$3.1 million plan to turn Mooney’s Bay into a sledding destination

The City of Ottawa is exploring options to make Mooney’s Bay a safe sledding destination, including a thrill hill and a bunny hill. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

Turning Mooney’s Bay into a winter sledding destination with a “thrill hill” and a “bunny hill” would cost the City of Ottawa $3.1 million, according to a new report.

After studying three options to convert the man-made hill into a sledding hill, a report for the Community Services Committee outlines a plan to create three separate slopes on the hill, with a 14.6 metre “thrill hill,” a 5.7 metre “bunny hill” and a cross-country ski training hill in its current location.

There is no money proposed in the draft 2026 City of Ottawa budget, but staff say estimates for construction will be presented in a future budget.

The Mooney’s Bay Park Hill is a man-made hill created from construction landfill in the 1970s. Staff say it was originally designed as a junior ski hill, with the slopes “extremely steep for winter sledding in all directions.”

The giant hill at Mooney’s Bay has been closed for sledding since 2017, but sledders continued to use the hill. After a young girl died in a sledding incident at Mooney’s Bay in 2021, the city has been installing temporary fencing on the hill to prevent sledding during the winter months.

In 2024, council approved spending $150,000 to study options to make Mooney’s Bay a sledding destination, looking at external engineering and landscaping proposals to make the hill safe.

The report for the Community Services Committee says the study concluded it is “feasible to modify the Mooney’s Bay to allow for reasonably safer sledding for multiple user groups.”

The report, from Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services general manager Dan Chenier, says three options were considered:

• Option A - $2.5 million: Thrill Hill and Cross-Country Ski Training Hill. The “thrill hill” would be 14.6 metres high with a consistent 18 per cent grade on the northwest slope with an extended 70 metre runout and a re-located cross-country ski training hill on the north slope.
• Option B - $1.3 million: A 5.7-metre-high sledding “bunny hill” on the north-slope with a 13 per cent slope, and the cross-country ski training hill maintained in its current location.
• Option C - $3.1 million: A combination of Options A and B with three separate slopes, including a 14.6 metre sledding “thrill” hill, a 5.7 metre “bunny” hill and a cross-country ski training hill between the two sledding hills.

“Understanding the attraction of this site to all levels of users, it is concluded that the significant investment required should meet the needs of beginner and advanced sledding enthusiasts, as illustrated in Option C,” Chenier said.

The Option C would also include pathways adjacent to the two sledding zones to separate sledders and the “strategic placement of post and rail fencing and staggered vegetation to prevent sledding in undesignated areas of the hill.”

Chenier says soil management measures will be required in conjunction with any earthwork and grading modifications to Mooney’s Bay Hill to address levels of soil contamination that exceed provincial guidelines.

“This park and hill need to be open”

River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington tells Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal that closing the hill at Mooney’s Bay to tobogganing is “not an option.”

“I want it safe, number one. I want to speak to the various users, not just to people who toboggan,” Brockington said.

“I don’t know what’s best, to be honest. I just read to the report. There’s got to be a way to do this as financially economically as possible. Maybe not taking the most expensive option and still speaking to the main users who use this hill.”

Brockington admits funding to transform the hill at Mooney’s Bay into a safe tobogganing area likely won’t be approved in the 2026 budget, and he wants to take time to review the report and speak with residents.

“This park and hill need to be more 12 months of the year. Obviously, I have some work to do now that this report is out,” Brockington said. It is my objective that a public park and a public hill be made safe for the public and use it, not fence it off which I think is the wrong way to go.”

The report notes all studies, reviews and assessments of the hill have “supported the city administration’s position that there were/are no mitigating measures” that could be implemented to make the park “reasonably safe” for sledding.

A consultant’s report in January 2022 concluded that “due to the size and slope of the hill, along with the multitude of hazards found at the bottom area of the hill, no portion of the hill” has an acceptable level of risk for sledding, according to Chenier.

“The report says every angle of the hill is unsafe; I don’t believe that to be the case,” Brockington said.”

“I’ve always pitched the north-facing side, the side of the hill that faces the Terry Fox Athletic Centre, has the most reasonable grade. It is not as long as the slope that faces the river.”

Three options for Mooney’s Bay

Here is a look at the three options and costs for Major’s Hill Park.

Option A: Thrill Hill and Cross-Country Ski Training Hill

Price tag: $2.5 million

• 14.6m high “thrill” hill with a consistent 18 per cent grade on the northwest slope with an extended 70m runout zone
• Re-located cross-country ski training hill on the adjacent north slope
• Ascending pathways adjacent to the sledding zone to separate sledders from those returning to the top for another run
• Limited tree removals to clear potential obstacles in or immediately adjacent to the sledding runout zone
• Strategic placement of post and rail fencing and staggered vegetation to prevent sledding in undesignated areas of the hill.
• Proposed pathways extending from the top of the hill to the Terry Fox Athletic Facility parking lot and Mooney’s Bay Beach parking lot
• Total hillside regrading including soil required to cap existing contaminated fill is estimated at 6570 m3 of cut and 7450 m3 of fill

Option B: Bunny Hill and Cross-Country Ski Training Hill

Price tag: $1.3 million

• 5.7m high sledding “bunny hill” on the north slope, re-graded to a consistent 13 per cent slope with a 40m long runout zone
• Cross-country ski training hill maintained in its current location
• Ascending pathways adjacent to the sledding zone to separate sledders from those returning to the top for another run
• Strategic placement of post and rail fencing and staggered vegetation to prevent sledding from the higher slopes / hilltop and create separation between the sledding bunny hill and cross-country training hill
• Proposed ascending pathway adjacent to the bunny hill on the east slope extends from the Terry Fox Athletic Facility parking lot to the Mooney’s Bay Beach parking lot.
• Total hillside regrading including soil required to cap existing contaminated fill is estimated at 1770m3 of cut and 2550m3 fill.

Option C: Thrill Hill, Bunny Hill and Cross-Country Ski Training Hill

Price tag: $3.1 million

Combination of Options A & B

• Includes three separate slopes, including a 14.6m sledding high “thrill” hill, a 5.7m high “bunny” hill and a cross-country ski training hill between the two sledding hills
• Significant grading required to make the thrill hill slope consistent at 18 per cent while rounding out the bottom of the sledding zone and extending the runout zone to 70m
• Minor grading required to relocate the cross-country ski training hill
• Regrading required for the bunny hill to lower the slope to 13 per cent and create a 40m long runout zone
• Ascending pathways adjacent to the two sledding zone to separate sledders from those returning to the top for another run
• Strategic placement of post and rail fencing and staggered vegetation to prevent sledding in undesignated areas of the hill
• Pathways extending from the top of both hills to the Terry Fox Athletic Facility parking lot and Mooney’s Bay Beach parking lot.
• Total hillside regrading including soil required to cap existing contaminated fill is estimated at 9050m3 of cut and 9150m3 of fill