How do you canoe through the locks of the Dalsland Canal?
Short answer
You buy a lock ticket online before you go (or from the lock keeper by card or Swish, plus a SEK 50 fee), wait at the lock and paddle in when the keeper waves you through. A canoe under 6 m pays SEK 60 per lock chamber, or SEK 960 for a clip card of 10 lock-station passages. In 2026 the locks were staffed from late May to 13 September; outside those hours they stay shut.
The Dalsland Canal links the lakes of the Dalsland–Nordmarken system with 31 locks over its 250 km. The canal was built between 1864 and 1868, and a canoe locks through alongside motorboats.
How a lock passage works
- Buy a ticket first. Tickets are sold online through the canal company’s booking page and can be shown on your phone or on paper. You can also buy a single ticket from the lock keeper by card or Swish, with a SEK 50 service fee on top. The canal has been cash-free since 2025.
- Wait at the waiting area below or above the lock. Keep clear of the gates and of larger boats.
- Paddle in when the keeper signals. Keep close to the wall and hold the canoe steady while the water rises or falls.
- Paddle out when the far gates open and the keeper waves you on.
The last lockage starts well before closing time: a keeper will not start a passage that cannot be finished before closing, so arrive with time to spare.
What it costs a canoe
Canoes, kayaks and rowing boats have their own price list, set per lock chamber. Prices below are from the canal company’s site in October 2026, in SEK including VAT.
| Lock station | Chambers | Lakes | Canoe under 6 m | Canoe over 6 m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gustavsfors | 1 | Lelång to Västra Silen | 60 | 125 |
| Krokfors | 2 | Västra Silen to Östra Silen | 120 | 250 |
| Lennartsfors | 3 | Lelång to Foxen | 180 | 375 |
| Bengtsfors | 2 | Bengtsbrohöljen to Lelång | 120 | 250 |
| Töcksfors | 2 | Foxen to Töck | 120 | 250 |
| Håverud | 4 | below and above the aqueduct | 240 | 500 |
A standard Canadian canoe is under 6 m. The canal company also sells a clip card for canoes: 10 lock-station passages for SEK 960 (under 6 m) or SEK 2,000 (over 6 m), valid through the boating season. It is scanned once at each lock station, however many chambers that station has. The canal cards with unlimited locking are only priced for motorboats.
A round trip from Lelång into Foxen and back costs SEK 360 per canoe in single tickets. A week that goes through Gustavsfors, Krokfors and Lennartsfors both ways costs SEK 720. The clip card starts to pay off once you pass the bigger stations several times.
If you book The Canoe Trip, a lock pass for the Dalsland Canal is included.
When the locks are open (2026)
| Period | What is open |
|---|---|
| 22–25 May | Opening weekend: Lennartsfors and Gustavsfors, 11:00–15:00 |
| 6–7 June | Köpmannebro, Upperud, Lennartsfors and Gustavsfors |
| 11–28 June | Most locks daily, roughly 10:00–16:00 or 17:00; Lennartsfors, Gustavsfors and Krokfors 11:00–17:00 |
| 29 June–2 August | Longest hours, roughly 08:00 or 09:00 to 18:00 or 19:00 |
| 3–16 August | As in June |
| 17–31 August | Reduced: Gustavsfors 10:00–17:00 and Krokfors 11:00–17:00 daily; Lennartsfors Wednesday–Saturday 12:00–16:00 |
| 1–13 September | Gustavsfors 10:00–16:00 and Krokfors 11:00–16:00 daily; Lennartsfors Wednesday–Saturday 12:00–16:00 |
Outside the staffed season you can book a passage on weekdays from 4 May to 10 June and from 17 August to 30 September. It costs SEK 450 per lock station on top of the normal fee, and you book by email at least three days ahead. For one canoe that is rarely worth it.
The 2027 hours were not published when we checked. They usually follow the same pattern, but look at the canal company’s opening hours page before you plan around a lock. Our best time to canoe in Dalsland article sets this against weather and crowds.
The Håverud aqueduct
At Håverud, in the south of the canal near Mellerud, the ground was too loose and the drop too steep for an ordinary lock. Canal builder Nils Ericson solved it with an aqueduct: the canal runs in a 33.5 m sheet-metal trough that hangs over the rapids, held together by about 33,000 rivets. King Carl XV opened it, with the rest of the canal, in 1868. Road, railway, river and canal cross at the same spot.
The Håverud lock station has four chambers, so a canoe pays SEK 240 to pass. For most paddlers in the northern lakes, Håverud is a day out by car: it is a long way south of Lelång and the Silen lakes, through the Laxsjön and Råvarpen part of the canal.
When the lock is closed
Outside staffed hours a lock stays shut. Your choices:
- Wait. Camp nearby and lock through in the morning.
- Go overland. Lift the canoe out and carry or wheel it round. The canal company does not describe portage paths, so check the map and ask at your rental before you count on one. Canoe wheels make a few hundred metres on a path easy.
- Plan around it. In late August and September Lennartsfors opens only four days a week. A route that needs it should know which days.
Our pick
Outpost North sits at Gustavsfors, on the water between Lelång and Västra Silen. You can launch on either lake straight from the camp, so you only need the Gustavsfors lock when you want to cross between them. Its canoe package, which starts on any day you choose and lasts 1 to 14 days, includes canoe wheels for the portages.
For route ideas that use one, two or three lock stations, see Which canoe routes can you paddle in Dalsland?.
Sources
Dalslands Kanal: prices and tickets, Dalslands Kanal: lock opening hours, Dalslands Kanal: lock stations, Dalslands Kanal: FAQ, Dalslands Kanal: history of the aqueduct, Västsverige: the aqueduct in Håverud, Västsverige: Gustavsfors lock, Västsverige: Krokfors lock.
