On a hazy afternoon I found myself in Port Colborne so I took some time to do some exploring. Just off one of the main roads I found the remains of what may have been locks, though I am not certain of that. Several walls have collapsed into the water but much remains, there is also an old lift bridge here which is still in operation.

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Found this old feeder canal hiding in some heavy growth next to the canal right by the Woodlawn Road bridge. You can see on Google Maps that it goes on for about 250m then just fades away.

Don’t have a clue how old it is, but it appears to have been forgotten about long ago.

After stopping on my way home from work to check out the old Knifeworks Factory I found myself wandering further down the trail it resides on only to discover old canal locks which I now know to be part of the 2nd Canal system. This is another case of having driven by something every day for years and having no idea that it was there. This section is found just to the east of the 406 as it enters St. Catharines and winds west.

I walked for about half an hour down the trail, there was one lock just past the Knifeworks Factory and another one quite a hike past that. You can keep going until it eventually crosses the Via Rail line, in that distance you find a total of 7 locks. After which you will immediately find one more and then the canal will start to vanish and reappear again as parts have been buried. The majority of it from that point on is underground but you will find certain parts such as Mountain Locks Park next to The Keg (formerly the Rubber Factory), beyond that you’ll find a few scattered remains in backyards but almost everything has been covered over.

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