The Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief is gearing up for its highly anticipated 2026 “Back to Buffalo” tour, a 22-day westward voyage along the historic waterway that will bring hands-on educational programming to 16 ports and thousands of New Yorkers this summer. A Homeward Journey Along the Historic Waterway Scheduled for June 6 through June…
Next week, from April 17 through 19, thousands of volunteers across New York State will roll up their sleeves for the 21st Annual Canal Clean Sweep, picking up litter and sprucing up trails, greenways, and parks at more than 100 locations along the historic canal system. Organized by Parks & Trails New York in partnership…
The New York State Canal System is gearing up for its 2026 navigation season, which officially opens on Friday, May 15 — and this year, the canal enters a new chapter backed by historic levels of state investment and an expanding network of trail towns poised to welcome visitors along its 524-mile corridor. Governor Kathy…
With spring arriving along the towpath, the New York State Canal System is gearing up for one of its most beloved annual traditions: the Canal Clean Sweep. Over the weekend of April 17–19, 2026, more than 2,500 volunteers are expected to fan out across the 524-mile waterway and its adjacent 400-mile Canalway Trail to clear…
The Erie Canal’s role as an economic engine for upstate New York continues to grow. Parks & Trails New York announced in March that the City of Utica and the Town of Lyons have been selected as the newest members of the Empire State Trail Town program, bringing the total number of canal communities in…
From tactile maps at Lockport’s historic locks to a new drinking fountain along the Canalway Trail in Montezuma, dozens of communities across New York’s canal corridor are preparing to welcome visitors this season with the help of freshly announced state funding. A Fifth Year of Investment in Canal Communities The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor…
Two more New York communities are staking their futures on the Erie Canal. The City of Utica and the Town of Lyons have been officially designated as 2026 Empire State Trail Towns, joining eleven other canal-side communities in a program that is quietly reshaping how upstate New York thinks about economic development along its most…
Spring is arriving along New York’s 500-mile canal corridor, and with it comes one of the waterway’s most beloved annual traditions: Canal Clean Sweep, a statewide volunteer cleanup organized by Parks & Trails New York and the NYS Canal Corporation. This year’s event runs April 17–19, 2026 — and organizers are hoping to top last…
With the 2026 navigation season just weeks away, Parks & Trails New York is calling on communities across the canal corridor to roll up their sleeves for the annual Canal Clean Sweep — a three-day statewide volunteer effort taking place April 17-19, 2026. The event mobilizes thousands of volunteers to clean up trails, parks, and…
Building on the historic momentum of the Erie Canal’s bicentennial year, New York State has awarded $207,953 in Canal System Tourism Infrastructure and Event Grants to 41 organizations and municipalities across the canal corridor for 2026 — continuing a tradition of investment that is transforming the 500-mile waterway into one of the Northeast’s premier heritage…