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To the east of Kingston, Hwy 401 and the prettier Hwy 2 - the Thousand Islands Parkway - strip along the northern shore of the St Lawrence River , whose island-studded waters were tricky-going until the 1950s when the US and Canadian governments created the St Lawrence Seaway . An extraordinarily ambitious project, the Seaway extends 3790km inland from the Atlantic by means of lakes, rivers and locks to the west end of Lake Superior. Fifteen locks were installed on the St Lawrence, each big enough to handle massive ocean-going freighters, whilst a string of dams harnessed the river's hydroelectric potential. But it all came at a price: the Seaway necessitated the relocation of many riverside towns, a process which one local newspaper bewailed with the headline "once again another patch of Ontario is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of progress". There were long-term environmental costs too, with the ships transporting species previously unknown here on their hulls and in their bilge. What's more, the Seaway has been something of a flop, its decline related to the move towards road and air. As it travels east, Hwy 2 cuts across rolling farmland and offers fleeting views of the region's scenic highlight, the Thousand Islands . Local aboriginal peoples called these tiny, lightly forested granite chunks Manitouana - "Garden of the Great Spirit" - in the belief they were created when petals of heavenly flowers were scattered on the river, and more prosaically the islands later gave their name to a salad dressing. Geologically, they form part of the Frontenac axis, a ridge of million-year-old rock that stretches down into New York State. The islands are seen to best advantage on a cruise and these are available at most riverside towns, though those from Gananoque are often rated the best. However, easily the prettiest town hereabouts is Brockville , an unassuming kind of place with several fine old buildings, though it is still very tempting to push on to Ottawa , just 175km from Kingston. With regard to public transport, there are fast and frequent buses along Hwy 401 and VIA trains shadow the north bank of the river too, on their way from Kingston to Montreal.
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