Reviews of Lock 7 Viewing Centre (Tourist Attraction)

Caleb Varghese

Didn't like much, i think lock 3 was better

Carolyn Ward

Was lucky enough Sunday to see a ship go up and another one go down right behind it. Normally it's a hit or a miss. I won!!

Larry Vanstone

Very interesting spot. Watch the Lakers come through lock 3 from the observation platform and learn about this unique place where ships climb the mountain. Visit the St Catharines museum while you're here. Very popular spot for both locals and visitors.

Lana Toews

Saw a ship going through! Fascinating!

Arash Ghorayshi

Great place to watch the ships go by.

Steve Fulton UE

This location also houses the Thorold Historical Society and the Ontario Genealogical Socitey Niagara Penninsula Branch.

Timothy Shawn Johnston

I grew up there.

Istvan Kelemen

An engineering masterpiece.....

Scottie Mom (Scottelvr)

A lot of fun to watch the big shops come through

Janice McKay

I enjoy Lock 7 and frequently go when there are two ships side-by-side. I'm usually at Lock 3 but go to Lock 7 for a change of scenery. Unfortunately, the viewing stand is metal and can get a bit warm in the summer heat. The biggest drawback in my opinion is that there are no restrooms nearby.

Sarah S

Nice spot to chill and see boats!

Carolyn Wells

Nice boat viewing spot

Shams AbuBakr

It's on Vellum Canal so you can observe the shifts going through the villain canal and you can see the gates opening closing and ships going up and down in the canal nice and trusting view specially if you're visiting this area from outside is a place I would recommend to observe and experience a nice way to see that how humans have the harness the energy of water

V L Welford

Just a lovely spot ❤☀️

Jim Simon

Another engineering marvel. From here, you can get a good view of how the lock works. There is a parking area as well which is not busy most of the times. Lookup online for the lock schedule before your visit.

John & Beth Colling

Very small parking lot

Ronnie Pickering

The canal is completely fenced off now, disallowing the public a chance to really appreciate the site. Photography is not an option here.

Josh Kerton

It was great I love the view

Mike

I never thought that going to see a cargo ship float down a canal under draw/lift bridges would be so entertaining. I went with my girlfriend and we had a nice parking spot on a little ridge near the river a d when we saw the size of the boat that was heading our way we were so amazing and we watched it for a good half an hour. It was quite a site to see considering the boat being labeled from port of Montreal, what was it doing down here so far from home lol. Will definently go back, great experience if you have never seen such a procedure!!

Daniel Lee (Tech Sword)

Awesome view. Parking is hard to find. It gets very crowded sometimes.

Mogens Erik Brockhusen

More people should go and see this. Too bad it does not get more attention.

Tom Gaudet

Great view

Zee Jeremic

Super cool!

William Catterick

Great picnic stop. Wonderful museum. A must see on a trip to Niagara.

Todd Frawley

Great views and a place to sit and watch.

Jacob Brown

The visiting center was nice, staff were friendly and helpful!

Vivek Joshi

Once in a lifetime experience. Could see huge ships lifted up and down. Must see it to believe it.

Andrew Raff

It's a lock... But the viewing area it terrible. All the views of the locks are blocked by trees!

Jacqueline Collins

Fun walk

Eric Huber

Great place to watch the boats come the locks.

Rosanne Mills

interesting and informative museum, the ships going through are always impressive and up close! being from Thorold I am a canal girl!

Joel Reed

Was awesome to be there when those huge ships came thru!!! We just happened to be there at the right time! Was a experience to watch them come thru the “land”. And amazed with how quickly the locks changed levels to allow ships to continue on their trips! Was there at other times but no ships. If you get a chance to see the ships come thru it’s amazing!!!

Nancy Naujoks

This lock has a small but wonderful museum with area history and artifacts that is well worth a visit. The young man on duty was truly helpful and informative about travel through the locks. Having been through the larger visitor center before, this was a wonderful option that added to our trip.

Inderjit S

Its a great place for the kids and adults alike if you like ships. You see those ships up close and also the way the lock system works, I personally like Lock 3 for great views and museum ,but this one is also good. Staff at the visitor center is friendly and helpful but before you go please check the schedule for all the ships arriving time so you won't have to wait there for a long time to see the ship.

subent

If you are into exotic looking yet practical technologies, then this place is for you. But you need a lot of patience and fortitude of lower limbs because you will be standing for long periods of time. Raising and lowering of ships take hell of a long time not to mention waiting for the ships. Parking is free, the first time I have had such luck at a place of amusement. Viewing platform is not ideal for filming or photography because of tall railing, still it's a good idea to bring a tripod otherwise, if you're like me, you'll go home with a sore arm because of holding your cameras -- that's right I brought multiple cameras -- for extended periods.

