Update 2014
Four Hundred Mile Bike Trail
The Erie Canal offers one of the great family vacation places in the Northeast because it is not only a wealth of recreational opportunities but was
once crucial to the building of the United States and therefore is full of history.
- Family Biking
- Off-Road
Bike Trails
Some of the bike and walking trails on the Erie Canal are
paved trails built on the old service roads and rail beds beside the canal. Trails run for 20 to 100 miles along the route of the canal, in all, 400 miles of trail. Some trails are stone
dust, others are paved, and others are gravel or a combination that runs along the canal
and then loops through the downtown center of a canal-side village.
- On-Road
Bike Lane
At times the trail runs on a wide path set aside along the
highways that parallels the canal. This
network of bike and walking trails connects Albany, New York to Tonawanda near
Buffalo, New York, a distance of 400 miles or so.
- Erie
Canalway Trail
Most of the bike and walking trails along the canal are part
of the Erie Canalway Trail, an off-road trail that follows the Erie Canal for
much of its length. Other sections of
trail are on a wide path along the paved highway, Route 31 in the west section
of the Erie Canal and Routes 5s and 5 in the east section.
- New
York State Bicycle Route 5
These highway trails are part of New York State Bicycle
Route 5, and as such they offer a wide bike path on one side of the highway. The highway trails follow the Erie Canal for its length and offer hiking and biking
- Western End of the Erie Canal
On the western section of the Erie Canal, towns like
Fairport offer rest for the bike rider and vacationer with a quaint village
center, restaurants, and shopping. There
is much history in the old canal towns such as Palmyra, Lockport and Rochester.
- Eastern
End of the Canal
On the Eastern end of the Canal remnants of the 1825 Erie
Canal, the first of three versions, offers historic sites and old towpaths
where mules once pulled the boats. The
original canal on the eastern end was incorporated into the Mohawk River and
the old canal bed was abandoned to become history parks while the mule haul
roads became railroad lines that were later turned into bike trails.
- Safe
Biking
The great feature of the Erie Canal Bikeway is that much of
the trail system is off-road and therefore safe for family biking. The trails are not entirely
contiguous, however, but each section is long enough for a good day of biking.
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| Boats lock through the canal on the way between Lake Erie and the Hudson River |
- Attractions For Family Vacation
Another great feature of the Erie Canal area is the
diversity of attractions. Cooperstown
Baseball Hall of Fame is within reach, Finger Lakes wine country, Canal History
museums, and Rochester Eastman House Museum (Kodak), and Niagara Falls among others.
- 400 Mile Bike Ride
Erie Canal Bike Trail, Summer 8-day Tour Buffalo to Albany July
check the latest schedule
2014 Dates, July 13 to July 20
Related Link, Erie Canal History
