"Erie Canalway- Tug-Lock" by Duncan Hay , public domain
Erie Canalway
National Heritage Corridor - New York
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor includes 34 National historic landmarks and 234 local municipalities. Among the designated sites is the Morgan-Manning House, which houses the Western Monroe Historical Society and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, the Flight of Five Locks in Lockport, and the Mabee Farm Historic Site, which marks an early frontier and gateway to the west.
Visitor Map of Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (NHC). Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Erie Canalway NHC
https://www.nps.gov/erie/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canalway_National_Heritage_Corridor
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor includes 34 National historic landmarks and 234 local municipalities. Among the designated sites is the Morgan-Manning House, which houses the Western Monroe Historical Society and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, the Flight of Five Locks in Lockport, and the Mabee Farm Historic Site, which marks an early frontier and gateway to the west.
Explore the Erie Canal and discover America's most famous and influential man-made waterway. Nowhere else will you find the distinctive locks and low bridges of the New York State Canal System or discover towns and cities whose watery front doors still give way to lively Main Streets. More than 500 miles of historic waterways and trails are here to explore.
Begin your journey in the east, west, or right in the middle of New York State, you can't go wrong-- the canal's treasures are strong together along the waterway like gems on a necklace. The canal is accessible by CAR, RAIL, BIKE, and BOAT and from major airports: Albany International (ALB), Syracuse Hancock International (SYR), Greater Rochester International (ROC), and Buffalo-Niagara International (BUF).
Oswego Paddlefest
Dozens of kayakers paddle along the Erie Canal.
Kayakers at the Oswego Paddlefest
Festivals and Recreational Events Kick Off Bicentennial Celebrations and Opening of the New York State Canal System
WATERFORD, NY- The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and the New York State Canal Corporation have teamed up to sponsor 27 festivals and events in 2017 to showcase the Canalway Corridor’s nationally significant heritage and the tremendous recreational appeal of the waterway and Canalway Trail today. Events include cycling and paddling tours, canal festivals, and concerts on the waterfront.
Men and women sit amongst the trees and grass while watching a night concert.
Erie Canalway NHC Hosts World Canals Conference
From September 24 to 28, delegates from around the world convened in Syracuse, NY to discuss the many facets of canal development, and to learn firsthand about the engineering and economic marvel that is the Erie Canal.
Erie Canalway NHC hosted the 2017 World Canals Conference
Erie Canal Opens for a Season of Outdoor Fun
The New York State Canals opened on May 17 and already the 2019 season is off to a roaring start. With the Canalway Challenge and a new set of paddler-friendly navigational tools, there’s something fun for all ages and abilities in the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
Aerial shot of several dozen brightly colored kayaks on a canal
From Indifferent to Cosmopolitan: Transportation and Social Change in Seneca Falls
To some, it may seem surprising that Seneca Falls, a relatively small community in western New York, served as the site of the First Women’s Rights Convention and the start of the formal women’s rights movement. People in the nineteenth century, however, would have recognized Seneca Falls and western New York as a hotbed of reform activity and a plausible location for the start of a major social movement, thanks to advancements in transportation that spurred community growth
B&W etching of mill and waterfalls
Oh
io
River
Other canals—in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia—that sought
to breach the mountain barrier and
capture Erie Canal trade lacked such
topographical advantage. Most were
not completed, and none proved a
financial success.
Opening America The Erie Canal was North America’s
most successful and influential public works project.
Built between 1817 and 1825, this 363-mile-long canal was
the first all-water link between the Atlantic seaboard and
Great Lakes. New York Govenor DeWitt Clinton relentlessly promoted its construction. Skeptics just as forcefully derided it as “Clinton’s Ditch,” but Clinton would be
vindicated. The canal advanced Euro-American settlement
of the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains, sometimes
at the expense of Native populations. It fostered national
unity and economic power. It made New York the Empire
State and New York City the nation’s prime seaport and
seat of world trade.
