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Reminiscing
On The Rideau (17-4)
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Discover your own boating adventure among the historic
locks and natural environment
 The
Rideau Canal is a waterway that entices pleasure boaters
to explore its pastoral beauty and historic and cultural
significance. Part of Canada's system of parks, historic
sites and canals, the Rideau Canal is one of the greatest
engineering feats of the 19th Century and incredibly,
has enjoyed continuous operation in essentially the
same manner since 1832. The entire lock system, including
blockhouses, dams, weirs and lockmasters' houses visually
represent the military strategy for the defence of 19th
Century Canada, and charts the progress of subsequent
development along its axis.
Stretching 202 km through Eastern Ontario (connecting
Kingston, at the head of Lake Ontario, to the Ottawa
River), the Rideau Canal is intertwined with cycling
routes, hiking trails, beautiful lakes, rivers and canal
cuts. The natural environment proudly displays magnificently
diverse landscapes, from granite cliffs, to lakes, farmlands
and marshes ÐÐ sanctuaries for precious birds and wildlife.
The Rideau Canal is truly a cruiser's dream!
More than just a waterway...
 During
the voyage along the Rideau Waterway, boaters will venture
across many different towns, lockstations and settings
that offer their own exciting highlights and significant
memories that boaters may take with them. Kingston,
for example, is an excellent port to enjoy, before departing
on a tour of the Rideau.
...
History in the making
The Rideau Canal, built between 1826 to 1832, is the
oldest continuously operated canal in North America.
It was built as part of a military defence system of
Upper Canada (now Ontario), a supply route that was
out-of-range of American cannons. It was officially
opened in the summer of 1832; 47 original locks grouped
around 23 lockstations, taming 202 km (126 miles) of
waterway. From its opening until the 1850s, the Rideau
was a busy commercial artery for Eastern Ontario. However,
in the 1850s, the Rideau Canal's pinnacle as a busy
highway had ended, but it continued to be an important
local transportation system.
...
 The
Rideau Canal and Waterway is an unwavering link to the
past as well as a physical link between the many diverse
and unique communities that continue to thrive along
its shores. It is a river that begs to showcase to boaters,
and to the world, the benefits and enjoyment of sustaining
a healthy river environment, in which people can live,
work, play and take pride now and in the future.
(Read
full story in the magazine) (Page Top) |
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