown and heavy, migrating waterfowl crowd the open water, and the rock sculptures are absent or half-finished. Summer is the classic version: warm limestone, low water, finished sculptures standing clear of the surface, picnic tables occupied and the seasonal bistro open. Autumn is the connoisseur’s choice — the Gatineau Hills turn colour behind the stones, the crowds thin out, and the light gets long and low by late afternoon. Winter strips the park back to its bones: ice shelves along the shore, a groomed white ribbon where the pathway was, skiers and fat bikers instead of picnickers, and whatever remains of the summer’s sculptures slowly being dismantled by the river itself.

Worth knowing

The rapids and the shore beside them were used for centuries as a travelling and resting place on a river that was one of the great canoe highways of the continent. In the Algonquin language the river is Kichi Zībī, the Great River; in 2023 the National Capital Commission completed an Algonquin naming exercise, carried out with Algonquin communities including Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg, and renamed the riverside parkway running past this park, replacing a name that honoured Canada’s first prime minister with the Algonquin name Kichi Zībī Mīkan — “Great River Road.” The board approved the change in June 2023, it took effect that September, and new signage was unveiled around the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30 September. The sculptures have their own, shorter history. John Felicè Ceprano, who studied fine arts at the University of Ottawa while working part time as a registered nurse, discovered the spot on a meditative bicycle ride while living near the ByWard Market and started stacking stones in 1986 with no plan and no permission. A Canada Council grant followed in 1989, and since 2000 the National Capital Commission has supported the installation under an annual arrangement, adding signage and storage. He works barefingered, without gloves, in order to feel what the rock will accept, and the practice sits squarely in the land-art tradition — impermanent, site-specific and made of nothing that was not already there. The wider park is one link in the Ottawa River South Shore Riverfront Park Plan, an NCC scheme to knit nine kilometres of riverfront into a single continuous public park.

Visitor tips

• Come in the last hour before sunset if you want the postcard: low light rakes across the stones and the far shore, and the water usually goes glassy.
• Do not climb on or lean against the sculptures. They are held together by balance alone, and a single nudge undoes weeks of work.
• Check the calendar before a spring visit — the installation is rebuilt from June, so an early-season trip may find only bare shoreline and rapids.

Questions and answers

Is there an entry fee? No. The park is a free public National Capital Commission site, open at all hours and all seasons.

Who makes the rock sculptures? Artist John Felicè Ceprano, who began the project in 1986 and has returned each summer for four decades. The National Capital Commission has supported the work since 2000.

How do the sculptures stay up without glue? They rely on balance and on small masonry shims wedged between stones. No adhesive, mortar or wire is used anywhere in the installation.

When are they on display? Building typically starts in June and the sculptures stand through the summer and autumn. Ice and spring flooding take them down, and the cycle begins again the following year.

Is parking available? Yes, year-round from early morning to late evening, with a posted two-hour limit. Bike racks are also provided, and the paved riverside pathway runs right through the park.

Can you swim or paddle here? This is not a supervised swimming beach. The rapids are, however, a well-known local spot for kayakers and canoeists, and the calmer water upstream is used for instruction.

What is there to do in winter? The shoreline becomes part of a groomed, salt-free winter trail run by community volunteers, open to walkers, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and fat bikers. Dress for wind off the ice.

Is it good for birdwatching? Yes. The park’s shoreline is a significant site for migratory birds, and spring and autumn passage bring large numbers of waterfowl within easy viewing distance of the bank.