Eco-Odyssée Outdoor Park in Wakefield

Every kid has a little David Suzuki inside them—an inborn love of nature, animals, and the environment. We’ve found an amazing little adventure that gets you and your budding scientists up close and personal with the natural world.

Eco-Odyssée Outdoor Park is a Wakefield-area nature park offering a fun and educational family experience. Once you’ve navigated the beautiful drive through the Gatineaus and the thrilling hilly dirt road down to the park, you’ll be able to choose your adventure. Eco-Odyssée’s main feature is a complex maze of paddle boat trails, (with canoes available for experienced paddlers) and kids as young as six months can suit up in a life jacket and join their parents in a boat. Download their app to track your progress around the maze, and you’ll also be treated to cool animal sounds and detailed animal facts at each marker, making the whole trip come alive.

For a quick outing, we love their Wanderer adventure—a two-hour gentle float around the park with a guide book to aid in the spotting of wildlife and native plants. Older kids will love the Discoverer or Observer paths, which provide a more advanced navigation challenge, as well as some Amazing Race style clues to decode and solve.

The best part? Due to a high number of frogs and dragonflies, there are almost no mosquitos on the water maze.

If you’re ready for more, try one of their hiking trails—we love the Bugologue trail (bug spray is required here) which will introduce you to dozens of different insect species. At the end of any activity, return your worksheets to the main entrance for a sweet little prize. Good to know: reservations are recommended, and you should pack water, snacks and sunscreen.

Summer fun? Check. Family time? Check. Learning? Check—but don’t tell the kids, because they’ll be too busy to notice.

Looking for more ways to get the family out and about? We’ve got 9 more Great Outdoor Spots in Ottawa.