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From NY Canals: Information and Cruising Guide to New York's Erie, Oswego, Champlain, and Cayuga-Seneca Canal System

Canal News		Canal Events		Popular Links
2008 Revised Lock and Lift Bridge Hours Canadian Family Conclude Solar-Powered Cruise on the Canal New Canal TRANSalert Emergency Notification System More Canal News		Canal Open for Season 2008 Hours of Operation Jordan's Erie Canal Celebration More Canal Events		NY Canals Forum Erie Canal Oswego Canal Champlain Canal Cayuga-Seneca Canal

Featured Canal Town of the Month: Waterford

2007 Waterford Tugboat Roundup

Waterford acts as the gateway town to both the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal due to it prime location on the Hudson River where the Erie Canal connects with the Hudson River. For boaters this is an exceptional stop due to the free services for both you and your boat. Waterford offers free overnight docking with plenty of power, water, bathrooms and more. In this small town there is plenty to see and do as well. There are restaurants, historic sites, walking trails, the massive flight of locks, library, museum, and more. Nearby on the Hudson there is even a grocery store with its own dock for your convenience. For the non-boater Waterford offers numerous festivals including the Tugboat Roundup, Steamboat Meet and more throughout the year. All in all, Waterford is a must stop for any canaler or canal enthusiast.

The New York Canal System connects all the major waterways in and around New York State. From the Barge Canal System, one can cruise from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, the Finger Lakes and many other areas around New York State. While on a cruise through New York, boaters are treated to the great hospitality that the New York State Canal System is known for.

The NYS Erie Canal, now coupled with the Oswego Canal and Champlain Canal, provides a speedy way to transient from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The Barge Canal System also provides a destination in itself. In recent years it has turned its attention to the recreational boater, making a large effort to revive the canal towns that once were prosperous from passing commercial barges, they are opening up their town walls to canalers, many providing free docking, and some with power, water and more. This effort has made the canal a destination in of itself. Now boaters who are looking for recreation can can enjoy a short weekend getaway on the canal or an entire vacation.

Traveling the canals that interconnect New York is a different experience than that of navigating on a lake or open ocean. Every bend introduces you to a new environment and new experiences. The canal is made up of man made canals connecting the many rivers and lakes that NY has to offer. This combination provides a continuously changing cruise, in one day from Rome (on the Erie Canal) to Oswego (on the Oswego Canal) you can go from a man made canal, to a lake, to a river, and then out to Lake Ontario. Along the way your will stop at many canal towns who embrace canalers and provide generous dockside services, typically for free. These canal towns come in many forms, there are vacation based towns like Sylvan Beach as well as commercially based towns like Little Falls.

Due to the lack of free concentrated, detailed, online materials regarding the New York State Canal System and surrounding towns and waters, we have created this site, NY Canals, to hopefully allow others enjoy what the New York State Canal System has to offer.

This site is designed to give you a in depth guide to canaling in New York, including information on the canal systems towns, locks, and must-do activities. Everyone experiences the canal differently, and accordingly people are looking for different things when searching NY Canals. If you feel that something is missing, add it! Add any information that you feel would be useful to other boaters, including but not limited to your pictures, trip reports or local data.

Please edit this page and any page on this site to help achieve the goal of a free online cruising guide to the new York State Canal System and surrounding waterways.

What's New at NY Canals		Coming Soon to NY Canals
Canalway Trail Information. Oneida Lake Information GPS Information: A compiled waypoint file for your GPS of all the current NYS locks. NY Canals Forum: Go check it out! Canal Related Equipment and Supplies Canal History Page		More canal related events Boat Launch Locations Got a suggestion? Let us know over at the NY Canals Forum.

2008 Boating Season Information

The 2008 boating season will begin on approximately May 1st and run though November 15th, weather permitting. The times that the canal locks, bridges, etc. will be operational are changed this year. The 2008 toll are reinstated and are as follows, by boat length and the duration of the pass: 2008 Dates Lock Times May 1 to May 22 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM May 23 to September 3 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM September 4 to November 15 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Vessel Length Two-Day Pass Ten-Day Pass Seasonal Pass Under 16 ft. $5.00 $12.50 $25.00 16 ft. – Under 26 ft. $10.00 $25.00 $50.00 26 ft. – 39 ft. $15.00 $37.50 $75.00 Over 39 ft. $20.00 $50.00 $100.00 For the latest canal conditions and notice to mariners, call 1-800-4CANAL4. Also, to contact any lock use marine radio channel 13 (preferred) or find their phone numbers here. Times subject to change at anytime by the New York State Canal Corperation.