Cycle the Erie Canal 2023 | MORAL COMPASS: Great Places to Go Where the Going Does Good

Parks & Trails NY’s eight-day, 400-mile Cycle the Erie bike adventure from Buffalo to Albany is back to full strength, 650 riders, for its 25^th anniversary year. Registration has just opened © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Parks & Trails NY has opened registration for the 25th Anniversary Cycle the Erie Canal 2023. The eight-day, 400-mile adventure from Buffalo to Albany takes place July 9-16.

This year, the ride – a supported camping trip – returns to its full complement of 650 riders.

There are two options: an 8-day tour from Buffalo to Albany and a 4-day option from Buffalo to Syracuse (4-day capped at 100 riders).

The route follows the legendary Erie Canal passing locks and aqueducts and winding through historic villages and rural farmlands.

The 400-mile journey along the legendary Erie Canal ends in Albany eight days later. Along the way, cyclists enjoy some of the finest scenery, most interesting history, and unparalleled cycling in the United States. Covering between 40 and 60 miles per day, cyclists travel along the Erie Canalway Trail, which is now the east-west axis of the statewide 750-mile Empire State Trail.

Designed as a camping trip, accommodations are provided with showers, toilet facilities, some with pools or lakes for swimming; eight breakfasts and six dinners; two daily refreshment stops along the route; evening entertainment including music and historical presentations; guided tours of the Canal, historic sites, museums and other attractions including the Women’s Rights National Historic Park, Erie Canal Museum and Village, Fort Stanwix National Monument and a boat tour through the Lockport locks; kick-off reception and end-of-tour celebration; Cycle the Erie Canal t-shirt; baggage transport; SAG wagon and mobile mechanical support; daily maps and cue sheets; painted and arrowed routes; pre-departure info packet including training trips.

Other amenities available (at additional fee) include fresh daily towels, gourmet morning coffee, tent and air mattress rental and set up (for those who don’t want to pitch their own tent or prefer to rent).

Shuttle transportation from Albany to the start in Buffalo (you arrive the night before the bike trip starts and have an extra night camping), or from Albany back to Buffalo is available. Arrangements are made for parking.

Safety protocols are place (see 2023 COVID Policy).

Find the answers to questions at the Cycle the Erie Canal FAQ page.

The registration fee for the full tour is $1,075 for adults and $580 for youths ages 6-17, and $750 for non-cycling participants.

To register, visit https://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal/annual-bike-tour/register

See:

Cycle the Erie: 400 Miles & 400 Years of History Flow By on Canalway Bike Tour Across New York State

Cycle the Erie, Day 1: In Lockport, See Erie Canal Engineering Marvel, ‘Flight of Five’, Cruise Thru Double Locks, and Go Underground to Fathom Rise of Industrial Revolution

Cycle the Erie, Day 2-3: A Sequence of Charming Canaltowns, Pastoral Landscapes, Punctuated by City Birthed by ‘Mother of Cities’

Cycle the Erie, Day 4: Seneca Falls to Syracuse, Crossing Halfway Mark of 400-Mile Biketour

Cycle the Erie, Day 5: Deep Dive into The Erie Canal: ‘Mother of Cities’, Empire Builder, Wonder of the World

Cycle the Erie: At Fort Stanwix, Rome, Time Travel Back to America’s Colonial, Native American Past

Cycle the Erie, Days 6-7: Erie Canal Spurs Rise of America as Global Industrial Power