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Sitting on the northern shore of Severn Sound at the mouth of the Severn River, tiny PORT SEVERN is the gateway to the Trent-Severn Waterway , a 400-kilometre canalized route that connects Georgian Bay with Lake Ontario. With a maximum depth of only 2m, it's of little commercial importance today, but until the late nineteenth century this was one of the region's principal cargo routes. It's open from the middle of May to the middle of October and takes about a week to travel from one end to the other. If you've the inclination for a serious boating trip, your first line of enquiry should be to the waterway's free Cruise Planning Service (tel 1-800/663-2628); for a taster, two-hour cruises (June to mid-Oct 1 daily; $14; reservations on tel 705/549-3388) leave from Lock #45 in Port Severn, travelling as far as the Big Chute Marine Railway , where boats are lifted over the eighteen-metre drop between the upper and lower levels of the river. Frankly, the Big Chute is something of a yawn, but it certainly attracts its share of visitors, most of whom drive here - just follow the signs off Hwy 400 (Exit 162) north of Port Severn. There are three recommendable hotels in Port Severn, beginning with Rawley Lodge (tel 705/538-2272 or 1-800/263-7358, fax 705/538-0726; $80-100 including meals), which occupies a rambling, 1920s building with a charming riverside setting. The rooms are modern and a tad spartan - both in the main lodge and the adjacent chalets - but perfectly adequate; they also rent out canoes. The second hotel is the smart and briskly modern Inn at Christie's Mill (tel 705/538-2354 or 1-800/465-9966, fax 705/538-1836, www.christiesmill.on.ca ; $100-125), which also has the district's best restaurant with views out across the river. Even better, however, is the delightful Severn Lodge (tel 705/756-2722 or 1-800/461-5817, fax 705/756-8313, www.severnlodge.on.ca ), which has a wonderful solitary location amongst dense forests overlooking a wide and quiet section of the Trent-Severn Waterway. The lodge has all the facilities of a mini-resort, including canoe and motorboat rental, an artificial beach, a restaurant and an outside swimming pool, and is extremely popular with families. Rooms are available in the main lodge and in the chalets that dot the surrounding woods. Rates vary enormously, and there's usually a minimum stay of two nights, but a lodge room for two nights including meals works out at about $300 per person in summer. To get there, leave Hwy 400 at Exit 162 (also the turning for the Big Chute Marine Railway ) and it's 7km along Route 34. It's 13km northwest from Port Severn across the mouth of the river and down Route 5 to HONEY HARBOUR , the nearest port to the Georgian Bay Islands National Park . Little more than a couple of shops, a liquor store and a few self-contained hotel resorts, the village achieved some notoriety in the 1970s when the bar of the Delawana Inn was the site of violent confrontations between Toronto's Hell's Angels and local Ojibwa families. The feud ended with the Angels walking home after their bikes had been dynamited. Things are much more civil today, but Honey Harbour is still a lively place in summer, with motorboats whizzing in and out as cottagers drop by to collect supplies. If you decide to stay here - eschewing the offshore campsites of the national park - the best place is the lakeside Delawana Inn (tel 705/756-2424 or 1-888/DELAWANA, www.delawana.com ; $240 and up for full board in high season, with discounts on package deals; late June to early Sept), an extensive, resort complex with spacious chalet cabins dotted round its pine-forested grounds. Guests also have use of the resort's canoes, kayaks and windsurfing boards. In terms of public transport, the Ontario Northland bus service (tel 1-800/461-8558) from Toronto to Sudbury drops passengers at the petrol station on Hwy 400 on the edge of Port Severn; there are no connections on to Honey Harbour.
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