Utica and Lyons Join Erie Canalway Trail Town Family as New Grant Funding Energizes Canal Communities

Two of New York’s most storied canal communities are stepping into the spotlight this spring. The City of Utica and the Town of Lyons have been officially named 2026 Empire State Trail Towns, joining a growing network of communities that are transforming the Erie Canalway Trail into a vibrant corridor for recreation, tourism, and local economic growth.

A New Chapter for Utica and Lyons

Selected through a competitive process administered by Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) and funded by the NYS Canal Corporation, the Trail Town program offers each designated community a year-long partnership that includes expert guidance, community workshops, and a customized action plan for strengthening trail-based tourism and quality of life.

Utica arrives as the program’s largest Trail Town to date — a city brimming with lodging, dining, arts, and cultural attractions situated just steps from the trail. Local planners see the designation as a catalyst for deepening connections between the Empire State Trail, the city’s Harbor Point development along the Mohawk River, and the broader Erie Canalway corridor. Lyons, meanwhile, brings its own brand of small-town charm as a historic canal gateway in Wayne County, and officials there envision the Trail Town designation sparking new investment in visitor amenities and downtown revitalization.

The two communities join eleven existing Trail Towns — including Lockport, Canajoharie, Clyde, and Montezuma — that have already demonstrated how a well-connected trail can reshape a town’s economic identity.

$207,953 in Community Grants Awarded Across the Canal Corridor

The Trail Town news arrives alongside the announcement of 41 recipients of the 2026 NYS Canal System Tourism Infrastructure and Event Grants, totaling $207,953. Administered jointly by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and the NYS Canal Corporation, the grants are projected to leverage an additional $808,104 in matching support — amplifying their reach well beyond the initial award amounts.

Eleven of the awards support physical infrastructure and accessibility improvements, while 31 fund community events that celebrate the canal’s history and culture. Highlights from this year’s infrastructure recipients include:

• The Lockport Locks Heritage District Corporation, which will use its award to create a tactile map and accessibility assessment for the historic locks district, making one of the canal’s most iconic sites more navigable for visitors of all abilities.
• The Village of Clyde, which will add Adirondack chairs, an accessible picnic table, and updated signage at its trailside Welcome Center.
• The Town of Montezuma, which will install a drinking fountain with a bottle-filling station, bike racks, and accessible picnic facilities at the High Street Trailhead — a gateway to Montezuma Heritage Park.

Individual grants range from $500 to $24,000, reflecting the program’s commitment to meeting communities where they are — whether a small village seeking a single bench and bike rack or a larger organization undertaking a multi-phase accessibility overhaul.

A Bicentennial Moment — and a Look Toward the Next Century

These investments come as the Erie Canal moves through the final act of its bicentennial celebration. Last year’s Water Music NY concert series — which brought the Albany Symphony to five canalside communities in a free festival format — will return in summer 2026 for a concluding series of performances, marking the close of the canal’s 200th anniversary season and the dawn of its third century of operation.

Governor Kathy Hochul has committed $50 million in the FY 2026 Enacted Budget to underpin the canal’s long-term infrastructure, targeting the rehabilitation of 19th-century reservoir dams, a high-hazard earthen embankment dam, and aging steel gates along the system. That foundational investment, combined with the grassroots energy of Trail Town designations and community grants, reflects the kind of layered, multi-level commitment that advocates have long argued the canal requires.

From Utica’s urban riverfront to Lyons’ quiet canal-side streets, the message is clear: New York’s canal communities are not just preserving a historic waterway — they are building a future along its banks.