Great Loop Locks
The traditional Great Loop route passes through 99 locks – so once you’ve completed your Loop, you’ll be an expert at locking, if you’re not already! Depending on which route and side trips you choose to take, you’ll travel through at least 46 locks, and up to 169 locks.
Atlantic ICW
— 1-2 Locks
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway runs from Key West, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia – but in all 1,250 miles there’s only one lock you’ll travel through. If you opt for the Dismal Swamp Canal alternate route, you’ll travel through two locks instead of one.
Virginia Cut Route (follows the ICW)
- Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal – 1 lock
– OR –
Dismal Swamp Alternate Route
- Dismal Swamp Canal – 2 locks
Lake Erie Route
— 35 Locks
The Lake Erie Route leaves the Hudson River after the Federal Lock at Troy, NY, and heads west on the Mohawk River. It then follows the entire historic Erie Canal to its terminus at Lake Erie, near Buffalo, NY. You’ll pass through a total of 35 locks on this route. If you’d like to take a side trip to Lake Ontario, you’ll need to transit the Welland Canal from Lake Erie.
- Hudson River – 1 lock
- Erie Canal – 34 locks
Lake Ontario Side Trip
- Welland Canal – 8 locks (one way)
Lake Ontario Route
— 30 Locks
The Lake Ontario Route also leaves the Hudson River just after the Troy Federal Lock, and follows the Erie Canal through 22 locks, until its junction with the Oswego Canal. After travelling through the locks on the Oswego Canal, you’ll find yourself in Lake Ontario.
- Hudson River – 1 lock
- Eastern Erie Canal – 22 locks
- Oswego Canal – 7 locks
Lake Champlain Route
— 71 locks
The Lake Champlain Route follows the Hudson River for as long as it’s navigable, until its junction with the Mohawk River where it becomes the Champlain Canal in Waterford, NY. After cruising through the “6th Great Lake,” Lake Champlain, you’ll pass through six more canalways in Québec and Ontario before entering Lake Ontario. This route includes 71 locks! If your Loop boat’s air draft is 8 feet or less (lucky duck!) you can transit the Lachine Canal through downtown Montréal, instead of taking the primarily commercial St. Lawrence Seaway.
- Hudson River – 1 lock
- Champlain Canal – 11 locks
- Chambly Canal – 9 locks
- Saint-Ours Canal – 1 lock
- St. Lawrence Seaway – 2 locks
- Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal – 1 lock
- Carillon Canal – 1 lock
- Rideau Canal – 45 locks
Alternate Route through Montréal, Québec
- Lachine Canal – 5 locks
- NOTE: maximum air draft is 8 feet
Trent-Severn Waterway
— 43 Locks
The Trent-Severn Waterway connects Lake Ontario near Trenton, ON to Lake Huron, near Port Severn, ON. It runs 240 miles between the two Great Lakes, and includes 43 locks on the Great Loop route. Once in Lake Huron, you’ll travel through the Georgian Bay, North Channel, and Lake Michigan before encoutering your next lock.
43 Locks, including:
- Peterborough Lift Lock – the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world (65 feet)
- Kirkfield Lift Lock – the second highest hydraulic lift lock in the world (49 feet)
- Big Chute Marine Railway – the only marine railway of its kind in North America (58 feet)
illinois locks
— 10 Locks
Depending on your air draft, you’ll either lock through on the Calumet River or at Chicago Harbor Lock, just before the Chicago River. Both routes converge at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, where you’ll have 9 more locks before leaving Illinois.
- Chicago River – 1 lock
- NOTE: maximum air draft is 16.9 feet
– OR –
- Calumet River – 1 lock
– AND –
- Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal – 1 lock
- Des Plaines River – 1 lock
- Illinois River – 5 locks
- Mississippi River – 2 locks
Inland locks
— 3-21 Locks
After leaving the state of Illinois, you’ll only have 3 locks before reaching Alabama. If you choose to take side trips to Nashville, Chattanooga, or Knoxville, you’ll have additional locks to pass through in both directions of your side trip(s).
- Ohio River – 1 lock
- Pickwick Lake – 1 lock
– AND –
- Kentucky Lake – 1 lock
– OR –
- Barkley Lake – 1 lock (via the Cumberland River alternate route)
Tennessee Side Trips
- Nashville, TN via the Cumberland River – 1 lock (each way)
- Chattanooga, TN via the Tennessee River – 4 locks (each way)
- Knoxville, TN (east from Chattanooga) – 3 locks (each way)
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
— 12 Locks
The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway connects, you guessed it, the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee River. You’ll lock through 10 times over 234 miles. After joining the Tombigbee, you’ll travel through two additional locks.
- Tenn-Tom Waterway – 10 locks
- Tombigbee River – 2 locks
Okeechobee Waterway
— 5 Locks
The Okeechobee Waterway (OWW) is an alternate route you can cruise through southern Florida, instead of traveling around Key West. The OWW bisects the tip of Florida through Lake Okeechobee, connecting Fort Myers on the west coast via the Caloosahatchee River to Stuart on the east coast via St. Lucie Canal.
- Okeechobee Waterway – 5 locks