John Titgemeyer

Great viewing location with easy access to the Welland Canal Trail. They have information about the canal other things to see and do in the area.

Pat Patterson

Center was closed for Covid, actual view of the lock is prevented by chain link security fences.

Rick Adams

Facinating watching a ship in the lock, the water fills the lock and the ship rises. The doors open and the ship proceeds onto the next one.

Sara Scott

Great little area to visit

Jorge Maligeri

It is beautiful in the sunset

Th3namesadam

Nice spot to view the ship's coming through, also some great walking paths along the Welland Canal Parkway

Alice Simpson

You can watch large ships use the locks to go up and down the river. It takes hours for one ship to use a lock but its really interesting to watch the changing water levels

viral savaliya (techbeast)

Great tourist attractions to watch the sea lock.

Clapping Hands

From this Viewing Center we can sit and watch the big vessels crossing the bridge, while bridge goes up. Also there is bike path right next to this center. Nothing much to see except this lock if you are passing by Welland.

Joe Ursano

Elevated view of ships going through the lock

V K

Spectacular place.

Bill Tapp

Lots of interesting artifacts. Great viewing area. Friendly, helpful staff.

Paul Clarke

Cool views, not something you see many left of!

Holly Harrison

Best place to watch the ships on the canal hands down!

Ross McPhee

Very helpful and pleasant person gave us the scheduled arrival times and pointed out the best spot to view the boats in the locks. There's also a lot of literature with information on the locks, their history and the St Lawrence seaway and the great lakes.

MarieAnge B

Very small observation deck. Tourist info was closed...on a sunday.

Amanda Grimaldi

Great for a walk and to watch the boats come through!

Brayden Houle

Longboarded here from Welland and back was a nice 5 hour cruise

Mark Cripps

It is a great peaceful place to watch the ships going through the Welland Canal. If you go up on the deck there are more benches.

Art Witham

Viewing of canal operations.

ALKA VARMA

Excellent

Anthony Davidson

Long walk up hill Excellent workout.....

Ashley Lynne May

Beauuuutiful

Mark Leier

Lucky enought to watch a freighter go thru the lock. Highly recommend this historic site.

T G

Don't forget to pick up your free copy of Discovery Map Niagara. ...great for kids and seniors !

Nikkol Urban

A sight to see for all ages!!! The kids loved it just as much as the parents!

Judi Rock

Great vantage to see ships theough the canal and lots of hostoric memorbilia

J Gurney

Good Place to watch the ships climb the escarpment through the flight locks.

Ronaldo Capixaba

Not a nice view of the ships

JD Winkler

There were lots.of great places to see the ships go through the locks

Greg Walters

Small, but friendly staff.

Urs Wullschleger

Very cool place to view how locks work!

Kim Lamonday

The staff were so helpful and informative. It made our day that much better

Keith Turn

Great spot to watch ships slowly moving through locks.

Steven Gourlay

Excellent spot to see how the locks work. You can be right next to a ship as it enters. Very interesting and surprisingly fast.

Ernest Furtado

Very informative and a tone of history displayed

Max K

I disagree with the previous reviewer who gave this attraction a 3/5 stars stating "there is not much to see" at this location. There is a number of things to see here. The best part of this lock is that the viewing platform is accessible from the outside (no indoor entrance necessary) to look at the canal. Also there are 2 historical plaques highlighting the history of the area, a polar bear statute and also a kissing statue.

Marty Irving

Great place to view the ships.

Tim Foster

Awesome place!!

Samiru Sudharaka

Not a big attraction.. But good to see

Bonnie Schinkel

Loved it

Kimberly Burke

The view of lock 7 from this hillside is spectacular!!!

Lace Bagofcarrots

Nice stop to get info on the area. If you are lucky you can see a big boat go through the canal!

Vikkeh Bee

Lovely quiet place to walk and meditate

Andrew Theriault

Never had a problem here ever

Sean VA3HD

Awesome spot to view lock 7 from. Parking is lacking but worth the drive

Major Nilla

It is a wonderful place to watch the boats go through the lock. Lots of parking. The observation deck really gives an awesome view of how the lock really works.

CanalCityCycle Bikes

Nice small friendly information centre will guide you correctly.

Stefan Hoskin

They make a lot of effort to give hands-on access to history. it was cool to play with the old phones.

Johnny BT

Ask for wine tasting coupons

Mike Wilson

Lots of interesting things to look at

David Lever

Fantastic small museum and tourist information centre. Great staff and interesting exhibits.

Andrew Fisher (AJ)

Needs more parking

Stacey Baker

What a great spot to see the ships coming through the locks. Great for tourists and locals alike.

