Smiths Falls Canal Locks

At Smiths Falls the Rideau Canal has to climb, and the way it does so is one of the more distinctive features of the whole waterway. The Rideau River drops sharply at the falls the town is named for, and the original canal builders of the 1830s solved the problem with a flight of three locks. Their descendants did something different. In the 1970s, Parks Canada replaced the old staircase with a single large lock, the Combined Lock, which lifts boats about 7.9 metres (26 feet), the biggest single lift on the canal. The new structure sits at 70 Confederation Drive, close to the centre of town, and the older chambers remain visible in places as part of the historic landscape.

Lock stations on the Rideau are all run by Parks Canada, and this one follows the pattern of an open, grassy waterfront with a lockmaster's office, a lock chamber and gates operated by hand-cranked machinery. The canal is part of the Rideau Canal National Historic Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the lockmasters are part of its living heritage, because the gates are still opened and closed using methods that date to the canal's early years. Visitors who watch a boat locking through see the chamber fill, the gates swing and the vessel rise or fall with little noise but a good deal of muscle.

The best time to see this is during the navigation season from late spring to early autumn, when pleasure boats arrive in numbers, with the busiest traffic on summer weekends. The grounds around the lock offer places to sit, with picnic tables and views of the water, and the nearby town centre has shops and cafés a few minutes away on foot. Boaters can tie up along the walls near the locks, with services such as drinking water and washrooms close by, though mooring rules and time limits are set by Parks Canada and should be checked before arriving.

For walkers and cyclists, a trail follows the trail along the canal through town and out toward the surrounding countryside of eastern Ontario. The Lock 14 Interpretive Centre and the Smiths Falls Museum are close by, and the Rideau Canal Visitor Centre explains the canal's history in more detail.

Access to the lock station grounds is free. Operating hours change by season and the locks are closed in winter, so check with Parks Canada before visiting. Boaters and curious land visitors alike find the place easy to enjoy.