Related Resources
There’s so much that is fabulous and fascinating about the activities we offer, and the places we offer it.
Our City of Rochester site on the Genesee River in Genesee Valley Park is within view of the extraordinary place where the River and the historic Erie Canal connect in a four-way water intersection. Off the Erie Canal, Red Creek snakes through a natural wonderland. And just around a few bends downstream, the City skyline opens dramatically before paddlers!
At our unique site at Lock 32 on the Erie Canal in the Town of Pittsford, water is routed around the 25-foot lock elevation to create a one-of-a-kind whitewater experience. You can also experience the rise and fall of the Lock by paddling through it!
Genesee Valley Park, the site of our City of Rochester boathouse and operations on the Genesee River, is a historic park that also happens to be a “Grand Central Station” of our region’s amazing walk-bike recreational trail system! All of these regional trails come together in Genesee Valley Park— and either right in front or very nearby the GWC. What’s more, the Empire State Trail connects our two paddling sites, the Park and Lock 32 on the Erie Canal in Pittsford!
Check out the links below… and consider combining a walking or biking experience with your paddling experience!
An expansive, majestic, historic park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s most famous and celebrated landscape architect.
Genesee Valley Park Sports Complex
Sharing a campus with the GWC, the City of Rochester’s Genesee Valley Park Sports Complex offers an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, sports fields and tennis courts, and an ice rink in the winter. The Sports Complex is part of…
City of Rochester Parks and Recreation
The City of Rochester offers a world-class park system, and eleven R-Centers that provide a wide array of recreation facilities and programs for all City residents.
This trail runs 24 miles through the City of Rochester, along the river and through the spectacular Genesee River Gorge, all the way up to Great Lake Ontario—the 14th largest lake in the world! Note that this trail connects well to bike lanes throughout the City of Rochester!
Genesee Valley Greenway State Park
This “linear park” extraordinaire runs 90 miles from Genesee Valley Park all the way to Allegany County, near the Pennsylvania border.
Empire State Trail (includes the Erie Canalway Trail)
750 (!) miles of recreational trail, including the 363 miles of the one and only Erie Canal.
The Empire State Water Trail is a 1,700-mile series of interconnected, locally managed water trails spanning the state from the Canadian border in the north to New York City and Long Island in the south and from Albany in the east to Buffalo in the west.
Our section of the Genesee River in Rochester is just one slice of a hundred-mile “blueway” that extends north to Great Lake Ontario and south all the way to Pennsylvania!
Corn Hill Waterfront and Navigation Foundation
Right around the riverbend from the Genesee Waterways Center in the City of Rochester, Corn Hill Navigation operates the Riverie, a motorized boat that offers wonderful tours on the Genesee River and Erie Canal. And just around the bend of the Erie Canal from our Lock 32 Paddling Center and Whitewater Park, Corn Hill Navigation runs the Sam Patch tour boat along the Canal from Schoen Place in the Village of Pittsford. This replica packet boat always makes for a great day on the one and only Erie Canal!
City of Rochester Roc the Riverway
An ambitious, awesome series of capital improvements along the Genesee River within the City of Rochester, designed to reinvigorate the City’s waterfront and amenities, and bring people to the River!
Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor , and New York State Canalway Water Trail
Hundreds of miles of memorable and diverse history, nature and recreation all across the Empire State.
The fourth largest city in New York State and home of the Genesee Waterways Center, Rochester is a great place to live and visit! The history, amenities, and attractions of Rochester are too numerous and diverse to even begin to summarize sufficiently here!
The neighborhood of the GWC in the City of Rochester. The 19th Ward is chock full of history, beautiful architecture and natural gems, amenities and attractions, services and goods, and friendly faces!
The Rochester suburb that is home to our Lock 32 Paddling Center, Pittsford is a peaceful place just seven miles from our City site.
A close partner of the GWC, the Genesee River Watch stewards the river through research, remediation projects, education, and outings on the water.