Gordie Hanna

Lots of great info on the seaway and the canal. Don't forget to take advantage of the kissing rock outside!

debora de carvalho

Ship lock schedules available • scenic surroundings • free parking • trails

Natalie Fleming

Saw a huge boat go through a lock

Doris Harber-Hollins

Karien was informative

Lance Penner

Great watching the Algoma Niagara go through Lock 7

Chris T

Nice view

Kelly Munn

Loved it there. Sitting watching the ships go by...was so relaxing!!

David Thomas

There is a small museum at this location. The spot where you can actually see ships passing through the locks is about a minute away from here. Also, there are only a few spots to park here. A visit here is totally worth it! You can collect all the information you want here before you head to the locks.

Robert Ames

Great to view ships transiting Lock 7. Bring a radio scanner when you come; to hear the Seaway, and the ships, spotting into and out of the lock

Nicole Valtierra

(Translated) If you like boats, it's a good place to visit, but it's very hot so bring water to cool down and lots of sunscreen (Original) Si te gustan los barcos es un buen lugar para visitar, pero hace mucho calor así que lleva agua para refrescarte y mucho bloqueador

Noel Murdoch

Great view of ships entering the locks on Welland canal

Matt Reese

Glad i dug this place up on my Falls trip. We got to see a boat enter the lock and it was so close you could touch it. Must visit.

Debb Wayland

Helpful and enthusiastic staff. The building is closed after Thanksgiving now, but springtime will be another opportunity to go inside the center, see some historical artifacts and learn about the local history!

Jessica purvis-johnston

We arrived at the perfect time to see a boat travel thru the lock and had a great view!

Kornpop McCullough

Great museum and very knowledgeable host.

robert doan

Beautiful and good place to learn about the Welland canal

Athena Hopson

Signs are a bit faded so updating them would improve the place.

Kyle Frayne

Relaxing great view

Amar Pawar

Touristic

Michel S.

(Translated) Nice ..... from here you can watch the ships in the locks well. (Original) Nett.....von hier kann man gut die Schiffe in den Schleusen beobachten.

Frank Croft

A good place to visit to get a good view of the ships in the canal, also to gain some knowledge in the local history and the history of the Welland Canal.

Theresa Solomon

I love watching the massive cargo ships going through the Canals. It is such a peaceful experience. The pathway is quite wide with plenty of room for walks. The seagulls add to the feeling of this special place of Lock 7, Thorold Ontario..

Julie Sauder

Awesome

Meng-Ping Wang

(Translated) The winter canal does not work, and the boat will go up and down the stairs in spring, summer and autumn! ! (Original) 冬季運河不運作，春夏秋季再來看船上下樓梯吧！！

Helen Bolshaw-Walker

Lovely views, a nice stop off point during a walk along the canal.

Joe Wilson

Great venue and excellent tie in to Thorold and Family history.

Marilyn Hu-Wright

Nice local attractions during covid time in a small town, no crowd. No ship came during our short visit but it was a good visit.

Fred Hopper

Great little museum, good staff and fascinating exhibits. Provides a good insight into Thorald's local history, not just the Welland Canal.

Deb Wright

The view was great but the visitor center was still closed for the winter season

Zed Kahale

Great friendly staff.

Jayne Roulan

Amazing experience! Would highly recommend you check it out.

Eager Eagers

It's great

Foroogh Zarei

Very nice view and great trail to walk in. Absolutely amazing for biking or running. Be careful, the trail is not maintained Dec to March.

Paul Grossi

Nice view of the lock with bleachers to sit on

Ty Smith

Nice view nothingelse to do tho

Carrie Wolford

This was more up my husband’s alley but he loved it and the kids learned about locks

Tala Vera

It’s marvellous

Scott Steinhoff

A great place to eatxh ships pass through the welland canal. There are bleachers but best if you bring your own chair and refreshments.

tina galyn

Saw several large vessels go through the lock. Nice paved path to walk along the locks. Museum is here, but was closed on our visit.

Kaushal Patel

Same as Panama canal.. must see

Pawan Sethi

Nice trail for biking

Jeff MacLean

Wonderful place! Lots of information on the locks as well as Thorold history. Wade was very friendly and especially helpful and knowledgable about the ships passing through, also about the surrounding area.

Bill Ledingham

Good to bring the kids. History lessons

Julia Sullivan

Very cool. We were lucky enough to witness a freighter going through the lock! Very informative and pleasant lady at the Thorold Museum.

Sharon Edell

Interesting and fun to see ships go through the locks!

Gidget Boyer

Great look out at lock 7. Even had seating.

Aaron Cheek

No ships there when we stopped but the staff was so helpful and told us which loch had a ship going through. Have great directions to get there.. easy parking.

Barun Bakshi

Very helpful and friendly employee who will answer all your questions. Perfect place to know about the well and canal system and viewing the lock operations.

