Between Rotterdam Junction and Schenectady the bike path unfortunately is close to the NY Thruway in several places. For a while the path follows the route of the Old Erie Canal Towpath, but there is not much of it to see. It follows along the modern Erie Barge Canal, actually the Mohawk River. One of the most interesting sections is Lock 8, (shown on panel 1 of the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway map) which is a modern lock on the Erie Barge Canal. We did not see any boats passing through the lock while there.