Best of Lake Erie — Battle of Historic Canals
Get a closer look at the crucial waterways that shaped North American history and commerce and growth of our beloved waterfront cities.
The lakes get all the love, but our canals offer a gateway to the rest of the world.
Erie Canal
It’s hard to overstate how important the Erie Canal was in American history. The canal, which opened in 1825 (celebrating its bicentennial this year), goes from Albany to Buffalo, and hastened westward expansion and growth of cities in the Great Lakes region, including Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago.
The canal was supplanted by railroads as a primary shipping avenue, but it remained important. In fact, it’s still possible to navigate the canal, 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, if not along the entirely same route that it took originally in the 19th century (some canal paths were filled in and have become streets).
In their early stages, canals had towpaths, allowing pack animals to tow flat-bottomed boats along the route. The paths along the original canal are now part of the Erie Canalway, available for walking or hiking, with a variety of stops for points of interests, parks and marinas. And kayakers can paddle the length of the canal as well.
Welland Canal
In 1824, as construction was nearing its end for the Erie Canal, it was starting for the Welland Canal, which would go through what’s now southern Ontario and link two Great Lakes: Ontario and Erie. Travel outgrew the canal’s capacity, and 12 years later a second was built.
The canal has been used steadily since its inception and remains an important commercial and industrial waterway. As such, it’s been rebuilt several times (the current incarnation of the canal is its fourth, dating back to 1932), but portions of the old waterway can still be seen. The former Lock 24 is the site of a historical marker and ruins from the very first canal, uncovered in the 1980s.
The Welland Canal Trail follows the canal from St. Catharines to Port Colborne, offering several overlooks to watch the locks fill (an 11-minute process) as ships navigate the waterway between two Great Lakes, now even more important thanks to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Welland Canal Trail is one of four that comprises the Greater Niagara Circle Route.
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