Aug 29, 2013

Fenelon Falls (Lindsay)


We are very fortunate to have access to hundreds of waterfalls in Ontario.  When I was a child my parents always took us to Niagara Falls at least two or three times in the warmer months.  My father loved it there, and that was when I first fell in love with the everlasting flow and beauty of waterfalls.  Some are more majestic than others.  Some are man made and some flow naturally from rivers and streams, and I love the philosophy of water flow. The ever changing movement.  

Fenelon Falls located in the Kawarthas is a popular spot in the summer months mostly due to cottage goers and tourism.  There are only about 1500 permanent residents there, so it gets pretty quiet the rest of the year, I'm sure.  This spot is popular due to both the "Locks" and the Waterfalls, which is known as the 'jewel of the Kawarthas', though the setting of this 'jewel' is located in the downtown core of Fenelon rather than surrounded by nature. These 'Falls' were created as part of the Fenelon River, a part of the Trent-Severn water system. 

The "locks" are still pretty popular though with curious onlookers as eager boaters patiently await to get through to the other side.   The popular 'Locks' is actually Lock 34 and if you  click here you can see it in action.  Once on the other side of the lock, the boats bolt into the open water of the Trent to tow an excited water skier or drop a line in the water to fish in a quiet corner somewhere.

I used to spend a lot of time here in the 90's, almost every weekend as a matter of fact and was amazed by how much it had changed.  One thing I noticed was the local theatre sadly was boarded up as this was almost full on weekends with the latest films.  


One thing I wanted to do this time while taking a picture of the falls, was to finally checkout the Fallsview Restaurant.  It always looked so exotic to me.  Though the view is quite stunning as you enjoy a meal on the terrace, you will probably find conversation will be difficult as the falls are extremely loud as it powers an hydro-electric dam as well.