Augusta Canal National Heritage Area

I never realized how much of historical interest is in Augusta, especially at the Augusta Canal. We took 4 of our grandchildren on the historic canal boat trip in October and they loved it. They saw I threshing birds and turtles, and enjoyed the historical narration by our guide Kelly. Such a beautiful day and wonderful outing. The interactive museum was terrific as well.

It was a very nice place to spend some time, although the canal boats were not working when I went. The intro movie, only 10 minutes in length, did a good job explaining the development of Augusta's canals and importance as a center of industry. Exhibits included a lot of interactive opportunities for kids, and were well thought out. Admission was very reasonable, and the gift shop worth a walk-through.

If you get the chance to go, you should definitely go! I went with my grandson's cub scouts group, and we all had a wonderful time. The hosts were friendly and informative on the tour along the canal, and they were so patient with the boys. It's beautiful along the canal. We even got to see one of the birds spreading its wings to dry off. And, there's a big flower sculpture that she explains along with the histories of the canal and the buildings as you ride the canal boat down and back. After the tour of the canal, everyone wandered through the museum, pushing the buttons to listen to the recordings, turning cranks to watch the water flow, and touching cotton bales and skulls of animals that had been found in the canal.

Beautiful scenery and full of history you can feel. Quiet area below the canal, with a few "artifacts" and remnants of structures. Be mindful of the businesses and residents there when you visit. Walking up to the canal is also a treat. Steady foot traffic of those getting exercise and taking in the scenery or air. Do keep an eye out for the population that calls under the bridges "home". Haven't had a negative experience, but I also respect space.

I visited during the First Annual Augusta Canal Heritage Festival, the first time I'd heard of the canal. The museum provides an interesting overview of the canal's history with a set of detailed models of the canal area of Augusta. The signage of the displays provides details about who was involved with the building of the canal and the textile mills along its banks and how the canal influenced Augusta. I suggest that you also visit the Augusta Museum of History. Both the Museum of History and the Augusta Canal exhibits work together to provide a history of Augusta and both can be done in a single day. The gift shop is small but does have a selection of paperbacks on various subjects of the canal and Augusta. There are also postcards and note paper. A shortened version of a trip on the canal onboard a canal boat offered during the festival was interesting and relaxing. Going beneath Butt Memorial Bridge with the swallows flitting about was exciting. We saw other wildlife and flowers on the banks during our trip. Parking for the festival was available on both sides of the converted mill building where the museum is housed. The canal itself is along a ridge hence elevated above the plaza outside the museum and its building. Metal stairs are used to move from the plaza up to the canal bank. There is a restaurant across the alley from the museum however I ate lunch from a food truck on my visit.

A great way to learn the history of the canal. The museum is interactive and fun for the whole family. There are guided boat rides offered 5 days a week as well. The people are helpful, friendly and kind. The cost is inexpensive and its a fun weekend or week day venture. Id recommend a visit. We visit at least twice a year.

I visited just the the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area museum as it was just too hot to take the boat tour, but I learned a lot about the industrial history of Augusta during my visit. The museum has interactive exhibits that show how the Augusta Canal worked and how it changed and industrialized Augusta. I'll definitely be coming back in cooler weather to take one of the canal boat tours.

Very interesting museum that not enough people know about. Great insight into Augusta's history. Fun canal boat tour is a must with knowledgeable tour guides to explain the need for the canal and how it was used originally and today.

The canal museum is a hidden gem amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. They have an informative clerk and they make it so easy to know about the canal. Theres a small museum inside that you are able to interact with and see how times have changed on the canal.

The scope of the canal here is quite impressive and to me, reminiscent of the canal that runs into the heart of Washington DC, as this one is from around the same time and has a notable aesthetic similarity. This one doesn't go all the way to the mountains, but you could easily spend a day on it on foot, and biking and boating are options as well. The infrastructure was good, and multiple open bathrooms and water fountains were available. The paths were generally quite wide (as former towpaths) and had plenty of space for bikes and pedestrians to share, with a couple of interesting exceptions. I didn't do any tours, but I expect the history is worth pursuing.

AUGUSTA, GA: known for the Masters Golf Tournament, the city of Augusta is also a charming town full of restaurants, shops, history, and a beautiful river walk. It is a great area to walk the pup, enjoy outdoor dining, find a small business for a unique souvenir, and see the Savannah River! With relatively mild temperatures in the fall and winter, it is a great time to visit! The summers are hot, hot, hot!

