It’s a great trip. I just came off a 25 mile trip along a section of the canal path near Schenectady. I see they have repaved the whole area near the GE plant in the past couple of weeks... it needed it, tree roots had cracked and pushed up the blacktop over the past few years.
There are people out every day all along the canal and the Hudson and Mohawk rivers where we are. I’m sure that is true out in the western side of the state where it is a hugely popular recreational route as well.
When I did it two years ago I just got on Google maps every night, figured out how far I might go the next day, and found whatever cheesy hotel I could. It worked out great. It was Quality Inns or Budget Inns or the like, but they were all staffed by very friendly people who would give you a ground floor room so you could wheel the bike in. There are lots of B&B type places especially out in the western side of the state as well. Hard to go wrong. I enjoyed the places I stayed in, and the most alarming looking was the best night of all, so there you are. It was just me and no particular schedule, though I encountered riding partners on two days that made both those days that much more entertaining.
I think the Erie Canal and the GAP - my brother has done that one, me not yet - are two of the Big Dog trips in the east that everyone really wants to do. I am fortunate to live about a half mile from the Hudson River end of the Erie Canal. The bike infrastructure around here is pretty good and getting better all the time. City of Albany just opened up a new connector between two established bike paths literally yesterday.
