Erie Canal Anniversary Offers Vacation Fun And Festivities

Forbes

01-05-2025

The Lockport Locks on the Erie Canal in Lockport, New York are an integral part of the waterway's navigation system.
The Erie Canal, which passes through more than 200 New York State municipalities, celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. The 363-mile waterway and adjacent recreational trails are well-known by locals but unknown by many out-of-state travelers.
Festivities are planned throughout the anniversary year, beginning May 16, when the New York State canal system opens through Nov. 3 for recreational and commercial vessels. Recreational vessels can use the waterway free of charge. The opening celebration — a parade of vessels — will be held north of Albany in Waterford, where the Erie Canal meets the Hudson River.
'There's no better time to explore and enjoy the Erie Canal,' says Jean Mackey, the deputy director of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. 'Communities and attractions from Albany to Buffalo are rolling out the red carpet with exciting events, bicentennial concerts, tours and historic voyages. And, as always, visitors will find outstanding recreational opportunities along the waterway and the 360-mile Erie Canalway Trail.'
The Eric Canal offers lots of recreational activities in Fairport, New York.
Canal Days is scheduled for June 6-8 in Fairport, a Rochester suburb. The event is an arts festival that, according to New York State Tourism officials, may attract more than 100,000 visitors.
Cycle the Erie Canal, a tradition in its 27th year, is scheduled for July 12-20. More than 600 cyclists will embark on a 400-mile ride along the Erie Canal towpath and part of the Empire State Trail from Buffalo to Albany.
The 2025 World Canals Conference is set for Sept. 21-25 in Buffalo. Canal enthusiasts, historians, engineers, environmentalists, artists and lesiure travelers, according to the state officials, are expected to attend. Attendees can listen to talks by inland waterway experts and participate in canal-themed excursions.
Leisure travelers have lots of choices when trying to decide which portions of the canal might make the most exciting vacation experience.
'It's hard to choose a specific portion as the most exciting, because each region of the canal is distinct and varied with small towns and bigger cities, set against the backdrop of the incredible history and beauty of America's most famous human-made waterway,' Mackey says. 'From boat rentals and tours to multiday bike rides to visiting state and national parks, there's plenty to explore on and off the water no matter where you begin a trip.'
In many canalside locations, travelers can sample 'regional culinary traditions and specialties,' Mackey adds. They include Utica greens (escarole, prosciutto and pickled hot cherry peppers with a cheesy breadcrumb topping), chicken riggies (pasta with chicken and peppers), tomato pie, Syracuse salt potatoes, Buffalo chicken wings or a Rochester garbage plate (hamburger, sausage or hot dog meat atop home fries, French fries or macaroni salad).
Mackey suggests that leisure travelers begin in one of the major cities that developed along the canal — Albany, Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo — and then explore the waterway.
The Erie Canal and New York State's other canals are segmented and managed by a series of locks, lift bridges, guard gates and movable dams that control water flow and vessel traffic.
The New York State Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York Power Authority, operates the New York State Canal System, which includes 35 locks on the Erie Canal and 22 others on the Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca canals. An average of 2 to 3 million gallons of water are used for each locking, and, last year, the corporation logged 73,569 lockings.
Besides overseeing 524 miles of navigable waterways, the corporation operates and maintains about 150 miles of the canal trail that spans 365 miles of walking and biking paths between Buffalo and Albany and from Albany to Whitehall. In 2023, nearly 4 million people used the canal trail for recreational activities, the corporation says.