Chaffeys Lock Loop

Dogs Unknown

Features Historical Significance

From the Cataraqui Trail: East Segment, turn R (SE) for 200 m on Marina Rd, and then R on Chaffeys Lock Rd, continuing through the village of Chaffeys Lock and R at a CT sign on Opinicon Rd back to the CT. RT hikers can camp at the lock with permission of the Lockmaster.

Chaffeys Lock is named after Benjamin Chaffey, who constructed grist and carding mills on one side, and a sawmill and distillery on the other side, of the river connecting Indian Lake to Opinicon Lake. In 1827 Chaffey died of malaria, and the mills were demolished after his widow sold them to Colonel John By for the Rideau Canal.

On the west side of the lock, a two story defensible lockmaster's house dates from the 1830s. Further E on the other side of Opinicon Rd, the late nineteenth century Hotel Opinicon is still open for business. In 1835 Buttermilk Falls, settled in the early 1800s, was renamed after the Duke of Bedford as Bedford Mills.

The first lumber mills here used wooden water wheels; they were replaced by electric power generated in a powerhouse across the road from the grist mill. After the lumber industry declined in the early 1900s, power from this source was used in the district for a number of years. In a creek descending from Devil Lake to the NW are the remains of a flume used to carry water to the powerhouse.