Located in the heart of Southern Ontario, the Trent-Severn Waterway is a series of rivers, canals and lakes that runs from Trenton on Lake Ontario’s north shore all the way to Georgian Bay, a distance of some 240 miles (386km). It has 45 locks, a short marine railway, 39 swing bridges and 160 dams and control devices. A National Historic Site of Canada, which is also named an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the ASME, it drains over 8,000 square miles (nearly 19,000 km²) of Ontario’s main “cottage country”. [To put it into broader perspective, that's an area the size of Wales, or 3/4 the size of Belgium]. It was first explored by Champlain … for more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Severn_Waterway .

While not as famous as the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal from Kingston to Ottawa, it has a unique feature no other canal can boast: lock 21, in downtown Peterborough, is the world’s highest hydraulic lift lock. It raises and lowers boats 65 feet (19.8m) without external power, using only the force of gravity acting on water and pistons, activated through a crossover valve controlled by an engineer. When it was built more than a century ago, it was an engineering marvel, the world’s largest single structure of non-reinforced concrete. (The Hoover and other great dams came later). The entire system of locks and controls on the Waterway is manned and activated throughout the summer by Parks Canada.

Since the first week of October is usually the best for viewing Autumn leaves, Margo and I decided to take a day tour bus trip from Ottawa to see this marvel and enjoy a short cruise on the Waterway. The accompanying pictures speak for themselves.