Staying Home Sucks, home
Palmyra Village Hall Aug 09
Palmyra, the nearest town. Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Erie Canal

Kayak spot · United States

Flat water: a lake, canal or slow river

Is it worth the trip?

93Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

Best on Tue 3: Wind 5 kn gusting 11, Air 20 °C

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 100 out of 100

Wind
5 kn
Gusts
11kn
Air
20°C
Rain
0.1 mm

Wed 4 · 97 out of 100

Wind
4 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
23°C
Rain
0 mm

Thu 5 · 88 out of 100

Wind
9 kn
Gusts
15kn
Air
20°C
Rain
3.2 mm

Fri 6 · 97 out of 100

Wind
2 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
19°C
Rain
0 mm

Sat 7 · 93 out of 100

Wind
4 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
16°C
Rain
0 mm

Sun 8 · 90 out of 100

Wind
7 kn
Gusts
18kn
Air
15°C
Rain
0.6 mm

Mon 9 · 65 out of 100

Wind
10 kn
Gusts
20kn
Air
10°C
Rain
1.2 mm

Tap a day for wind, gusts, air and rain. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 298, good
  2. Tue 3100, good
  3. Wed 497, good
  4. Thu 588, good
  5. Fri 697, good
  6. Sat 793, good
  7. Sun 890, good
  8. Mon 965, good
  9. Tue 1074, good
  10. Wed 1165, good

The spot in two facts

  • Flat waterthe water
  • 9.5 kmthe section

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know the river level, weirs or your skill.

Wind and weather forecast and score for each day at Erie Canal
DayScoreWindGustsAirRain
Mon 2Nov98, good6 kn14kn21°C0 mm
Tue 3Nov100, good5 kn11kn20°C0.1 mm
Wed 4Nov97, good4 kn10kn23°C0 mm
Thu 5Nov88, good9 kn15kn20°C3.2 mm
Fri 6Nov97, good2 kn8kn19°C0 mm
Sat 7Nov93, good4 kn10kn16°C0 mm
Sun 8Nov90, good7 kn18kn15°C0.6 mm
Mon 9Nov65, good10 kn20kn10°C1.2 mm
Tue 10Nov74, good8 kn21kn10°C3.9 mm
Wed 11Nov65, good9 kn17kntoo gusty7°C0 mm

Wind and gusts are in knots, rain in mm. The river's level is under In the water. More

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

No month stands out

Good kayaking days in a typical week, each month, for grade III paddlers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan5of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb5of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May7of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep7of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct7of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov6of 7: a trip from Tue 3 Nov
  12. Dec6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical weather, not a forecast, and not the river's level: a month that is often good to be outside may still be low water.

Map

put-in, take-out, its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More kayaking near here

1 place

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Erie Canal

A river section on the Erie Canal, from a put-in down to a take-out. It runs 9.5 km along the river. No grade stated: ask locally before you paddle. OpenStreetMap marks the water open to canoes and kayaks. No paddling school, club or hire within 50 km on the map. The town to stay in is Palmyra. Within 5 km we also list 1 kayak spot.

  • River Erie Canal
  • Grade No grade is stated.
  • Length 9.5 km along the river.
  • Who it suits No grade stated: ask locally before you paddle.
  • Access OpenStreetMap marks the water open to canoes and kayaks.
  • Schools, hire No paddling school, club or hire within 50 km on the map.

Spots and rivers: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Whitewater sections © Rivermap (rivermap.org), Riverzone and Jonathan Riddell, ODbL.

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,120–US$2,030 each

about US$1,120–US$2,030 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food, kayak hire.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to ROC, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$141–US$289
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$87–US$141
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$349–US$584
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$637
Kayak hire5 days, or about US$114 to fly your ownabout US$201–US$376
Totalabout US$1,120–US$2,030

Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Palmyra

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Palmyra

about 5 min by car · 4 places to stay

about US$134/nightcountry average

See 4 places to stay in Palmyra · Booking.com

About Palmyra its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$134 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

Getting there: about 4h 30m

About 4h 30m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → ROC, direct, then 1h by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

On the water

River level

Gauge at ERIE (BARGE) CANAL AT LOCK 30 AT MACEDON NY, 7 km upstream: 4.28 m³/s, high for November (updated 3 h ago). Running.

Bands are this gauge's own record: under its usual low, running, high, and in flood on its few highest days a year. Not a runnable range for the section: check before you go. River levels in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey (public domain). Credits

Paddling schools, clubs and hire nearby

No paddling school, club or hire mapped within 50 km.

Schools, clubs and hire: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits