Stop 5: Cedar Bay Widewaters: Turn Around

GPS- 43.042359, -76.044805

So why is it called Cedar Bay?...at one time it was all swampland around this area of the canal and cedar trees grew there! However, all the trees that you see today were not there when the canal was there. The towpath and the footpath on the other side would have been cleared of all vegetation to help maintain canal infrastructure. Mules can't stop every few feet to walk around trees and untangling a rope from brush would be no fun at all. Basically, it was barren 20 feet from the water's edge on either side. The state technically owns this land today which is why we have the trail to enjoy by foot and on wheels...and sometimes by water... no mule necessary.

Here is an aerial view of Cedar Bay. You can see how the canal widened out from its original channel. With foot bridges now gone, one could maneuver a boat 180* and send it back the way it came.

The canal employees would never have let this great tree grow on their watch along the towpath. A gentle reminder in plain sight just how long the canal has been out of use.

Interestingly, many widewaters were created from enlarging and straightening Clinton's Ditch into the Enlarged Erie...in this map from the 1830, Cedar Bay as we know it did not exist yet. The widewaters were on the other side of the aqueduct where the Limestone Feeder connected in from the south side of the canal.

And once the Erie Canal was enlarged, the curves in the land became a widewaters.

More about that process here in a video by Derrick Pratt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyx8JOmcB7o

As time went on, a widewaters was created an on the map by 1852. This widewaters allowed barges to pull over to rest, change horses or mules, load up or turn around without impeding other traffic bound for Albany or Buffalo.

Today, the canal in this area is great for canoeing and kayaking. With a few portages, you can head from this spot to Rome if you point your canoe eastward-ish. And if you like to fish, you just might catch a big one in the old canal waters. And if just walking is your thing, you can't miss out on the views.

But alas our imaginary packet boat has a schedule to maintain. It can't rest long at these widewaters. So, after a brief rest stop to water our mules, onward we continue onto the next stop...