With 360 miles of scenic, (mostly) flat trail, centuries of history, and charming villages and towns, cycling the Erie Canalway Trail end-to-end should be on everyone’s bucket list. Get inspired by a few of the stories from this year’s spirited end-to-enders who made it happen this past summer, completing the entire trail from Buffalo to Albany.
Fun for the whole family
Christina K., her husband and two sons, Willem (9) and Pouwel (5) from Chicago, IL go on a big bike camping trip every year. This year, they decided to tackle the Erie Canalway Trail, their biggest challenge yet! In early June, they rode from Buffalo to Albany, taking seven days to cover the 360-mile long trail.
This was Willem’s third year doing the trip on his own bike, and it was his longest ride by far! Willem told us, “all the people we met along the trail were very friendly and helped me celebrate my accomplishment. My proudest moment was doing a 65 mile day from Utica to Amsterdam, my first metric century.” Way to go Willem!
As for Pouwel, he got to sit back and enjoy the scenery in his WeeHoo trailer behind his dad (with the option to help with pedaling when he was up to it). While riding, he entertained himself by counting wildlife. He especially loved camping at the end of each day. His only request was for more playgrounds along the way!
A life-long dream fulfilled with a life-long friend
Monica C. and Danielle M. grew up right next to the canal, learning about the historic waterway in history class and singing the Erie Canal song. Now grown up and living halfway across the country from each other, these friends of fifteen years discovered a shared dream of biking across their home state on the Erie Canalway Trail.
The two friends cycled eight days along the trail, rain or shine, completing the adventure at the end of June. Monica loved the camaraderie, physical challenge, and beautiful scenery of New York State, especially enjoying how often the terrain changed (road to gravel to single-track) and how diverse the landscape was. Danielle particularly liked re-learning about the history of the canal as an adult, and enjoyed stopping to read all the historical signs and visit all the National and State Parks and Historic Sites along the way. Of course, meeting the very kind people along the trail and in the towns along the way was a highlight for both of them.
Cancer can’t stop this bucket list adventure
For one rider this summer, deciding to ride the Erie Canalway Trail was more than just a whim. As a cancer patient, riding the Erie Canal trail end-to-end was on Logan F.’s Bucket List. He learned about bike packing from YouTube videos during the pandemic, and riding the Erie Canal trail for his first bike packing trip seemed like something he wanted to accomplish.
Over 8 days of riding in May, Logan completed the trail from Buffalo to Albany, staying at hotels and bed & breakfasts along the way. For him, the scenery, canal beauty, wildlife, natural flowers, canal relics, locks, and small towns along the trail were very enjoyable, but nothing could top the camaraderie he shared with other riders on the trail.
Start planning your trip on the Erie Canalway Trail
Parks & Trails New York has hade it easy to plan your own bike adventure between Buffalo and Albany. From an interactive web-based map of the trail to our printed guidebook, this blog post covers the full gamut of trip-planning resources.
Canalway Trail Times 