Summer Fun On Kawartha Waterways
It’s summer in our Kawarthas playground and, as boaters know, there’s no better way to spend it than cruising our gorgeous lakes and rivers. In fact, my favourite personal watercraft (PWC) rides are on the Trent Severn Waterway, widely recognized as “one of the finest interconnected systems of navigation in the world”.
Work crews constructed the Trent-Severn Waterway piecemeal over 87 years, from 1833 to 1920. With 106 kilometres or so of man-made channel, the remainder follows natural existing watercourses, albeit considerably altered by dredging and flooding to achieve navigability.
The system provides connections to 134 lakes along its 386-kilometer length via 44 various manmade devices for transporting recreational boats through the Waterway’s 183-metre range of elevation. These include the first and second highest lift locks in the world, two flight locks and one marine railway. I explored the entire system one summer on a 5-day overnighting journey from Trenton to Georgian Bay. But mostly, I do day-rides on the Trent-Severn Waterway – and you can too!
PWC day riders have multiple choices for self-guided tours, ranging from relatively protected rivers routes for windy days to wide-open lake running for calmer days. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:
River Ride
Otonabee River: One of my favourite windy-day choices is the return ride on the Otonabee River from Peterborough to Rice Lake. On blustery days, we turn around without entering Rice Lake and go back to Peterborough because wind-whipped waves on the Lake can be brutal.
While at Peterborough’s Little Lake, I recommend making the time to go through the Ashburnam Lock 20 to ride up and down on the unique Peterborough Lift Lock 21. Just stay in the lift lock when it rises to the top and come back down with it – the view alone is well worth the experience.
Distance: 60 km round trip
Locks: 1 (Scott’s Mils, Lock 19)
Launch: Roger’s Park public boat launch (Little Lake, Peterborough
Fuel: Peterborough Marina (Little Lake)
Lake Ride
Otonabee River/Rice Lake: Days when there’s not much wind mean smoother waters on the lakes and more riding options, such as extending the Otonabee River ride by including Rice Lake and following the Trent River into Hastings. This adds a total of at least 40 kms compared to only riding the Otonabee and adds no more locks. Fuel is available at several marinas on Rice Lake. For an even longer day ride, go through the lock at Hastings and follow the Trent River to Healy Falls and back.
Lower Buckhorn Lake to Sturgeon Lake: This heart of the Kawarthas day ride starts at Burleigh Falls and goes west to Fenelon Falls and back. Instead of just sticking to the main channel you can extend your riding distance by exploring any of the various lakes on route – Lower Buckhorn, Buckhorn, Pigeon or Sturgeon.
Distance: 130+ kms round trip (if you follow the main channel navigation markers all the way)
Locks: 3 (Lovesick Lock 30 / Buckhorn Lock 31 /
Bobcaygeon Lock 32}
Launch: west side of Burleigh Falls Lock 28 (parking)
Fuel: Marinas on every lake
For a longer day-ride, add side trips onto the connected Chemong, Little Bald and Big Bald Lakes. Or go farther west through Fenelon Falls Lock 34 to discover Cameron and Balsam Lakes. Cottages dot the shorelines of all the lakes on this ride and make for interesting sight-seeing. But remember to stay at least 30 metres out from shore or slow right down to 10 km/hr if riding closer to shore.
Kawartha Lakes Cruising Tips
When planning your ride, be sure to take these factors into account: checking out daily open and closing times for the locks; allowing enough time to go thru all locks en route (on both the outbound and inbound parts of your ride); arriving at the last lock on your ride before it closes for the day; fuelling up before you go and carrying a LinQ™ caddy with extra fuel; building in time to stop for lunch and fuel along the way.
In my experience the best Kawarthas PWC riding is from Healy Falls in the east to Balsam Lake in the west. Beyond these two locations, the Trent Severn Waterway tends to be slower going, with more locks, tighter channels and controlled speed zones.
In one ride, you won’t discover all the Trent Severn Waterway has to offer in Kawarthas. But so what? You’ve got all summer to check it out!
Contact Info
Trent Severn Waterway: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/posteeclusage-lockstation
Ride Articles: https://intrepidcottager.com/
Craig Nicholson, The Intrepid Snowmobiler, is an International Snowmobile Hall of Fame journalist and a long-time Kawarthas cottager who also provides tips and tour info for snowmobilers at intrepidsnowmobiler.com and for PWC riders at intrepidcottager.com.
Photo credit Allan Glanfield Caption: Riding the Otonabee River
