Printable ScholarErie Canal Map
A free printable map of the Erie Canal drawn on real terrain, showing the 1825 canal across New York from Buffalo on Lake Erie to Albany on the Hudson River, the towns along it, and the river route on to New York City. It comes in color, black and white, and blank.
Choose your version
Black and white, color or blank.
All three are free PDFs sized for US Letter paper.
Black and white
Everything named on a plain outline map with no terrain. No color ink needed.
downloadBlack and white PDF
Color
The canal, the towns along it, rivers and lakes named, on shaded relief.
downloadColor PDF
Blank
The black-and-white map with its routes and markers but no names, for labeling practice.
downloadBlank PDFThe Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway across New York State. It runs about 363 miles from Buffalo, on Lake Erie, to Albany, on the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton pushed for it, and people who thought it could not be done called it Clinton’s Ditch. Digging began at Rome on July 4, 1817, and the whole canal opened on October 26, 1825. Workers dug it by hand with shovels, horses and simple machines. Lake Erie is about 570 feet higher than the Hudson, so the canal needed 83 locks to raise and lower boats, including a famous flight of five double locks at Lockport. Mules and horses walking on a towpath pulled the boats. East of Utica the canal followed the Mohawk River valley, the one easy gap through the Appalachian Mountains. The canal cut the cost of moving goods between the Great Lakes and the East Coast by about nine tenths. Farm goods from the West came east, settlers and manufactured goods went west, towns such as Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo grew into cities, and New York City became the nation’s busiest port.
On the map
- Buffalo: the western end, on Lake Erie
- Lockport: the flight of locks up the Niagara Escarpment
- Rochester and Syracuse: canal towns that grew into cities
- Rome: where digging began on July 4, 1817
- Utica and Schenectady: towns in the Mohawk valley
- Albany: the eastern end, on the Hudson River, and the state capital
- New York City: reached by boat down the Hudson River
Find it on the map
- The canal following the Mohawk River valley east of Utica
- Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, linked to the Atlantic by the canal and the Hudson
- The Finger Lakes, south of the canal
The canal line follows the Mohawk River east of Utica and is drawn through the towns on the 1825 canal west of Utica, so it is approximate. The canal was later widened and moved in places, and most of today’s canal follows a newer route opened in 1918. Modern state lines are shown for reference. Coastlines and rivers are shown as they are today.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the Erie Canal start and end?
It starts at Buffalo on Lake Erie and ends at Albany on the Hudson River. From Albany, boats went down the Hudson to New York City.
How long is the Erie Canal?
The 1825 canal was about 363 miles long, 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with 83 locks.
Why was the Erie Canal important?
It made shipping between the Great Lakes and the East Coast much faster and cheaper. Farm goods came east, settlers and manufactured goods went west, canal towns grew into cities, and New York City became the busiest port in the country.
What cities are on the Erie Canal?
From west to east: Buffalo, Lockport, Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Schenectady and Albany.