Rideau Canal understand · Rideau Canal tourist information
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Rideau Canal tourist information
Rideau Canal tourist information
The canal was built by the British after the War of 1812 to provide a secure link between Montreal and Kingston, without passing along the Saint Lawrence River because that river borders American territory. Colonel By of the Royal Engineers was in charge; the city at the North end of the canal, now called Ottawa, was originally Bytown.
Actual construction started in 1827 and the canal was opened 5 years later in 1832, with 47 locks in 25 separate lock stations. While the total length of the route is 202 kilometers, only about 19 kilometers are actually man-made, with the rest of the route using existing lakes and rivers.
The Bytown Museum by the Ottawa Locks in Ottawa is a good place to learn about the history of the Rideau Canal.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Rideau Canal
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Rideau Canal - updated May 2024
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Rideau Canal Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.