Low bridge, everybody down....

Today we headed east from Niagara Falls.

Our first destination was Lockport, the site of the "Flight Of Five" and the "Deep Cut" on the Erie Canal.

The "Flight of Five" refers to two side-by-side sets of five locks, each 12 feet deep and completed in 1830, enabling boats to climb a 60-foot incline from the canal toward Buffalo, NY and Lake Erie.  The "Deep Cut" was a trench cut and blasted  from the top of these locks through stone and the Niagara Escarpment. (We camped along part of the Niagara Escarpment in Wisconsin...pay attention!!!)  The old locks are still there, but not used...newer, larger, more modern locks have taken their place.

The Erie Canal is over 350 miles of HAND-DUG canals extending from the Hudson River in Albany, NY to Lake Erie. As the population of western New York increased, it became necessary to provide some sort of "highway" for commerce. This canal was the result. Here is the amazing thing...it cost
$7,000,000 to build...and was paid for by tolls within 10 years.  Take that, modern day government!!!

Newer canals to the right, historic canals to the left

Tonight, we are a great campground in Byron, New York. We will probably stay here 2-3 nights, as we explore Rochester, the Finger Lakes Region and Letchworth State Park - "The Grand Canyon of the East".