My adult son lives in the Rochester, NY area. When
I visit, I often take my bike along and ride some of the many trails in that
area. The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor passes through the area and
provides the longest and perhaps the nicest trail rides. The corridor runs 365
miles from Buffalo to past Schenectady, NY. If you include other connected
canal trails the mileage hits 500 miles. I have ridden from West of Brockport to Macedon
on the western most 100 mile segment called the Erie Canal Heritage Trail.
This segment is very well developed with almost the entire
section paved and very well maintained. Similar to most rail trails, this tow path trail
parallels a waterway, the Erie Canal, and is thus very level. There are still
some operational locks in the canal. It is fun to watch small boats pass
through these locks. I have a short
video of one of the locks operating on
Mark's Bike Tock channel on You Tube. There are many small towns and public parks along the route, so there is plenty of opportunity to stop and enjoy small town ambiance.
West of Brockport there is less development but a couple of interesting features. First is the northern most point on the canal. This is located at 43.25642,
-78.22652. Even more interesting is Culvert Road. This is the only road that passes under the canal. You can find it at 43.23591,
-78.34055.
More recently I rode the trail in the Syracuse area. To the East of the city I rode in the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park. This is a 36 mile portion of the longer trail and also part of the Empire State Trail. I started at Butternut Creek and rode 19 miles to Lenox Bason. I love this portion of the trail. It had a super smooth, hard packed surface over perhaps two thirds of the distance and the remaining one third was paved with asphalt. The asphalt was near gates/road crossings and near the start. There were excellent views of the canal most of the way. The mile markers were nontraditional indicating distance to each end of the park. The only negative was a lack of comfort stations along the way. There may have been facilities near the trail but there were no signs indicating this. Perhaps they place ports potties during the season. I was riding in early October and there were many other users when I was there. I took a chance and rode a spur to Green Lakes Park and found facilities in the park office. I saw no signage to direct me there and was lucky the office was open. I am not sure if there are other facilities for when the office is closed.
I also rode to the West of Syracuse. In Camillus Landing (43.05244, -76.30307
) there is parking, a nice museum with restrooms along with several canal boats. Some are on display and others are in the canal and used for tourist rides. About a mile East is Nine Mile Aqueduct where Nine Mile Creek passes under the canal. Another mile is Reed Webster Park (43.06375,
-76.26854) where there is parking and good trail access. This is also the end of riding along the canal in the area. The next five of so miles are hilly and take you along fields and adjacent to solar arrays. A short stretch on a wide sidewalk takes you to the New York State Fair Grounds. The trail passes through the grounds (April to November) for two or three hundred yards past the main gate then exits adjacent to a security gate. You then ride over the interstate on the pedestrian bridge used by fair goers to get to the fair from the parking lot. Across the parking lot (on sidewalk) to a short paved trail to a lookout over Lake Onondaga. The trail continues to the lake trail. There is a modern rest room near the boat launch. There is also parking if you prefer to start from there.
A Google search will yield numerous web sites
that will give you additional information about the trail. My most recent ride
on the canal trail was October, 2025.
Rochester area photos
Syracuse area photos