Faster, Cheaper Canal packet boat passengers traveled
in relative comfort from Albany to Buffalo in five days—not
two weeks in crowded stagecoaches. Freight rates fell 90
percent compared to shipping by ox-drawn wagon. Freight
boats carried Midwestern produce from Buffalo to Albany.
Most continued on to New York City’s seaport, towed
down the Hudson in fleets behind steam tugboats. Midwestern farmers, loggers, miners, and manufacturers found
new access to lucrative far-flung markets.
Continuing the Connection Success quickly spurred
expansion and enlargement of New York’s canal system to
handle more and bigger boats. It triggered canal mania—a
rash of canal building across the eastern United States
and Canada in the mid-1800s, before railroads became the
principal means of hauling freight and passengers. From
1905 to 1918 New York State built the Barge Canal system,
a robust grandchild of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and
Cayuga-Seneca canals.
A Flow of People and Ideas The Erie Canal and a
system of connecting waterways fulfilled DeWitt Clinton’s
prophecy that New York would be America’s preeminent
state, populated from border to border and generating
wealth for itself and the nation. Soon New York City was
the nation’s busiest port, most populous city, and foremost
seat of commerce and finance. Immigrants knew they
could find work there or in many new cities sprouting
along the canal. As it opened the American interior to settlement, the canal brought a flow of people and new ideas.
Social reform movements like abolitionism and women’s
suffrage, utopian communities, and various religious movements thrived in the canal corridor. The Erie Canal carried
more westbound immigrants than any other trans-Appalachian canal. These newcomers infused the nation with
different languages, customs, practices, and religions.
Although commercial traffic declined after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, New York’s Canal System is
still in service. New York canals, both active and retired,
are now vibrant places to enjoy both water- and landbased recreation and to learn about and celebrate our
nation’s heritage.
Whitehall
Black
River
Canal
L A K E O N TA R I O
Path of Least Resistance
Canal engineers chose the path of least resistance across
New York State’s complex topography, but the route was
not always easy. The map at right shows mid 19th-century
New York at the peak of its canal era when a system of
artificial waterways reached throughout the state. Several
canals were abandoned in the face of competition from
railroads, but the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and CayugaSeneca canals are still operating today.
A R A
A G
N I
Niagara
Falls
Lockport
E S C A
R P M
E N
T
Oswego
Canal
Rochester
Erie
Buffalo
LAKE ERIE
Syracuse
CayugaSeneca
Canal
Genesee
Valley
Canal
F I N G E R
Crooked
Lake
Canal
Keyuka
Lake
Seneca
Lake
Utica
C an a l
CANADA
A D I R O N D A C K M O U N TA I N S
Rome
Oneida
Lake
Lyons
Champlain
Canal
Little Falls
Mohawk
L A K E S
Cayuga
Lake
er
Cohoes
Falls
NEW YORK
Albany
Chenango
Canal
C AT S K I L L
Chemung
Canal
Profile in Locks and Levels
Canal Topography Profile
The heavy brown line atop the
historic map at right shows the
changes in elevation overcome
by the Erie Canal’s locks between
Albany and Buffalo.
Erie Canal Profile
Erie Canal
Sixteen locks were required to climb
out of the deep Hudson Valley past
Cohoes Falls near the mouth of the
Mohawk River. The canal climbed
steadily along the Mohawk from
Schenectady to another steep rise
at Little Falls. From there the long
level—a 58-mile stretch of flat water requiring no lock—carried boats
over a drainage divide at Rome and
on to relatively flat terrain south
of Oneida Lake and north of the
Finger Lakes.
Erie Canalway
Riv
Schenectady
M O U N TA I N S
Canals conquer space with successions of lift locks and levels. Lake
Erie is 570 feet higher than the
Hudson River at Albany. On the
original Erie Canal, 83 stone-walled
locks lifted and lowered boats in an
irregular staircase.
The final barrier
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Erie Canalway Map & Guide
Waterford
T
here’s no better time to
explore and enjoy the
Erie Canal! Visit during
this monumental anniversary
year and choose from exciting
events, bicentennial concerts,
tours, historic voyages, and tons
of fun on the water and trail.
