History, Natural History & the Arts
The Champlain Canal turns 200 this year and the Erie Canal will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2025.
The Champlain Canal between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain at Whitehall was the first to open. Worked started on the Champlain Canal in October, 1816. The first boats operated in November, 1819, and was fully completed in 1823, two years before the Erie Canal was finished. [Read more…] about New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations
Effective Thursday, September 15th, 2022, all locks and lift bridges on the NYS Canal System will operate daily between 7 am and 5 pm. The system is scheduled to close to navigation at 5 pm on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022. [Read more…] about NYS Canal System Announces Fall Hours of Operation
In celebration of Great Outdoors Month, The New York State Canal System, including the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals, is getting special recognition from the U.S. Department of the Interior as one of the nation’s newly designated National Water Trails. [Read more…] about Canalway Water Trail Added to National Recreational Trails System
The NYS Canal System is scheduled to open on Friday, May 20th at 7 am for the 2022 navigation season.
Standard hours of operation will be 7 am to 5 pm until October 12th, but busier locks and lift bridges will be open on demand until 10 pm. If adjustments to the schedule are necessary, the public will be notified accordingly. There are no tolls or fees for recreational use of the Canal system this year. [Read more…] about New York State Canal System Opens May 20th
As part of the bipartisan omnibus spending package signed by President Joe Biden on March 15, 2022 the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission was reauthorized to 2037.
The Commission manages the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which was established by Congress in 2000. The Corridor spans 524 miles across the full expanse of the upstate New York. It includes the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain Canals and their historic alignments. The Corridor encompasses 4,834 square miles in 23 counties and is home to 3.2 million people. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Reauthorized to 2037
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, along with the New York State Canal Corporation, has launched the NYS Canalway Water Trail Stewardship Program to help ensure the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Champlain, and Oswego canals are welcoming and safe for paddlers. [Read more…] about NYS Canals Seek Volunteer Paddling Stewards
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced the winners of this year’s Erie Canalway Photo Contest.
435 images were judged in four contest categories: On the Water, Along the Trail, Canal Communities, and Classic Canal. Judges selected first, second, and third place winning images in each category, as well as 12 honorable mentions. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has recently installed new signs to mark the NYS Canalway Water Trail at more than 140 launch sites along the Erie, Champlain, Cayuga-Seneca, and Oswego canals.
The blue and yellow signs are intended to help paddlers identify safe put-in and take-out sites from the water and assist with wayfinding to launch sites from land. [Read more…] about Signs For Paddlers Installed Along Canalway Water Trail
The next grant round of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s Historic Transportation Canal Marker Grant Program is now open.
This roadside marker program commemorates the historical significance of transportation canals in the United States. Grants cover the entire cost of a cast aluminum marker, pole and shipping. [Read more…] about Grants for Historic Markers Celebrating Canals Available
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced a call for entries for its 15th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest.
Images should convey the unique character of New York’s canals and canal communities. Entries must be postmarked by August 28, 2020. Winning photos will be featured in the 2021 Erie Canalway calendar. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Call for Entries