bike42

Any advice about camping or lodging along the Erie Canal or through Ontario, Canada would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

mulveyr 

Theres's tons of places you can camp along the canal; The state has several "official" campsites, mostly around locks ( Macedon, St. Johnsville, etc ) , several towns allow camping in their marina areas ( Middleport and Holley, for example ), plus, a very large portion of the canal is in rural areas, where you can find a camping spot just about anywhere.

As for lodging, we've stayed mostly in the western end, but there are a bunch of chain motels near the canal in Lockport, Dollinger's Motel in Albion, a couple of motels in Brockport, and more hotels than you can shake a stick at in Rochester/Pittsford/Syracuse/etc.

Do you have more specifics about what areas you'd be likely to be staying in?

pardonme

I'm not the OP, but I'm also trying to plan a trip along the erie canal starting in Ithaca. I'm going to camp at Seneca falls the first night, but then I'd like to make it to Utica to stay with my Aunt in 2 more days of cycling, so I guess looking for someplace to camp a bit east of Syracuse. Then probably need another stop halfway to Albany so in the Amsterdam area. Any suggestions for free or cheap camping?

mulveyr 

Green Lakes State Park is slighty SE of Syracuse, and very near the towpath.

brawny

I'm not the OP either, but I'm planning a counterclockwise trip around Lake Ontario this summer too, crossing the border to NY at either Niagara Falls or Buffalo. I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'd also be interested in any advice and suggestions on places to stay and routes on the US side. Plan is to leave the US from Cape Vincent, NY over to Wolfe Island by ferry.

OP - The Lake Erie connector goes from Luther MI, to Fort Erie, ON, according to their website, but doesn't give details of the route (unless you pay). Part of the route will likely go along the north shore of Lake Erie, I think. I've ridden a lot of it, at one point or another. Very quiet and picturesque dotted with small towns. Your best bet for camping in Ontario are the provincial parks. I've attached a link to their park locator map here.

It has always been standard practice at these parks (but not common knowledge) that they hold a number of sites back for last minute arrivals, like folks on bikes. They've recently changed their policy so that you may not be able to stay on the same site on consecutive nights if you arrive unannounced, but they always make room. We've found Turkey Point and Port Burwell to both be excellent parks.

Another option might be to make arrangements with someone on the warm showers network. If you're passing through Exeter or London, ON, send me a private message, and we'd be happy to put you up.

Hope this helps!
Brawny

bike42

Thanks for the information so far. We are trying to keep the weight down on the tandem so hopefully we will be staying indoors, but we are concerned about places being booked up during the summer.

m_yates

I highly recommend this guidebook: https://www.ptny.org/guidebook/index.shtml Many bike shops near the Erie Canal sell it, and you can buy it direct from the link. It has detailed route descriptions, as well as camping and lodging options all the way from Buffalo to Albany. It also has a little history and sightseeing suggestions. My copy is dogeared from use. It is a good guidebook.

There is also a list of camping options here: https://www.nyscanals.gov/exvac/trail/campsites.html Missing from that list for some reason is the site in Holley. I assume it is still open. I camped there a couple of years ago and it had free hot showers. Cayuga Lake state park is a little south of the canal east of Rochester and rarely fills up. I camped there last year.

One word of caution is the canal path from Weedsport to Syracuse is more like single track trail. It is used by horses and as a result is very rough. It is lightly traveled and the trail is continuous, but it is a rough ride. From Rochester west to Buffalo, the trail is wide and smooth mostly packed crushed stone.

mulveyr 

The camping area in Holley is actually town-owned, which is why it doesn't appear on the nyscanal list. That's also the case with Middleport, etc.

I hadn't realized the condition of the trail between Weedsport and Syracuse; My 9-yr-old and I are doing the canal in segments. So far we've gone from Buffalo to Newark. Our plan is to do the segments from Newark->Weedsport, Weedsport->Green Lakes St. Park, Green Lakes->Rome, and Rome-Herkimer this summer, though I've been toying with using Bike Route 5 instead. If the Weedsport to Syracuse is that bad, maybe we'll skip it...

m_yates

It isn't horrible, but it is bumpy with a fully loaded bike. I've also been working on the canal in segments. I did Rochester to Buffalo two years ago and Rochester to Syracuse last year. You can see my journals here if interested. The second journal has a picture of the trail east of Weedsport:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/eriewest2008

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/5422