Lockport Cave Raceway Tour

Lockport Tunnel

Useful Information

Location:	5 Gooding St, Lockport, NY 14094. Near downtown Lockport on Hwy 78. Tours start at 2 Pine Street. (43.171858, -78.692577)
Open:	closed. [2026]
Fee:	closed. [2026]
Classification:	Tunnel. water tunnel, raceway.
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:	L=741 m, T=13 °C.
Guided tours:	D=90 min, includes 20 min underground boat ride.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Lockport Cave Raceway Tour, 5 Gooding St, Lockport, NY 14094, Tel: +1-716-438-0174. E-Mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1858	engineered by Birdsill Holly.
1909	the use of the tunnel stopped and it was sealed.
1973	rediscovered by Thomas Callahan, who read about it.
197?	Hydraulic Race Co. was reformed as a non-profit organization to run tours through the old cave raceway. Tours were run for 5 years.
1995	The Lockport Cave Co. began running tours.
12-JUN-2023	a boat capsizes in the tunnel, one person dies, 11 are injured, the site is temporarily closed.

Description

This site is currently closed, reopening is possible, but a date is not given. Reason is that a boat capsized in the tunnel on 12-JUN-2023. One person died, 11 were injured, the site was temporarily closed. Most likely there is a need to make the boat tour safer. However, reopening was postponed in 2024, there was no official statement in 2025 and in 2026 the domain was removed. Unfortunately this is often a sign that the site is closed for good.

Lockport Cave is, despite the name, an artificial tunnel, built as a bypass for water. It was an important part of the Erie Canal, which linked the east coast with the middle west. It was engineered by a friend of Thomas Edison, Birdsill Holly. It was built by the labour of Irish immigrants. Some years later the competition of the railroad ended the era of the canal system. The canal was now used as a raceway for water to produce hydroelectric power. So the second part of the name is explained.

After its rediscovery, the tunnel was opened to the public by Thomas Callahan. It is an interesting historic and geological sight. Part of the tour is an underground boat ride.

Nearby the Erie Canal and Lockport Locks are relics of the Industrial Revolution. It is planned, to open a continuous multi-use trail system along the historic and scenic Canal System. Many portions of this trail already exist. This development is supervised by the New York State Thruway Authority.