Great place to start your vacation time in Augusta. It gives you the history of this wonderful city as well as the personality of their habitants. The group of tour guides and historians is very good. They also have theater students that help in different parts of the educational journey. Don't miss this attraction, you'll enjoy it and learn.

Dear Friends, If you want to make an educator happy try using the words free and learning opportunity in the same sentence. The Augusta Canal Discovery Center did just that on their annual Canal Day. I enjoyed it so much that I've returned three times since my Canal Day visit. The center celebrated their second canal day in April by creating a family friendly community event to show off the things that the center offers along with some fantastic performances. Canal Day offered free admission to their interactive exhibits where guest young and old could learn about the importance of the canal. I hadn't realized the significance of the canal until I started exploring. Augusta as we know it would be very different place if Henry Cummings had seen fit to use his intellect somewhere else in North America. After exploring the center, I snagged a discounted ticket on the Petersburg boat. Our facilitator was FANTASTIC!!! Even the littles were entertained with her knowledge and commentary. They also had fantastic performances that day. I didn't include a clip of the performers because I was so engrossed in their excerpt from their play, I completely forgot to record. I'm a sucker for kids showing off their talents. One of my former students performed and my smile was probably the biggest in the crowd. I'll always be in the front row cheering them on. Parents just know that once our kiddo, forever our kiddo. We love getting to see them blossom. I hope that Canal day continues to be an annual event. Until then, check them out. They offer several activities that include the following: Regular Admission: $6(adults), $4(senior/student ) or free with boat tour ticket. Civil War Tour: Call for more information Friday Music Cruise: $27( adults), $25 (senior/student/military). Saturday Music Tribute Tours: $27( adults), $25 (senior/student/military). Canal to Cloth Immersion Tour: $29 (adults), ($27senior/student/military). Group Suggestions for Tours: Have one person book your spots or agree to all book at the same time. The tours have a specific number of seats so you want to be sure everyone gets a spot in your group. Solo Suggestions: Prepare to make new friends and learn. The stigma of solo adventures is lessening and you'd be surprised how your friend circle grows by just getting out there. I would have met my friends Karin and Nikki without going on my solo adventures. Please share your story, reel or photo with me when you venture out to visit them. Wishing you much fun! Sincerely CSRA #augustacanal#canaltocloth#Augustacanaldiscoverycenter#exploringthecsra #augustageorgia #georgia #csra #yelpaugusta

It's a ok spot to fish and picnic, I feel differently because I had a friend that lost her life at lock and dam off 56

Beautiful area with very nice facilities and ample parking. Secure, clean and well-maintained.

Stunning natural beauty, it's a great place to reflect & exercise. Go see and experience it for yourself.

Very cool about hour boat ride on the Augusta canal that is scenic and full of history. We went on a sunny day in the 70s and it was lov. Lots of birds & turtles and interesting plant life as well. Try to see the short film beforehand-it adds to the experience.

This is a wonderful place to visit! Lots to see and do! I definitely recommend everyone taking the boat trip.

Beautiful, scenic waterway. Always quiet and serene. You can take your own boat or rent one at the landing.

Enjoyed the museum and the boat ride on the canal. Lots of informative info. Everyone there is very friendly and helpful. If you know little about Augusta history, this is a good place to start. They still make there own electricity at the mill.

It has been a few years since we visited. The park is well maintained, with easily navigable walkways. Being able to view the history of the canal works made the visit worth while. It is a great place to visit with your family and friends.

Knowledgeable tour guides take you down the canal in a boat and explain its history before taking you back to the museum.

We initially only planned to sleep in Augusta and then continue driving on into South Carolina. Then we learned about the Augusta Canal and the Augusta Canal Visitor's Center. So we planned a 24 hour visit... and we had a blast! We called the Canal Visitor's Center and Jeff was a great help the weekend before we left, as he helped guide us around town, shared options on how to best kayak the Augusta Canal, and sharing information about when the museum would be open. Since our daughter shared interest in the textile mills, as she learned about them in social studies this year, we worked with Jeff to determine that we could leave the night before and get there before closing time on Saturday. While we left Nashville on time Saturday morning, we lost time in Atlanta traffic; instead of expecting two or so hours to see the mill, we arrived with 30 minutes to spare. At the Augusta Canal National Heritage Museum, Jeff welcomed us and stayed while we enjoyed the museum! Jeff nicely pointed us first to the movie and then the great exhibits inside. At the Enterprise Mill they had: - a movie about its history, about how they built the canal to create power for textile mills, to grow the New South (the South after the Civil War), and to become the Lowell (Massachusetts) of the South; and how it was dug by hand over five years! and how it was ignored after World War II until recently when they renovated it with trails and kayaking/canoeing - A replica of the canal, including a diorama showing how the hydroelectric power lights the town - You can see the actual pipe bringing water to generate electricity at the Enterprise Mill - Exhibits about life in Augusta and in the textile mills - Old time picture devices - A working generator showing how the many pulleys and axels in the ceiling now make a ceiling fan spin, and which used to make the many machines run We walked up to the trail path and watched as the automated machine opened the gate to let more water through It's metal arm was just inches from the power line above it! Our daughter saw a tiger tail dragonfly and took some awesome pictures of it... a new dragonfly type for us! Jeff helped us in the gift shop and informed us about the canal, just over the hill/levee outside, and he also informed us about the bell and other things to see outside - staying quite a bit past closing time just for us. We had a great time just visiting the Visitor's Center, and also the next day kayaking the Savannah River, all in large part to Jeff being so helpful to us. Thanks, Jeff, and God bless!

