Dows Lake Pavilion in Ottawa

The pavilion houses restaurants with mooring nearby. The lake is a great place for paddling and canoeing. There is also bike path along the lake, and the bike path leads to downtown Ottawa (Parliament Hill).

Great place to rent a kayak or a boat on a sunny day

Good staff

Beautiful and peaceful place to have a walk

Can’t say I’ll hurry back to this place. Rented a paddle boat and it was leaking throughout the duration of our jaunt on the lake. Upon alerting one of the individuals working at the rental company upon our return he indicated I was mistaken and this was normal. Given the track top I had left by the steering column was soaked I indicated that it was plainly apparent that there was an issue with the seals on this aspect of the watercraft. Again, I, the customer, was wrong; Had it not been for the young man’s insistence I probably wouldn’t have said anything to the manager, but when I did he became more belligerent. Apart from this experience, the washroom facilities were very disappointing. In fact, the whole public access design of the facility needs a rethink. There, that’s my two cents and then some.

Amazing views and scenery. All year around filled with great activities making from canal skating in the winter, tulip festival! Great for summer weddings and social occasions. Must also grab a bite a Mexicali Rosa!

The boat rental is run by a bunch of kids who have no idea what they’re doing, first they decided we don’t know how to canoe even though we’ve canoed every summer, so we took the pedal boat for literally 10 minutes then my daughter started crying so we returned it and forgot to take our ID, so then we get yelled at as if we’re in primary school even though we’re double the staff’s age and we got charged for two hours! Cause they couldn’t figure out that we returned our boat if we didn’t take our ID back!

Love this place

I attended the Dow's Lake Pavilion for a conference. The facility is suited our needs, many tables of comfortable chairs. There was a projector and screen to work very well. Just be cautious if it's a bright day, makes it harder to see the projector screen. Lago Grill provided breakfast and lunch, all of which was very delicious. Would recommend this venue for a smaller gathering, function or conference.

Awesome place...very clean... beautiful scenery.

Great place to explore and eat. When there to skate on the canal. What a wonderful expreeamce. A must to do in the winter. Skating along the canal was so much fun stopping along the way with the fire pita and chairs. Fun for everyone

Great experience. Line wasn’t too long especially on a Saturday

Beautiful place to do something on a nice Sunday afternoon a peddle boat or in the winter skating on the canal it starts at dows lake and finishes near the Chateau Laurier

Super facility. First time back since I moved out of the area.

World famous for the annual tulip festival which is held at dows Lake , also a great place for a day out with family just minutes away from downtown Ottawa .

Beautiful views all year round! Also, a cool spot even on the hottest summer days.

Good, but can be better. The paddle boat deluxe (with a cover) was a great idea, but we watered our feet with each pedaling. It was not a comfortable tour... when I searched on website seemed to be in better conditions.

Great way to experience the lake on a beautiful day. Pretty affordable but be sure to call ahead because their rental hours depend on the weather.

Good food, great drinks, horrible service!! Tortilla with dip took 25 min to get, 20 min for a drink. Non apologetic as if it's the norm. Scenery is second to none, right on Dows Lake Pavillion.

Love Mexi s, summer or winter. Upbeat ambience, excellent views of Lake and park... skaters, tulips...free parking

Nice lake to spend some quality time. You can eat in the restaurant, do a bit of workout by boating and kayaking, must try this because you would be able to view the beautiful Ottawa while floating on it. Staffs working there are friendly and will take care of you while getting on and off so no need to worry. I am giving 4 stars because the lake is not big enough to accomodate a big gathering.

Just a short bus ride (for myself) and you're there! Easy to get to, and once you're there it doesn't feel like you're in the city anymore. It was nice to just be able to rent a canoe and go. After all the hard work from paddling, you can come back and relax and refuel at their Mexican restaurant. Outdoor terrace overlooking the lake. Tacos. Mixed drinks. What more could you ask for?

You would just visit this place again and again, trust me!

Such a beautiful area! I've been many times during the day, but had some drinks with friends at that Umbrella Bar last night and it was amazing! Will definitely be going back.

Super fun Ice Dragon Boat Festival

Terrible, the service was the worst. Extremely rude.

