It has been called the busiest recreational waterway in the world. The Thousand Islands truly provides something for everyone. Whether it’s cruising, sight-seeing or history you seek, you will find it all packed into one of the most scenic waterways North America has to offer.
Created when glaciers scraped down the mountain tops during the last great ice age, the Thousand Islands area boasts some of the most unique geography and biological diversity in the world. The region was named Manatonna, or ‘Garden of the Great Spirit, ’by the Indians, but the more practical French gave the area the name it still bears – les Milles Isles or ‘Thousand Islands’.
Discovered in the late 1800s by railway barons and industrialists as the playground it is now renowned as, the Islands stretch between Kingston and Brockville. Although the area receives its fair share of storms, poor weather more often tends to track either north or south of the islands. The natural land bridge and geographical proximity between the United States and Canada – in spots just wide enough for a small runabout – has helped carve the history of two great nations.
Manmade lakes,huge seaway locks and cruising in close concert with giant ships,makes for interesting boating in this area.