This was a good tour leaning history when you are older is so much more fun than when I was a child. We did get a chance to see a snake and turtles many turtles. Now we will watch the movie telling more stories of Augusta. This is a must do if you come to Augusta.

The Canal Boat Tour is above average. The cost is not much, but for it to be worth your time, go when it's not too hot. Unfortunately, the boat does not have a canopy, so when I say don't go in the heat of the day...I mean it. The history part is great. I love this city and it gave me another love for it! If you live in Augusta and haven't experienced this, you should be ashamed ;). This is a great thing to do on a Saturday after walking through the Farmer's Market on 8th St.

This is a great place for field trips. There's lots of history and the Petersburg boat ride is fantastic.

Looking for something to do in Augusta, I have realized that you must be creative if you want entertainment. So I decided to take my dad and his beautiful wife on the music cruise, it was a little packed but enjoyable still. Our musician for the ride was Mr. Fred Williams and his sax, he had a wide variety of songs which included everything from Phil Collins to Michael Jackson, he was a little under appreciated by the other passengers but I got lost in his tunes with the trance of the amazing weather. Our guide was humorous and a pleasure to be around; our captain was very skilled as he hovered our boat under the bridge to allow Mr. Williams sax to echo with the birds playing and flying by. In addition, they allow you to bring your own adult beverages and snacks, I indulged my parents with a nice bottle of moscato wine, a cheese and meat tray and topped it off with some delicious pineapple and grapes. This little boat cruise made my day, my parents loved it and I will be returning! For 25$, it is well worth it!

For things to do in Augusta, this is up there. You start with a museum built on the site of an old textile mill, it shows the history of the mills and canal in Augusta. Sounds boring, but it's really well done. We shelled out $12.50 apiece to take the canal boat tour, which was interesting. You go by the old mill sites, see the site of the Confederate Powder Works and learn about Augusta history. Looks like a great place to kayak. Only complaint - after I pay $50 to ride your boat, did you really need to have that sign on board "gratuity accepted"?

Good overview of canal heritage historical importance at the information center/mill. Exhibits, self-tour at walking museum, free video movie theatre, boat tour up the historical canal for a fee. Courteous attendants and guides. Boat tour guide a hoot, delightful. Also walked a canal levee trail; well maintained for walkers/bikers and well marked with occasional bathrooms/water except for one location where there's a detour due to road reconstruction.

We visited the museum and then took the "Civil War" boat tour of the Augusta Canal. Both the museum and the canal are aesthetically pleasing spaces. However, anything dealing with pre-Civil War history must confront the harsh truths of slavery. In the narrative of the museum, slavery was minimized or glossed over whenever possible. In the boat tour, slavery was mentioned only once, essentially to describe the risk of working in the Confederate Powderworks and how slave owners were compensated for the risk to their property. Whenever possible, the human experiences of Black folk at the time were omitted in both the museum and the boat tour. And when it was not possible to omit Black people from the narrative, they were characterized as objects or inaccurately portrayed as willing participants. It is the responsibility of historical institutions to provide a well-rounded and nuanced historical account, which the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area failed to do. This is why the place receives a one-star rating.

The Canal Authority operates the Augusta Canal National Heritage Area and Petersburg Boat Canal Tours. The Augusta Canal also has excellent trails for hiking/biking, starting at the headgate park at Savannah Rapids. A good way to get familiar with the Canal is to go to the Interpretive Center at Enterprise Mill. Interesting exhibits tell history of the canal from 1845 on. Take a guided boat tour and learn more. Then hit the trail. The Canal consistently wins "Best of Augusta" "Metro Best" "Family Favorite" and other local awards.