Angie Walczak

Friendly Canadians

Murali Krishnamurthy

Do not miss please

Stephen Ellis

Very informative

Ken .Doncaster

Lock 7 is the best place to view large ships going through the Welland Canal. You are literally 10 feet away from touching the hull of any ship going through the canal. Very exhilarating.

James Gloster

You can get a lot of good info from here. The viewing platform is a 5 minute drive at lock 3

Bill Campbell

Nice to watch boats and they have a sitting area.

Nadine Lichty

Wonderful to watch a ship come through the lock. A local resident told us all about what was happening. Very friendly and knowledgeable

David Brown

Great for bike views riding on the canal path.

Dylan Morgan

Great place to see locks and even better to see a boat through. 7 locks drop the most elevation in a short distance than anywhere else in the world. Locks drop down some 6 to 7 stories as the water drains out to the lower locks.

Jon Camp

Super friendly staff, informative and a gorgeous view of the canal

Louis Epp

Great place to see the Lakers

Norm Frick

Nice view of lock 7 and ships

Glen s

Amazing how close the ships get to the edge of the locks about a foot

Dan Brosgol

Went to Lock 7 with our 5 kids and saw both a northbound and southbound ship in the locks. It was so cool and a great way to spend 45 minutes. The young woman in the museum/shop was also super-friendly. Definitely worth a visit and make sure to look online to make sure you are there when a laker is coming through.

Heidi Heidebrecht

Ir das cool to a big boat passing by!

Paul North

Lots of people come to lock 7. The bleachers are within 50 ft of the ships. Very close viewing.

Bob Bremner

Very cool to see and information center was a great help

Paul Raines

Lot's of information for tourists and locals who want to see lake and ocean going ships. Nice raised deck with benches. Helpful, friendly staff. Find out when the next ship will be going through the lock.

Eddie Fernz

Watching huge ships navigate through the locks, shows the marvel of engineering

David

This is a must see if you have any interest in the Seaway or ocean going lake boats. There is a great viewing platform. After this stop go south to Lock seven which has a very high lift.

Will Catterick

You can smooch at the kissing rock ????

Rob Moore

Awesome. Place

Paolo Volpatti

Pleasant employees with all the answers I needed

Jeffrey S

I was impress to see how the ships go through the Canal

M. Asim

A Great experience for the kids. Visitor center staff are extremely nice and helpful. Recommended to check the ship schedule first before leaving, otherwise it can be hours between ship sighting.

M P

Good view of lock 7

Tamara Wheat

Great spot!

Henry Lach

Very informative at the museum a must see

Gareth Wood

A great free place to see the huge ships move through the locks. Fabulous for young kids.

Jennifer Agnew

Nice

Kia Ford

Watched a large bulk carrier rise up and exit the lock. Then sail right over the road tunnel.

Roger Stenson

Great place to stay, even in November. Great watching the boats transit the lock.

Joshua Clarke

A nice quiet spot to watch the boats go through the locks. The location also has some nice displays showing the history of Thorold.

JONGWON LEE

Huse canal indoor observotary. Fantastic

Frank Thiede

Nothing to special nice place to stop and eat at the picnic table if need be

Cheryl M

Neat to see the large ships up close!

Kathy Smith

Very interesting, stopped in here with my grandchildren they thought was pretty cool how the ships get lowered into a different lake.

Jonathan Tucker

My kids thought it was pretty neat. It is impressive to see a large ship moved up or down the escarpment.

sandra murphy

The gentleman was friendly and answered all my questions,gave suggestions for best viewing along the canal and provided some brochures and maps.

Lucy Stewart

New museum displays focus on Thorold history and Welland Canal. The Flight Locks you can from Lock 7 are among the Engineering Wonders of the World, allowing marine traffic to transit the Niagara Escarpment in two directions at the same time.

Canada GTA

Interesting to watch the ships in the lock here at lock 7, but the viewing platform at Lock 3 is much better. There is a link from lock 7 to a path that follows the canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. The museum located at lock 3 (A few kilometres down the road) has cool displays. And a monument to canal workers who died over 20 years (or so) of building the canal was recently erected to the north of the lock 3 museum- it's really well thought-out and beautiful with a giant mirror display- worth checking out in person. Lock 7 itself isn't so great. Better to go a bit north and check out Lock 3.

Rob Tustin

Lots of history of the area. Cool watching the Welland Canal at work.

Donna Wheeler

Interesting

james macneil

Great gift shop

Jason Larabee

Nice to see the boats, museum and it's free!

Tammera Boyd

amazing beautifully orchastrated tempo of man, machine.and .mother nature's most unpredictable resource ,Water a well know Canadian H2O Highway in the s..lest town/city. Thorold. with the biggest heart for Canada