The Talbot River is a south-central Ontario]] which flows from the Kawartha lakes

Kawartha lakes

The Kawartha lakes are a band of lakes in south-central Ontario, Canada that form the upper watershed of the Trent River. The lakes all lie upon the boundary between the Paleozoic limestone regions of the Golden Horseshoe, and the Precambrian granite Canadian Shield of northern and central...

 to Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe

Lake Simcoe is a lake in Southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly in the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century the lake was called Ouentironk by the Huron natives...

. The lower section of the river is now part of the Trent-Severn Waterway

Trent-Severn Waterway

The Trent–Severn Waterway is a Canadian canal system formerly used for industrial and transportation purposes and now for recreational and tourism purposes, connecting Lake Ontario at Trenton to the Georgian Bay portion of Lake Huron at Port Severn...

, although a new more direct channel was cut at the end of the 19th century, bypassing the original mouth of the river.

Even before the construction of the waterway, the river provided an important transportation corridor for native peoples and early settlers.

The Talbot River drains the natural Raven and Talbot lakes, as well as the man-made Mitchell

Mitchell Lake (Ontario)

Mitchell Lake is a small, man-made lake in south-central Ontario, located in the former Eldon Township, of Victoria county...

 and Canal Lakes.