Waterford calls itself the oldest continuously incorporated village in the United States, and it is the sort of place where that claim feels credible. It sits where the Mohawk River flows into the Hudson, a few miles north of Albany, with old brick buildings, a small harbour, and the great stone works of the Erie Canal system around it. The Waterford Flight, five locks in a row, lifts boats about 169 feet in less than two miles, one of the steepest lock staircases in the world, and when the canal opens for the season in spring, you can watch the pleasure boats rise through the chambers.
The village is also the starting point for the Lakes to Locks Passage, a scenic route that follows the old Champlain Canal north toward Lake Champlain and Ticonderoga. The route passes through towns whose history was shaped by water and war: Saratoga, where in 1777 the American victory turned the course of the Revolution, then Fort Edward, Whitehall and the long, deep lake with its forts. In this part of New York, almost every crossroads has a historical marker.
Riding here is gentle rather than dramatic. The roads run along river bottoms and farmland, over small bridges, past canal locks and between low hills, with a rhythm of straight sections and soft curves. Surfaces are generally good, though frost heaves can appear in spring. Summer weekends bring boaters and cyclists, and in October the maples along the Hudson turn flame-red. Fog sometimes pools in the river valleys on cool mornings.
Cohoes, two miles away, has about sixteen thousand people and a large range of services, with fuel, groceries and diners, and the town is also home to the Cohoes Falls, a wide, ninety-foot cascade on the Mohawk. Waterford itself has a few cafes and a canal visitor centre on Peebles Island, where the rivers meet. May to October is the best time, with the canal open and the days long. Pick up a bag of apples at a farm stand in autumn.