Outdoor sports and activities have always been a favourite pastime of Nepean's residents. Britannia-on-the-Bay was one of the first recreational areas where people would gather to enjoy life outdoors.

Andrew Haydon Park, which was originally to be called Nepean Carleton Keyes, was conceived in the early 1970's by Reeve Andrew Haydon. Under his instruction, land on the waterfront was bought and spared from development in order to build the one and a half mile waterfront park. The park was renamed after Haydon in 1979 (Elliott 333).

Dick Bell Park was born out of Stillwater Park; a park which was opened by Mayor Ben Franklin in 1979. The Nepean Sailing Club began in the harbour of the park, originally operating with no permanent facility. A plan to built a million dollar facility for the Sailing Club was put into action and in 1990, the facility opened and was given its current name, after the Honorable Richard A. Bell (Elliott 345).

The Nepean Sportsplex is a five million dollar facility that opened in 1973. It was an extremely controversial project in the City, as some residents felt that its cost was not justified and the idea of a central, multipurpose sports center did not appeal to everyone. However, the project went ahead and resulted in what turned out to be a very popular facility that has paid for itself several times over. The Sportsplex houses an olympic sized pool, hockey arenas, curling and skating rinks, a gymnasium, squash courts, meeting and banquet rooms, soccer fields, baseball diamonds and hiking and cross-country skiing trails.

The Nepean National Equestrian Center is another one of Nepean's popular recreation centers. It is an internationally recognized facility that hosts a variety of equestrian competitions. The Equestrian Center began as a regional facility that was to be funded only in part by Nepean. However, when the Center ran into some financial difficulties, the City of Nepean decided to fund the facility entirely. Nepean took on this responsibility in 1978.