Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway
Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway is a National Scenic Byway in New York. Within New York it covers roughly 25 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Mohawk Towpath National Scenic Byway runs 26 miles from Schenectady to Waterford, New York, tracing the historic route mules once walked along the Erie Canal. The byway parallels the Mohawk River, the original Erie Canal, and the modern New York State Barge Canal, and much of the surrounding landscape still looks the way it did in 1825, when the canal first opened and transformed trade between the Atlantic seaboard and the Great Lakes. Historic districts built during the canal era still stand in the towns along the route, and at Waterford the byway reaches the Flight of Locks, five consecutive locks (E-2 through E-6) that lift vessels 169 feet from the Hudson River up to the Mohawk in one of the most dramatic engineering displays on the canal system. Nearby, Falls View Park in Cohoes overlooks Cohoes Falls, one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River by volume, often overshadowed by its more famous cousin at Niagara. The drive traces Native American, canal-era, and Industrial Revolution history along one continuous river corridor.
- Schenectady to Waterford
- 26.2 miles
- National Scenic Byway
- Waterford Flight of Locks (169 ft lift)
- Cohoes Falls
- Erie Canal history
Designated for its historic qualities
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Places to stop along Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway
Stockade Historic District
Schenectady's oldest neighborhood, lived in for more than 300 years, with colonial-era houses along quiet streets by the river.
Proctors
A restored 1926 vaudeville palace on State Street, now a busy performing arts center.
WebsiteMohawk River Gorge
A deep, narrow stretch of the river at Rexford, crossed by the remnants of an old canal aqueduct.
Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve
Trails along a watered section of the original Erie Canal and its towpath, through marsh full of birds.
Cohoes Falls
A wide waterfall on the Mohawk, at its most dramatic in spring, tied to the founding story of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Harmony Mills Historic District
The vast brick textile mills that earned Cohoes the name Spindle City, now converted to apartments.
Waterford Flight of Locks
Five locks raising boats about 169 feet in under two miles, one of the highest lifts in the shortest distance of any canal in the world.
Waterford Harbor Visitor Center
The gateway to New York's canal system, where the Erie and Champlain canals meet the Hudson.
Where to Stay along Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway
No campgrounds are listed close to Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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Photos of Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway
What is a National Scenic Byway?
National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.