Peterborough: is known as the gateway to the Kawarthas, "cottage country", a large recreational region of the province. Peterborough's nickname in the distant past was "The Electric City" as it was the first town in Canada to use electric streetlights.

Rice Lake: fairly shallow and was named for the wild rice which grew in it and was harvested by native people of the area. Most of the extensive stands of wild rice originally found here were wiped out when water levels were raised in the lake by the construction of the waterway.

Trent-Severn Waterway: a 386-kilometer-long (240 mi) canal route connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, at Port Severn. The canal was surveyed as a military route, but the first lock was built in 1833 as a commercial venture. This connected a number of lakes and rivers near the center of the waterway, opening a large area to navigation by steamship. Huge Muskellunge abound in these waters.