Every now and then, I think about what it would be like to paddle on a canal and see the land change around me. It would be great to go through towns, or a city, and the farmland or wild areas between towns. And the main vertical hazard to look out for would be the odd weir or a fallen tree. Wherever there's a waterfall or rapids, a canal would have a lock!
Though our home waters are ideal for paddling, we don't have a canal here. Unless the Gorge Waterway could count. Or maybe the Alberni canal up at Port Alberni, though we haven't paddled there.
Maybe next year I'll paddle the Rideau Canal. Who wouldn't want to paddle from Kingston to Ottawa? Apparently it's a nice route for relaxed paddling, camping, and in several places the towns have restaurants, pubs, hotels, hostels, or bed-and-breakfast options. And the locks are fascinating to see in action.
Parks Canada has a website where boat users can buy lockage and mooring permits for the canals in their parks system -- check it out here, and do a little planning for your own canal paddling day. Parks Canada even has some planning advice for visiting parks in various regions of the country.
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