the Way of the Turtle

27 Mile Ride Along the Erie Canalway Trail, Camillus to Jordan
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The original Erie Canal was built between 1817 and 1825 and became an overnight success, allowing the easy and inexpensive transport of freight from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes in 10 days (as opposed to 6 weeks using overland routes.) Towns grew all across New York State to provide services for the canal and the canal boats. At 40 ft wide and 4 feet deep, however, it quickly became jammed with traffic, and in 1835 the Enlarged Erie Canal was built. In some places this simply meant widening and deepening the original channel, but in other spots the canal was relocated altogether. Another enlargement was done in the late 1800's and then in 1922 a number of sections of the Enlarged Canal were abandoned in favor of the canal following local rivers. In many places the original canal prism was filled, but in several locations we are fortunate to have these historic waterways as parks alongsde the current Canalway Trail.

One such section is the Erie Canalway Trail west of Syracuse from Jordan to Camillus. I first rode the path back in 2001 or 2002 on my road bike, and then a year or so later on my (at the time) new mountain bike. The section in Camillus was clear just as it is now, but what a difference has been made to the portions between the Camillus Canal Park and Jordan... what is now a level stone dust path was rough, uneven, and overgrown, so much so that in several spots I remembering having to push my bike because the weeds were too thick for me to see what little path there was. I marvelled at the changes last year when I rode this section, and they were still pretty amazing to me a year later.

The Erie Canal Park in Camillus is one of the more notable places along this stretch of canal, at least for anyone interested in canal and NYS history. The park includes a replica canal store which has been converted into a museum, the Sims Store Canal Museum. I've never made it inside, but on the grounds there are replicas of canal boats, remains of lock timbers, and a variety of informative signs. Further down the path is one of the more impressive remnants of the canal - the stonework of the aqueduct crossing Nine Mile Creek. The previous times I was here, the canal was dammed up on either side of the aqueduct, but in the last year the aqueduct has been restored and now the waters of the old canal once again are carried over the creek. I believe this is the only navigable aqueduct along any of the remaining segments of the old canal - needless to say, I had to see that!

I started out at Warners Park and rode east to Camillus. The water in the canal was the highest I've ever seen it - no big surprise, given how much rain we've had this summer. It was good to be out on a bright sunny day riding. I didn't stop at the museum - I checked out the outdoor displays pretty extensively last year. About a mile beyond that, I reached the aqueduct. There's still work being done in the area, so it's not as nice-looking as it will probably be by the end of the season, but wow. The work that was done to restore the water-trough is impressive. I knew that from the pictures posted on both the Camillus Canal Park site and at Frank Sadowski Jr's wonderful Erie Canal site, but seeing it in person really drove the point home. But what I think is even more impressive is the work that was done building the original aqueduct. The stone work is still intact after over 150 years, and what was done this summer using heavy equipment and modern materials was originally done entirely by hand. Incredible. And this is one of the smaller aqueducts! The work that must have gone into building and maintaining the larger ones, like the ones at Schoharie Creek and Rexford (both now mostly either dismantled or partially in ruins) is just unbelievable.

The only real disadvantage to the restoration of the aqueduct is the need to cross the canal at one of the road crossings - it used to be possible to cross to the path on the far side using the dam. Before heading back to check out the other side of the restoration project, I rode the rest of the path down to Warners Road. Along the way I managed to get some good pictures of a swallowtail butterfly and a green heron that was far more interested in hunting than in my close proximity. Then I headed back up the path, crossed the canal, and road down the grass and dirt path on the far side. After taking more pictures of the aqueduct, I headed back west. For a change, I decided to ride the somewhat rougher path on the south side of the canal. While it didn't provide nearly as many views of the water (there were a lot of trees and bushes along the path) I did pass a sign marking the halfway point for the Enlarged Canal between Albany and Buffalo.

Back at Warners Park, I refilled my water bottles and decided to ride west to Jordan, about 7 1/2 miles away. The first stretch is probably one of the least pleasant portions of the ride, about a mile of broken up dirt road. What looked like a new road was running parallel to it, so perhaps the next time I'm here the path next to the canal will be in better shape and will be limited to foot and bike travel. Much of the path to Jordan runs through woods (shade, a wonderful thing!) and the old canal is much more overgrown. Unfortunately, it was also along here that the deerflies discovered me, and any time I stopped I found myself fighting a swarm of them buzzing around my head. The last mile of path into Jordan holds fond memories of my running the 2005 Jordan Alpine Classic (it's the first part of the race) - with luck I'll be there again in September!

There was a group of local kids hanging out at the Jordan Aqueduct across Skaneateles Creek, where there's a park in the prism of the old canal. I stopped just past there to munch a Powerbar and give myself a fresh dose of bug spray in hopes of discouraging the flies on the way back. Snapped a few photos of the park and then headed back... it was getting a bit late, so I pushed fairly hard to try and get back to the car before dark. A good ride, overall... one of these days I'll have to ride the path from Jordan to Port Byron.

JMH