The Welland Canal

 

A Passageway to the World!

As one of the world’s greatest man-made wonders, the Welland Canal can only be described as simply amazing! Thousands of visitors flock to Port Colborne  to Lock 8 Park (the best ship watching location) to witness a laker or ocean freighter navigate the Lake Erie entrance of the Welland Canal. Lock 8 raises or lowers ships one to four feet depending on Lake Erie water levels, and at 1,380 feet it is one of the longest canal locks in the world.

The "jackknife" bridges at either end are raised and lowered as ships pass in and out of the lock, and the Clarence Street Bridge is one of the few remaining "lift" bridges operating on the Welland Canal.

The structure uses simple electric motors and counterweights activated by remote control to raise the deck above passing ships. Next to the bridge are the walls of the old guard locks from the Second and Third Canals, as well as the abutments of a swing bridge that once connected the east and west sides of Port Colborne.

 

 

The Incredible Shrinking Mill

 

Our Incredible Shrinking Mill is a strange phenomenon produced by interplay of light, shoreline, water and trees. The closer you get, the smaller it appears. Take Cement Plant Road south to Lakeshore Road, turn left (east) and look straight ahead to the end of Lakeshore Road. The mill looks almost close enough to touch, but as you approach the Gravelly Bay it shrinks farther and farther away.

 

A Birdwatcher's Paradise

 

Because of its location on the north shore of Lake Erie, Port Colborne offers great opportunities for birdwatching during spring and fall migration periods.
Local wetlands are nesting areas for a waterfowl, and a stopping point for Whistling Swans.

Significant numbers of gulls, terns and cormorants nest on the shoreline near Nickel Beach. The nearby eastern breakwall has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its colonies of Common Terns, Ring-billed Gulls, Greater Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants and Black-crowned Night-Herons.

Local stand of Carolinian forest are popular with songbirds.