You’ll find the red carpet rolled
out to greet you.
The Erie Canal has opened every year
since 1825! You likely know the basic
story: dug with picks and shovels by
farmers and immigrants, the 363-milelong canal connected Albany to Buffalo,
and the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
It gave rise to cities along its path, contributed to the rise of New York, Cleveland,
and Chicago, and made New York the
Empire State. But there’s so much more.
The history of the nation is reflected in
its waters. The Erie Canal knitted together
a national identity from diverse immigrant
communities but also contributed to the
O
G
S
’
T
E
L
!
CONTENTS
THEN & NOW:
WATERFORD
Let’s Go!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Take to the Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Canal Boating Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
dispossession of Native Americans. It
spurred the rise of manufacturing and
innovation and witnessed rust-belt
decline. It served as a pathway for
freedom seekers on the Underground
Railroad and sparked the Women’s Rights
Movement. And today, it is revitalizing
waterfronts and communities and
preparing for its next century of service.
The Erie Canal has endured for 200 years
thanks to the men and women who maintain and operate it, the people who innovate
and champion it, and all who use it.
Let 2025 be your invitation
to visit, experience, and be a
part of the Erie Canal’s future!
Enjoy the Canalway Trail. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Erie Canalway Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bicentennial Bucket List . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Bigger, Faster, Cheaper…Better! . . . . . 6
Voyage of the Erie Canal Boat
Seneca Chief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Bicentennial Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Become a Junior Ranger. . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Join the Canalway Challenge! . . . . . . . 8
On the Canals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Enter the Erie Canalway
Photo Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2025
Lockport
N
ew York’s canals offer
an unparalleled place
to recreate with family
and friends while discovering
the incredible history and beauty
of America’s most famous
human-made waterway. From
boat rentals to multiday bike
rides to visiting state and national
parks, there’s plenty to explore
on and off the water.
THEN & NOW:
LOCKPORT
Canal Boating Basics
Paddle the Canals
Explore the canal by kayak, canoe, or
stand-up paddleboard! Paddling here is
unique and varied as you float through
century-old locks; paddle alongside tugboats
and cruisers; and experience narrow canal
channels and wider river segments. There
are more than 150 public launches, lots of
amenities, and rental outfitters at numerous
locations. The mile-by-mile NYS Canalway
Water Trail Guidebook and Map Set is an
excellent trip planning resource—available
for downloading or order from Erie
Canalway National Heritage Corridor
(free with $20 USD shipping).
Take to
the Water
The New York State Canal System is the
centerpiece of the Erie Canalway National
Heritage Corridor. The 524-mile waterway
traverses both land-cut canal and river
sections, as well as several large lakes.
You can also visit portions of the Old Erie,
Oswego, and Champlain canals built in
the 1800s. These historic remnants offer
an incredibly rich and fascinating look at
canal engineering and craftsmanship.
2 Erie Canalway Map & Guide
Take a Boat Tour
Rent a Canal Boat
You’ll find boat tours within an hour’s
drive of every major city in the Canalway
Corridor. Select from themed tours, dinner
cruises, music, and more. Most tours will
give you the experience of going through
a lock. Specialty cruises, sailing adventures, and wine tours are offered on lake
and river sections of the waterway.
Vacation rentals provide an idyllic way to
experience the canal. You’ll get lessons in
steering, docking, and locking before
heading out, so you can feel confident on
the water even if you’re not an experienced
boater. Rental boats are well-equipped
with sleeping quarters, a galley, and deck
space for relaxing; many come with bikes,
so you can enjoy the Canalway Trail too.
Launch Your Own Boat
Watch the Boats Go By
With more than 80 public boat ramps it’s
easier than ever to get on the canal. Many
communities offer visitor centers with
showers, laundry, hook-ups, and other
boater amenities right in the center of
town. Marinas and public docks also
provide services. The NYS Canal Sys