The Canadian Canoe Museum

Newly reopened in a 65,000-square-foot building that is now, aptly, located lakeside, The Canadian Canoe Museum’s design evokes the hull of a canoe and is undoubtedly an aesthetic upgrade from its previous home in a former outboard motor factory. The 5.3-acre waterfront property features 1,200 feet of shoreline with docks and boardwalks that serve as a launching point to explore Little Lake and the Otonabee River, both part of the 240-mile Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site that winds through Ontario. From May through October, the museum’s Canoe House offers ways for paddlers of all ages and levels to get on the water, including a guided tour in a 36-foot canoe. Inside the museum is a storied collection of more than 600 canoes, kayaks, and paddled watercraft, among other artifacts, plus half a dozen exhibits that marvel at the engineering and craftsmanship of these complex boats and tell the culturally intricate story of a vessel that once afforded Indigenous Peoples the ability to travel and trade throughout the country’s interconnected waterways.