The lyrics to what is commonly known today as “The Erie Canal” song or by its original title “Low Bridge, Everybody Down,” recalls along the canal particularly from the perspective of a worker who has spent 15 years with a mule named Sal hauling vessels along the canal.
The lyrics depict a picturesque vision of what it was like in the days of the canal with a refrain of “And you’ll always know your neighbor/
And you’ll always know your pal/ If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal,” conjuring images of friendly faces along the banks of the communities, like Camillus, that the canal passed through.
For a group of some 750 cyclists from 40 states, who began a journey along the canal in Buffalo July 9 with a goal of reaching Albany July 16, they got a glimpse of what that life was like as they visited spots all along the canal route.
Covering about 50 miles a day, the riders made the half way point in the Syracuse area July 12, with a stop at the Liz and David Beebe Erie Canal Park in Camillus.
This stop was part of the 25th annual Cycle the Erie Canal Tour.
The tour is Cycle the Erie Canal is organized by Parks & Trails New York, a statewide nonprofit organization. Parks & Trails New York is dedicated to improving and protecting New York State’s parks and creating new opportunities for greenways and rail and canal trails. Parks & Trails New York organizes this annual bicycle tour to promote the Canalway Trail, the historic Erie Canal corridor and economic development through bicycle tourism.
Covering between 40 and 60 miles per day, cyclists travel along the Erie Canalway Trail, which is now more than 85 percent off-road. Since 2020, the Erie Canalway Trail has also served as the east-west section of the 750-mile Empire State Trail. Recent studies by Parks & Trails New York reveal that the Erie Canalway Trail receives over 3 million visits every year and generates an economic impact of over $253 million, acceding to Parks and Trails New York.
Starting the day in the Waterloo and Seneca Falls area riders visited the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and took a break in the Village of Jordan and visited the Jordan Historical Society Museum, enjoying the flower gardens in the bed of the old canal, then continue on the towpath on an original aqueduct over Skaneateles Creek.
They then followed the canal towpath to Camillus’ Erie Canal Park and stopped by the park’s Sims Store, a re-creation of a 19th century general store and had the opportunity to take a boat ride on a restored aqueduct before heading to Syracuse where they camped for the night.
The Camillus park has long been a popular stop for cyclists and gives visitors a look at what life was like along the canal.
From the canal itself to boat tours to the Sims Store, which recreates a historic shop that once existed along the canal in the Camillus area, the local park helps give some real insight into the history of the canal and how it functioned and what it looked like in its prime.
Lisa Wiles, director of the park, said this is always an exciting visit and the park was happy to welcome riders again this summer.
“We love having the Cycle the Erie tour visit us each year,” she said. “We are so proud of our Park and love sharing the Sims Store Museum with them as well as the famous Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct during our boat rides. We hear we are one of the riders favorite stops because we are literally the halfway point mileage-wise between Buffalo and Albany, so when they get here they have halfway completed this huge ride. What’s especially fun is having riders come by who have been on the tour in past years saying how happy they were to visit again.”
