Erie Canal — Local services in Town of Geddes

This review covers the logistics of riding bicycles from Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge to Lockport, an East to West ride of approximately 120 miles. If you're planning a multi-day trip you'll need to secure overnight parking, because none of the parking lots at trail entry points allow overnight parking. Your best bet is to call ahead to a campground or hotel close to your departure point and ask if they'll allow you to park (for a fee). Be aware that long portions of the Erie Canal Trail are routed along public streets, primarily NY Rt 31, which is a major east-west traffic corridor and consequently carries lots of commercial truck traffic. As you ride though the various canal towns along the route signage can be confusing or altogether absent. An especially difficult section is the Rochester area, where several trails intersect the canal trail. Also, be aware that the canal trail changes sides several times (i.e. the trail changes from the north to the south side of the canal and back). Despite these difficulties and shortcomings, biking the Erie Canal Trail is a fun and challenging adventure. Many of the numerous canal towns have invested in their canal front areas and there are many restaurants, cafes and shops (bike shops too) catering to travelers of all stripes. For the extra hardy there are several public camp grounds along the canal. For the rest of us there are plenty of chain and boutique hotels within a mile of the canal trail.

In summary, riding the canal trail could be great, but th shortcomings of parking, the route and signage make it...

I love the Erie Canal. I have splendid memories of my father and I taking trips down the Erie Canal on our steamboat. We transported all sorts of items, such as fur hats, bear traps, jerky, and rum. Boy, I loved rum. Really put me right to sleep. I drank it every night. One night though, I remember it clearly, my father fell into the canal, and got chopped up in the propellor of his own boat. I was devastated. But, I stuck the ol' girl in autopilot and drive it right into our garage at home, and brought him home from in the river, and we ate him for weeks to come. His last gift to us was helping our family survive with food in our time of desperate need. After that, I continued our route for 56 years before I eventually sold the boat to my friend's uncle's nephew's sister's 5th cousin, 9 times removed, for a goat. But, I kept the propellor without telling her, and hung it on our wall in memory of my father, and I built a barn in his name, and kept horses in it for my remaining 17 years of life. I died in 1895 at the age of 80, and woke up just yesterday. Hope you all enjoy it as...

The Erie Canal is a canal in New York, United States that is part of the east–west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal). Originally, it ran 363 miles (584 km) from where Albany meets the Hudson River to where Buffalo meets Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world (after the Grand Canal in China) and greatly affected the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the...