The western part of the Erie Canal Bikepath, The Erie Canalway, extends for 85 miles between Palmyra and Lockport. We enjoyed this part of the Erie Canal paths the most of all. The Erie Barge Canal, which the path follows, is an active canal used mostly by pleasure boaters. The path follows close to the canal and goes through the downtown areas of many towns. The Erie Barge Canal, which replaced the old Erie Canal was an important route for hauling freight up to about fifty years ago and so it was a big part of the life of the town. As we passed through the towns we could get an idea of what it was like when the canal was a big part of the commercial life of the town.

The bike path has a good surface, crushed stone dust except in Rochester where it is paved. the paved part is bumpy in many places. We used mountain bikes with slick tires and our friends used a tandem. Hybrid bikes would be good enough and we saw people doing all right with road bikes. The area along the canal is flat and there is a network of quiet and flat roads to make a 175 mile loop trip using the canal one way and roads the other way.

There is a lot of information available to plan a good trip on the Erie Canalway. Rails from Trails has a map showing parking locations and information on lodging.
The New York Canal website has description of a ride along the towpath. a bike ride on trail.
The New York Parks and Conservation Association has a brochure called "Inn to Inn Touring along theErie Canalway Trail" which has a map that is easy to use while bicycling. It also has information on accomodations, restaurants and bike shops. There is an address to order the Inn to Inn brochure and also a brochure "Ten Great Rails to Trails in New York" by email or they can downloaded.
The New York Canals website has an address to order a map of all the NY Canals.
Mile by mile description of the canal will give a good idea of riding along the canal. In fact, you probably won't come back to our site after reading this description which is full of information.

Here are some pictures and descriptions of our ride along the Canalway Trail.