Pick up your Picnic
- The Opinicon Dining Room, Pub or Ice Cream Shop (seasonal)
- Pre-order your Pedal-Paddle-Picnic package with Rideau Tours (seasonal) or 613-583-4783
- Jeannie's Fries (nearby on Hwy 15)
Shop
- Brown’s Marina General Store (seasonal)
- Chaffey’s Lock Antiques and Collectables
Outdoor Activity
- Cataraqui Trail
- Self-guided Heritage Walking Tour of Chaffeys Lock
- Marion Dunn Heritage Trail
- Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS)
Picnic Areas
Stay
- Cabins and Cottages listed on airbnb.ca
- Canalview Cottage
- Clear Lake Cottages
- Davis Cottages on the Rideau
- Dorothy’s Lodge (groups)
- Green Valley Cottages
- Indian Lake Marina and Campground
- Rideau Lakes Cottages
- Simmons Cottages
- Sun on the Brow Cottages
- Treetop Cottage (glamping)
- Veldman Family Opinicon Cottages in Brooks Bay
Points of Interest
- Chaffey’s Lock Community Hall – This historic building was built on bake sales, dances, and raffles, and with nails, boards and labour donated by the community. At the helm of this tremendous effort was the Chaffey’s Lock Women’s Institute, which succeeded in its goal of opening the hall in time for the 100th anniversary of the Rideau Canal in 1932.
- Chaffey’s Lockmaster's House & Museum (seasonal) Built in 1844 as a low-cost substitute for a blockhouse to defend the canal against American-based raiders. Originally a one-storey limestone building, the tin roof protected it in case of fire while two stone porches and gun-slits provided extra defence in case of attack.
- Chaffey’s Lock Memory Wall & Outdoor Chapel - Heritage Plaque - Located at the entrance to Chaffeys Lock cemetery, the memory wall was erected by the Chaffey’s Lock and area Heritage Society (CLAHS) to commemorate the founding, building and continuing life of the community. The stones of the masonry wall hold plaques inscribed with the names of families who settled in this area.Buried in this cemetery are Samuel Chaffey and his wife, Mary Ann as well as 79 individuals including Rideau Canal labourers, mostly Irish immigrants, who died in the construction of the Rideau Canal.
- Chaffeys Lock is home to Queen's University Biological Research Station (QUBS), a satelite campus dedicated to nature studies and host to North America's largest Herbarium
- Ontraio Heritage Trust Plaque: Chaffey’s Mills – A provincial plaque erected at Chaffeys Lock commemorates Chaffey’s Mills. Falling water powered Sam Chaffey’s extensive milling complex here on the Cataraqui system in the 1820s and a small settlement known as Chaffey’s Mills flourished briefly. However, construction of the Rideau Canal necessitated the demolition and flooding of Chaffey’s mill sites.
- For more points of interest, please see the Heritage Walking Tour of Chaffeys Lock.
Events
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Chaffey's Lock & Area Summer Concert Series (May 17, July 19, August 9, October 5, 2025)
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Chaffey’s Heritage Lockmaster Museum Opening (June 28, 2025)
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Canada Day Chaffey’s Lock (July 1, 2025)
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Annual Heritage Craft Market at The Opinicon (August 2, 2025)
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Doors Open Rideau Lakes (August 16-17, 2025)
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Heritage Day with Museum Tours (August 30 to September 1, 2025)
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Ontario Festival of Small Halls (October 6, 2025)
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CLAHS Halloween Festivities (October 31, 2025)
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“A Chaffeys Christmas Market” (November 23, 2025)
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Heritage Christmas Potluck & Santa Visit (December 7, 2025)
Event details are available on the Chaffeys Lock website: http://www.chaffeyslock.ca/events.html
Details at rideaulakes.ca/events
Did you Know?
The construction of the Rideau Canal necessitated the demolition of Chaffey’s mills to make way for the building of the lock and dam. Colonel By purchased the mills from Samuel Chaffey’s widow, Mary Ann and his brother, Benjamin.
Watch the Documentary
Learn about the fascinating story of Fettercairn WWI on Indian Lake
More history, photos, maps and information at rideaulakes.ca/Chaffeys