The Severn River is a river in central

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. Its headwaters are located at the north end of

Lake Couchiching Lake Couchiching ( ), from the Ojibwe ''gojijiing'' meaning "inlet", is a medium-sized lake in Central Ontario, Canada, separated from Lake Simcoe by a narrow channel. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching are popular spots for fishing in summer and ice ...

. It drains Lake Couchiching and

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called ''Ouentironk' ...

. The river flows generally northwest into

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

, a large bay of Lake Huron. The Severn forms part of the inland

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

system known as the

Trent–Severn Waterway The Trent–Severn Waterway is a canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. Its major natural waterways include the Trent River, Otonabee River, Kawartha Lakes, Lake Simcoe, Lake Couchiching ...

, which links Port Severn on

with Trenton on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

via the

Trent Canal Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California ...

. From the middle of the 19th century up until the completion of the canal in 1920, the Severn was used to transport logs to

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

s down river. There are two hydroelectric stations at falls located on its course. The central Ontario Severn River is only long. The river services seasonal cottagers, as many of the properties are accessible only by boat. Some year-round residents live on the Severn. The river sees many yachts/cruisers travelling from Lake Couchiching to Georgian Bay, or vice versa. Located on the Severn River,

Big Chute Marine Railway Big Chute Marine Railway is a patent slip at lock 44 (in the township of Georgian Bay) of the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario, Canada. It works on an inclined plane to carry boats in individual cradles over a change of height of about . It is ...

is a rare operating marine-railway. The

Elbląg Canal Elbląg Canal (; pl, Kanał Elbląski ; german: Oberländischer Kanal) is a canal in Poland, in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in length, which runs southward from Lake Drużno (connected by the river Elbląg to the Vistula Lagoon), to the river ...

in Poland is similar. The Big Chute is a major tourist attraction, and provides access to and from Gloucester Pool, below the Severn. The River sees many overnight campers, although overnight camping is forbidden on many sections of the Severn, including Lost Channel (location of the old

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

) and Pretty Channel. This law is enforced by police supervision. According to "Governor Simcoe's Visit in 1793," which can be found in the 1891 volume of the Transactions of the Canadian Institute, the river at that time was known as the River Matchetache.

References

See also