Across the land, there are hundreds of parks, attractions, and ruins, all there to help you learn about the canal era. While many parks are staffed with teams of volunteers to help guide you, many are simply passive use meaning that you are free to explore on your own. Finding them can be a challenge. Hopefully these interactive maps will help you find your way to new places. The maps are split up by parks and sites, and boat rides, so be sure to check both. The boat rides map is fairly complete. The parks and sites map will continue to grow as time allows.
**Note, I have attached the old Canal Research Links page as a sub-page here. It is also in the drop-down menu as Places to Explore.
If you are really looking to take a deep dive into canal history, you should consider checking with the statewide or regional organizations. If an organization operates a park or site, you will find their website in the map information.
Canal Society of New York State
Canal Society of Indiana . This site has a canal locator and a Sites to Visit page, along with links that will take you to the various organizations around the state.
Canal Society of Ohio. This site has a nice map and suggested places to visit around the state. It also outlines the routes of the various Ohio canals.
There are also a number of federal Heritage Corridors that will help you plan your visit. Check the National Heritage Area website for a full list.
I & M Canal Heritage Corridor, Illinois
Muscle Shoals NHA, Tennessee River
John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Massachusetts
Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, New York
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, New York. These folks now offer a map to help you find your way along the Heritage Corridor. The map is limited to those areas inside the corridor, so sites along the Black River, D&H, and the other lateral canals are not included. Our map will show these sites.
Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway, Ohio
Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Pennsylvania
Fox Locks on the Fox River in Wisconsin, are managed by the Fox River Navigational System Authority. They have detailed information and a map of the system on the website.
Exploring the Old Welland Canals, This map is a geographic guide to the remnants of the previous versions of the Welland Canal. If you plan to use it to explore the previous canal routes I highly recommend you do so in conjunction with the web site “The Old Welland Canals Field Guide” which is hyperlinked frequently in this map and is the web’s foremost authority on the subject.
The Historic Welland Canals Mapping Project (HWCMP) is another guide to the Welland Canals. The link opens a arcgis page as be sure to download the User Guide to help you understand the site.
The Schuylkill Navigation Facebook page features the work of a group of Schuylkill enthusiasts who are working to preserve the history of the navigation. Ben Varner’s Google Earth based map of the Schuylkill Navigation provides great details to help you find your way along the system.
Steven Talbot has been working on the Enlarged Erie Canal Digital Mapping project. https://arcg.is/e5GXu This detailed map uses the old maps to recreate the canal over the current landscape.
Chris Brucker’s interactive map of New York’s canal sites. This is a personal effort and includes many hidden sites that all canal historians love to find. There are layers for the different canals so be sure to check them all out. Chris is open to suggestions for additions and improvements.
OpenStreetMap is another platform where canal enthusiasts have been adding canal sites and routes. Simply enter a name like “Black River Canal” in the search box to see what points have been added. The Erie Canal Mapping Project is another such effort.