Situated 85 mi/110 km northeast of Toronto in the heart of the Kawaratha Lake Region, Peterborough is the gateway to Ontario's cottage country. The Trent Severn Waterway passes through the city and houses the Peterborough Lift Lock, the world's largest hydraulic lock.
Visitors can tour the locks by boat or stand onshore to watch as boats are transferred up the system. The complex system of 39 conventional locks, two flight locks, two lift locks and a marine railway raises boats 590 ft/180 m above the level of Lake Ontario at its summit at Balsam Lake and lowers them 262 ft/80 m to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron.
Predominately a manufacturing community, Peterborough swells during the summer months with campers and cottagers looking for food, lodging and city diversions. Visit the Art Gallery, which spotlights local artisans, and the Canadian Canoe Museum, which explores Canadians' intimate history with the mighty canoe.
To view interesting aboriginal artwork, visit Petroglyphs Provincial Park (northeast of Peterborough), which contains hundreds of ancient rock carvings. The well-preserved images went unnoticed by anthropologists until 1954.
The park is only open to day visitors, so don't plan an overnight visit.
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