Welland Canal Ontario

Explore Welland Canal locks 3, 7 and 8 and enjoy watching ocean ships sailing right in front of you

Welland Canal is the ship canal, a man-made marvel and popular Niagara attraction, where you can watch ocean ships sailing right in front of you.

Welland ship canal is one of the excellent, free Niagara Falls attractions available to you.

This man-made canal is 44 km long and if you pay attention when looking at the map of Niagara Falls, you'll see that the canal divides Niagara region on half. The Canal is an important link in the St. Lawrence Seaway passage from the Atlantic Ocean to Canada and the United States.

Visiting Welland Canal

Canal locks

The Welland ship canal was constructed to connect two lakes, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and since there is a significant elevation change between them (around 100 m), eight lift locks are built.

Just to go through the canal, it will take these massive ships around 11 hours, giving you plenty of time to admire them and take many photos.

In the south area of the canal, where lock 7 and a city of Thorold are located, you will find useful tourist info center, and a viewing platform, perfect for some great pictures. At this spot a world-famous twinned Flight Locks can be also seen here.

If you are going north, there is a port city of St. Catharines with a canal lock 3 and its observation area. From a huge platform, ships can be seen from a bird's eyes perspective.

These two spots are the best for viewing ships. You will see them going up and down the Escarpment at a series of Welland canal locks.

On the east side of Welland ship canal you can find Port Colborne town and the canal lock 8, a 420m long lock is the longest in the world. Lock 8 is also great for viewing ships due to its elevated observation platform.

Lock 8 is different from other seven, which are lift locks. Lift locks are used to raise or lower ships near Lake Ontario and the Welland Canal. Lock 8 is constructed as a guard lock and it regulates the amount of water which comes into the Canal from Lake Erie. It can raise the ship between 1 and 4 feet.

Canal locks and Lock #3 (by M. Quigley)

Welland Canal is the engineering wonder

When you see the whole process how such huge boats are hoisted up and down, you will also notice that it is actually very simple engineering. The gravity and water are doing the work. Water is flowing from the higher Lake Erie downhill to the Lake Ontario and that is how locks are filled and emptied.

And you can spend hours watching how these monsters from all over the world are going through the canal gates and sailing deep into the Canada and US continent. You will have many opportunities to see different kinds of them, as there are over 3000 ships traveling through the canal each year, carrying grain, coal, chemicals, iron and nickel ore.

You can also visit and explore the Welland ship canal by car, where going from the North to the South is the best. Along the way there are many stops for a closer look at the passing ships and to join many walkers on the recreational trail.

Note: Daily ships' schedule can be found in the canals centre. To read more about the Welland history click here. Read the reviews about the trip to the canal on Tripadvisor or watch the video on YouTube.

The Welland ship canal is open between March and December.

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