Went to skate on the Rideau. Not the best skate change compared to other places on the canal.

Terrible place to rent a canoe or another equipment. We didn't feel safe as soon as we start paddling in canoe (less than 10min) so we decided to come back, and even though our real "hour" didn't start yet , they charged us for full hour, and refused to switched us to paddle boat or another boat, because of "covid" they said. We also said we can wait for another one to be available, but theysaid no... they just simply wanted to charged us the whole hour. I definitively do not recommend this place, they are greedy , not interested in provide the clients with safe and pleasant experience. Pleases consider other places when renting canoe, paddle boats or any other type boats.

Great place to rent a boat :)

Beautiful local nature spot next to the water. I was fortunate enough to see the Ottawa Police Collision Unit filming the police dragonboat practice with their drone. It was an expert display of both teams.

Amazing place to enjoy the waterfront of Ottawa

Would have given zero stars, but that isn't an option. Spent the day trying to call to plan our outing with a party of 14. No answer, all day. When we decided to go ahead and pack up the family reunion to come, we were turned away because they told is that we couldn't allow the children to take turns during the hour rental. The lady who made the decision wouldn't even address us (or evrn look at us!). Unprofessional, inconsiderate and just plain rude. Spend your money with a more deserving establishment.

Good restaurants and every thing you need to rent for summer or winter activities.

The staff were very rude, didn't explain anything to us... just handed us life jackets and expected us to know where to go/what to do. They didn't say a word when we were getting on the pedal boat, just sat silently as we figured it out. The boat was leaking so much that by 15 minutes into our ride, there was about 3 inches of water in the boat. Also, the boat didn't really turn properly. Luckily we had some knowledge and had gone on them elsewhere or else we would've been stuck in the swampy "lake." If I could give this place 0 stars, I would.

Went to the tulip festival and looking forward to going back this year.There are a few food places and also washrooms. well laid out paths .

relaxing place for a walk, biking, or kayak rentals

Place is old but view is nice. It doesn't matter at which side window, they are beautiful.Pavilion has public washrooms and three eateries with different type audience. It has seasonable boat rental place beside pavilion and ability to bring bigger boats to the water.

Lots of fun. My only complaint would be they had a w/c bathroom but no grab bar upstairs So be careful if u r like me and have trouble with balance

Awesome experience! Highly recommend. My only concern was the shape of the paddle boat we had, it worked properly but I had to keep bailing water out because of a leak where the pedals went into the craft. Other than that it was a great time!

Five Stars for the view. You can can rent a Canoe, Kayak & paddle around the Lake. The Pavilion looks like a giant Crab from the distance. The Lake is frozen during the Winter, so great skating. You surrounded not only by water but amazing Green Space.

This place is beautiful, its an escape in the middle of the city. Absolutely wonderful!

Been here forever, sit on a patio, eat some good food, drink some sangria or rent a boat and explore dows lake. Remember some id if you go boating

Went to kayak at Dows Lake. There was a long enough line when myself and my partner arrived. However, staff quicky and efficiently kept the line moving and into the various water craft they had available to rent. I was quite impressed with the professionalism and the system they had in place. Definitely going to be back before the summer ends. Cheers.

Attended a wedding here. Great venue. Awesome staff.

Went to Mexicalis on of the first +30° of this summer. With reasons, seemed like everyone converged at this patio restaurant to enjoy the views and maybe enjoy the odd breeze. Place was packed (but never had to wait, good table turnover) so service was a bit slower than usual. Waiting staff were rushing But never rushed us! Always smiling, several made sure we were served at first but drinks were slow coming (only 1 bartender on duty 😲). Food was great, location excellent, seating dispersed enough to have personal conversation (unless sitting at group style tables). I will definitely go back!!!! Gracias :)

Great place to go canoeing!

Been to Dows lake in all seasons and its enjoyable anytime of the year. In summer its nice to go for a walk or run, to go for a picnic or eat ice cream. In fall and spring I like to go kayaking. In winter it's the perfect place to go ice skating with the family! They rent out skates and have beaver tails along the way !

Staff members were so helpful and caring when I fell in. I would definitely go back.

Visit the place is summer and loose yourself in its beauty!

Fun day of skating on the lake.