Erie Canal Forum

Hello All - I read that the Dunn Memorial Bridge (Albany) pedestrian access is closed. Does anyone know anything about when it may re-open? Riding the canal at the end of April and wondering if I'll need to plan to ride the detour through Troy to get to the train station. Thanks in advance!

A temporary barrier and walkway was installed and it connects to the bike trails. Opened for pedestrians and cyclists around March 6th

Great news! Thanks for the info - much appreciated!

Hi all,
There are 10 women who are looking to do the full trail in 8 days in September. Would welcome any and all recommendations for B&B's, AirB&B, restaurants, sights to see, do's and don't etc. Best way to get from Buffalo to Albany and safe place to park the cars.

This is not our first long ride, we do a rail to trail ride each year.

Look forward to your suggestions.
Mickey

I have an itinerary that's too long to post here. What's your email address, and I can send it to you.

Maybe try to find a reasonably priced used issue of "Cycling the Canal" which is currently out of print, although published by NYS Parks and Trails of NY. It seems to have detailed vistor information (address, phone, and sometimes web sites for many of the segments.

I have a group of about 10 ladies doing the same but from Albany to Buffalo this September. I would love to have anyone itinerary and suggested B&B or places that can take a large group each stop.

The book entitled:

Cycling the Erie Canal, Revised Edition: A Guide to 400 Miles of Adventure and History Along the Erie Canalway Trail (Parks & Trails New York) by Erie Canalway (2015-08-01) Paperback

is available on Amazon, used, for $64. Seems like alot, but it is worth it, especially if 12 women want something that they can study and is authoritative. Lots of great maps, and info on exactly how to get local information.

You will not be sorry to buy this. Snag it and you'll be glad you did.

Get it from the source.

https://www.ptny.org/publications/cycling-guidebooks/cycling-the-erie-canal

Many, many thanks! Got a new copy!!!

Yaay!!

Good morning all. I am in the process of planning to cycle the canal from Albany to buffalo sometime before the end of Autumn in 2024. I have family in buffalo I am going to visit. My intention is to camp on the trail. As I am flying in with my bike I do not actually want to carry a tent. In the campsites along the trail are there any that offer one night hire of tents.

That's not really a thing here, and certainly not frequently enough to cover you for the whole trip.

Agree with Bill. I’ve not heard of tent rentals and certainly not in all the small towns you’ll be stopping at. If you’re set on not carrying any gear (or you don’t have a support crew carrying it for you), I would just “credit card camp” and stay at motels/BNB’s.

Thanks for both comments fellas, I have plenty of time to plan, so will now look at bed and breakfast along the route and weigh it again st carrying tent and sleeping bag.

Slainte Mhath

You may want to buy a tent and sleeping bag in Albany. Then donate it to good will in Buffalo.

Good call on buying tent and then donating.
Cheers DK

Hey there! We are not rent campers, so won’t comment on that. But, September 2022, my husband and I rode the Albany to Buffalo thru trip. We were the ONLY riders going East to West. There are a few spots along the way that the tailwind you may benefit from when going West to East would be helpful, but I can honestly say that the last 130 miles or so into Buffalo were by far the prettiest! We are glad we chose this direction, although the vast major of riders go not.
I have our entire itinerary I can send if you want. We stayed at motels or hotels over the 7 nights.

Let me know if you are interested in our itinerary and I’ll be happy to send it along. If do, you might provide an email I can send it to

Pat Ness

Pat from Greencastle I would be interested in your itinerary lafrancedonna@yahoo.com thanks!

If you haven't yet discovered this site.

https://empiretrail.ny.gov/activities/camping

Lots of good information and a free map to order.

https://empiretrail.ny.gov/trip-planning

Thank you Pat. I would appreciate having a look at your itinerary.
Bill

Williammckay596@gmail.com is my e mail

Thank you Pat, I would appreciate your sending me your itinerary. Can you tell me do you ride on city streets as you go through Syracuse? My email is Jmccartney@ithaca.edu.

Pat, I would love to see your itinerary too!
sarah.bansen@gmail.com

I have recommended Shorties Southside in Amsterdam NY as a good place to eat. Unfortunately, they are now closed until further notice.

Awww, man, that was one of my favorites. Chowing down with the locals.

Hi folks,
My boyfriend and I are planning a four day bike ride on the trail in June. We are looking for transportation with our bikes from Pittsford to Tonawanda or somewhere close by to these towns. Is there a bus, train, shuttle service, that anyone knows of? Also, we would love to find a service that could shuttle our luggage from place to place. Thanks for your input. ??

Train stops near your points would be Rochester (near Pittsford) and Buffalo (near Tonawanda) shuttle for gear will be hard to find and probably costly. I’m not sure about bus service.

Getting bikes onto a train when and where you want is a crapshoot. If I lived in Rochester near the train station and was planning to camp or sleep under a bridge, then I might try to take the train. But I don't, and wifey likes to sleep on a bed, so we need reservations, so I can't take the risk on the train.

So, I've been around here a bit, and I even looked to see where Bennington is, and here's what I'd suggest.

*Park at the Amtrak parking in Buffalo, which is supposed to be nice and safe and reasonably priced.

*Ride 4 days to Rochester. Get a hotel in Rochester, get some sleep.

*In the morning, pack all your stuff and your bikes and ask the hotel to hang onto it for you. (make sure they are cool with this ahead of time, of course). Check out of the hotel.

