Lakes to Locks Passage

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Waterford New York

   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.

   Read the complete Waterford New York write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Waterford New York is where the day begins. Next is Saratoga Springs.

2. 2. Saratoga Springs

   Saratoga Springs became a resort because of what comes out of the ground. Natural mineral springs, naturally carbonated and tasting of salt and iron, bubble up in several places in town, and since the early nineteenth century people have come to drink, bathe and gamble. The Victorian hotels have mostly gone, but the wide, tree-shaded Broadway still has a grand, leisurely air, with galleries, cafes and old brick buildings. The horse racing, which has been held here since 1863 at the Saratoga Race Course, is one of the great fixtures of the American summer, and during the August meeting the town fills with racegoers, trainers and hopefuls.

   Read the complete Saratoga Springs write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Saratoga Springs comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lake George.

3. 3. Lake George

   Lake George is long, narrow, deep and astonishingly clear, and it lies in a trough between mountains, running about thirty-two miles from the village at the south end to Ticonderoga in the north. Thomas Jefferson, who visited in 1791, called it the most beautiful water he had ever seen, and the description has stuck. The lake is ringed by wooded hills and dotted with hundreds of small islands, and in the morning, when the surface is still, the whole scene is doubled in the water. Lake George Village, at the south end, is a cheerful, busy resort of souvenir shops, ice cream stands and arcades, with a long beach and a harbour where excursion boats leave on summer days.

   Read the complete Lake George write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Lake George. Next is Ticonderoga.

4. 4. Ticonderoga

   Ticonderoga is a small town with an outsized place in American history. The fort stands on a rocky point where Lake Champlain narrows, controlling the water route between Canada and the Hudson, and whoever held it held the door to the north. The French built it in the 1750s and called it Carillon, the British took it a few years later, and in May 1775, at the start of the Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, with Benedict Arnold, surprised the sleeping British garrison and captured it without a shot. The cannon taken from the fort were dragged by sled across the snow to Boston the following winter, and they helped force the British out of the city. The fort has been restored and holds regular demonstrations.

   Read the complete Ticonderoga write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ticonderoga, late in the day. Next is Rouses Point.

5. 5. Rouses Point

   At the very top of New York state, Rouses Point is where Lake Champlain gives out and the border takes over. The village is small and tidy, with a marina, a bridge across the lake to Vermont, and a Canadian town, Lacolle, about ten kilometres to the north. The lake here is wide, grey-blue and breezy, with the Green Mountains lined up faintly on the eastern horizon and the Adirondacks behind you. After the long ride up the shore, this is the place the road runs out of room.

   Read the complete Rouses Point write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Rouses Point. That is the ride.