Follow the Erie Canal through Central NY

Boats passing through the locks on the Erie Canal

Explore Underground Caverns, Go Biking & Kayaking, and Tour scenic Canal towns

A visit to the Central New York Region gives you an opportunity to see the historic Erie Canal and explore its famed canal towns, where you'll find great restaurants, cultural events, and fun things to do. Biking, hiking, kayaking, and paddling along the Erie Canal are all the rage during the Summer months, and the Canalway Challenge has become a recreational favorite for both locals and visitors alike.

The Erie Canal is one of the crowning American technological achievements of the 19th Century, and can be appreciated any time of year. You can tour the interactive Erie Canal Museum, housed in the only remaining weighlock building in Syracuse, and travel 40 mintes north to the City of Oswego where you'll find 400 years of Great lakes maritime heritage at the H. Lee White Maritime Museum. During the Summer months, you can visit the Museum, check out an original WWII LT-5 tugboat, and take daily boat tours (Mon-Sat) to the historic Oswego lighthouse in the Port City's outer harbor.

The 196 year-old Erie Canal courses 363 miles across New York State and connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River !

Only 2 1/2 hours from NYC and 45 minutes from Albany, you can venture underground to experience the awesome subterranian rivers and caves at Howe Caverns. Open year-round at a comforatable 55 degrees Farenheit, guided walking & boat tours explain the history and geology of this amazing natural formation.

To find additional attractions, visit the Family Fun > Erie Canal page. Once called the '8th Wonder of the World,' the Erie Canal forever changed the course of America's infrastructure and prosperity by opening up new trade routes with a new form of transportation between Buffalo and Great Lakes to the West, Albany in the East, and ultimately to New York City .. and its legacy still flows mightily through the locks, rivers, lakes, and local communities it serves.