*Take Amtrak to Buffalo, jump in your car, drive back to Rochester, collect your stuff from the hotel, and then drive a little further and spend the night somewhere cool in the finger lakes area.

*Next day, drive the rest of the way home.

This saves you from trying to get your bikes and luggage on the train, but lets you have a train ride as a shuttle. Your car is parked somewhere safe. Your driving distances are easy.

Take the Amtrak from Rochester to Buffalo. You need to make a reservation for the bicycles, which locks in your dates, but it's reliable and inexpensive. The ride from Pittsford to downtown Rochester is pleasant. The bike trails around downtown Rochester have been improved over the years, with some information kiosks and overlooks on the Genessee River, etc.

Is it safe to park here then travel the Erie canal bike trail for 4 or 5 days?

Take a look on https://www.instantstreetview.com/ and see what the area looks like. Best I can do.

Thanks for parking info. I'm also considering parking near Amtrak Station in Buffalo (we ride to Rochester then Amtrak back). Any ideas on parking near Amtrak / Buffalo?

The downtown Buffalo AMtrak station at Exchange Street has been recently renovated - the old station looked like it was
was circa 1945 and was dark and dirty. This area is part of the renovation of downtown Buffalo, including the one of a kind Tim Horton's restaurant where Tim Horton himself played hockey back in the day. There is some parking at the new Exhange station, but not all of the trains stop there, some only stop at the larger Amtrak station in Depew outside of town near the airport, and it's unstaffed and in a part of town where there isn't much activity at night, so safety might still be a concern. Only a few blocks from there are the multi level City of Buffalo Parking structures that have cameras and staffing. We stayed at the downtown boutique Curtiss Hotel and left our car overnight in a nearby parking structure in 2018. It worked out well and it wasnt expensive.

Plan to cycle the entire trail in June Buffalo to Albany. How many additional miles am I adding if I elect to go to Niagra Falls?

Check out the shoreline trail.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2d03255fa1d24a9fb8fdf344d9eab651
27 miles round trip from Tonawanda.

Beautiful Story Map!

I was surprised to see it not suggest going over the two Grand Island bridges. I used to take that shortcut but that was over 30 years ago! :-) But that route suggested looks really nice.

Alternatively, if you have a passport, you can hop over the Peace Bridge into Fort Erie and take the Niagara River Recreation Route that follows the Niagara River all the way to the Falls.

John

Has anyone had any issues with bringing bikes into hotel rooms? I'm looking at a Choice Hotel. There is nothing on their web sites.

I would call the front desk and ask. If they’re near the trail, they will have had many guests who have arrived by bike so they’ll have a pretty clear rules.

The good ones have hoses outside to remove the grit off of your bikes. Most should allow them in the rooms or will at least have a separate storage room if not.

John

On our trip we will be staying in The Castle in Amsterdam which does not allow bicycles in the room. They do have a private secure parking garage for guests which is where our bikes will be kept.

Our itinerary also has us staying at Buffalo Marriott, Becker Farms Vineyard, Del Monte Spa, Red Roof Inn, Days Inn and Best Western. I called each to verify and they allow bikes in the room, at least the ones we have booked. So call and find out and make reservations accordingly. Enjoy the ride, stay safe.

We are planning on riding from Buffalo to Albany this summer. Are there any car rentals in Albany set up with bike racks that we can use to drive back to Buffalo? It would seem this would be easier than a train and good opportunity for a car rental company. I assume they could advetize their services on this site.

I was looking into car rental also but at this point I’m leaning toward renting a uhaul truck.
There are several along the way and can be dropped off at the starting point. For us that would be Lockport. Riding about 100 miles in two days loading the bikes and driving back.
Uhaul would be about $125

I'd be interested in learning about renting a bike rack, too. Never heard of it. How about buying a used one cheap, using it, and selling it cheap? Or, run an ad. Pretty sure there are alot of racks in garages no longer being used. Put an ask out on the trashnothing web site in Albany, and make an offer.

Or, how about rent a van and stash the bikes in it?

Just a few ideas.

The Amtrak train has become more rider friendly, and it's not expensive, but you need a reservation for the bike which locks your trip into certain dates. You can rent a van that will hold 2 or 3 bikes, or more bikes if you want to break them down, but van rental is expensive, and you are limited to pickup and return at airports. UHaul rentals are much cheaper, with many choices for pickup and return. The truck will hold several bikes, which you can roll on and roll off, but you will need to carry or buy quite a few ropes or bungees to secure the bikes to protect them from damage in the back. At ~12mpg Uhaul is not the green way to travel, and if gas prices become stratospheric again the cost of the gas might be significant.

I'd stay home.

We rented a minivan one way for the two of us when we rode the GAP. Cheaper than Amtrak.

I second Bill’s mini-van idea. I’ve done this before. Just put the back seats down and maybe remove your front tire(s) and they will easily fit. You will need to figure out how get from drop off/pickup point to and from the trail of course.

John

Thanks for the ideas! I will check into van and uhaul rentals.

Do you rent bicycles? or are you able to direct us to a shop that does?

That shop might not see your question here, but I am pretty sure they do not offer rentals.

Here is a link to all businesses that I know of, on or near the Erie Canal towpath trail, that offer bike rental:

https://bikeeriecanal.com/planner.aspx?scid=4&ecid=51&rt=0&rtid=1&svcs=|6|

If anyone sees errors in this list, or knows of others that I might have missed, I welcome your input.

Happy trails!