Why bike the Erie Canal?

Bicycling the Erie Canal wasn't on the top of our list when me and Doug started planning a bicycle tour. Our first tour together was an epic journey from Munich, Germany to Venice, Italy in 2022. We knew it would be hard to top that route for scenery and the diversity that comes by cycling through 3 countries.

We considered a few routes in Europe including Italy, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Portugal. But due to some timing constraints, we decided on somewhere in the US and eventually the Erie Canal became our choice.

At approximately 360 miles with fairly flat terrain and no need to plan out every night ahead of time, the Erie Canal was a great choice.

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History of the Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is a historic waterway that connects the Great Lakes to New York City via the Hudson River. It was built between 1817 and 1825 and was the longest artificial waterway in North America at the time.

It was the first canal in the United States to connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal's construction was a major public works project and engineering marvel.

New York's canal system has been in continuous operation since 1825, longer than any other constructed transportation system on the North American continent.

Over the years, it has been enlarged three times to accommodate larger boats and more traffic. Today, pleasure boats, kayaks and canoes, and commercial vessels share the waterway.  Not to mention bicycles that take advantage of the two paths adjacent to the waterways. 

Learn more about the Erie Canal.