Many people may not be aware of it, but just north of Albany is the second largest waterfall in New York State (and one of the top three east of the Rocky Mountains): Cohoes Falls. Shared by the city of Cohoes and the town of Waterford, NY, the falls are approximately 1,000 feet across and up to 90 feet high; there is excellent viewing access from Falls View Park in Cohoes, which has interpretive signage explaining the history of the falls and its use for powering the nearby mills in the late 19th century. Parking is available across the street, and the four acre park itself is accessible and includes ADA-compliant picnic areas and fishing platforms on the upper level near the pedestrian bridge. If you look around across the street from the park, you’ll also see now-overgrown sections of the original Erie Canal – the interpretive signage includes a map of where the Erie Canal originally ran through Cohoes, and the Spindle City Historical Society has an excellent self-guided tour of canal history in Cohoes on their website.

Moving onward from the Cohoes Falls, the point where the Erie Barge Canal meets the Hudson River is a short drive away in Waterford, NY. I recommend following the Mohawk River east and crossing to Van Schaick Island on Ontario Street, where you’ll make a left onto Railroad Drive. After passing the apartment complexes, as you approach Peebles Island you’ll see the historic Matton Shipyard on the right hand side (It’s worth stopping for a look, though there is currently no public access). Canal boats, barges, tug boats, and even submarine chasers were built here from 1916 until it closed in 1983. The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has plans for its preservation and revitalization– watch this space!

Approaching Peebles Island from this side gives you an easy opportunity to stop off in the park if you have time; Peebles Island State Park has excellent walking trails, a very informative visitor center of its own, public restrooms, picnic areas, and kayak access as well as some pretty good fishing along the Mohawk River (watch out for the eels and catfish!). Driving across the bridge from Peebles to Waterford provides a great view of the Waterford harbor visitor center and Erie Barge Canal Lock 2, where the canal splits off from the Mohawk River and climbs the ascent parallel to the Cohoes Falls by way of the Waterford Flight of Locks. The visitor center is a good stop, too: Erie Canal and Waterford-related merchandise available for tourists and locals alike, with very helpful staff, lots of local information and a farmer’s market on the weekends.

If you’ve gotten your fill of the harbor and maybe wandered over to Lock 2 for a look at any boats passing through, the next point of interest is a favorite story of mine: the Day Peckinpaugh, which can most often be found tied up near Erie Barge Canal Lock 3 in Waterford. Built in 1921 specifically for use on the Barge Canal¹ and the Great Lakes, she was the first specifically designed for such use and now the last survivor of a fleet of over 100 of her type that carried freight from the upper Midwest across New York State to the port of New York City. Rescued from the scrap yard in 2006 by a partnership of museums and canal preservation societies, she is now the largest artifact in the collection of the New York State Museum. Parking is available just off 9th Street (on the access road to Lock 3) if you want to stop for a better look at the Day Peckinpaugh across the canal.

Last but certainly not least, we head on up the Waterford Flight of Locks by taking 9th back across the bridge and making a quick left on 8th street, another left on Washington Ave to a left on Flightlock Road. Take this one slowly, because there are frequently pedestrians, cyclists, and oncoming vehicles that may not be thinking about other traffic. There are 3 locks in quick succession along Flightlock Road, and if you’re lucky to catch a boat going through and quick enough to keep up with it, you can watch all three locks in operation (frequently the Canal Corporation staff operating the locks are happy to chat with visitors, too!). The Waterford Flight as a whole refers to Erie Barge Canal locks E-2 through E-6, which raises boats a total of 169 feet over the span of a mile and a half; it remains the flight with the highest elevation gain for its length of any canal lock system in the world. It’s also a pretty fine view from the bridge across the lock on a nice day.

1. I frequently refer to the Barge Canal vs. the original Erie Canal here; the original Erie Canal was built between 1817 and 1825, with its course from Albany running through Cohoes, NY. The canal was later enlarged (the “enlarged Erie Canal” between 1836 and 1862 to accommodate greater traffic. Between 1905 and 1918 the canal was once again overhauled, this time changing its path in many places to use “canalized” natural waterways, and increasing its dimensions to about 150 feet wide by 12 feet deep.