The Trent-Severn Waterway is a canal system formerly used for commercial purposes but now exclusively for pleasure boats connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Lake Huron at Port Severn. Its major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, Kawartha Lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching and Severn River.

It became obsolete for commercial purposes when the Welland Canal was built.

It traverses Southern Ontario's "cottage" country with recreational properties the primary industry along the waterway.

Construction began in the Kawartha Lakes region in 1833, although the waterway was not completed until 1920.

The total length of the waterway is 386 km, beginning at Trenton, Ontario. There are 45 locks, including hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough, Kirkfield and Swift Rapids on the Severn River, and a marine railway at Big Chute which transports boats between the upper and lower sections of the Severn.

It reaches its highest point at Balsam Lake; this is, in fact, the highest point on Earth to which a vessel can be navigated from sea level.

See also

• List of Ontario rivers

External link

• Trent-Severn Waterway