---
title: "Blast from the past: a visit to the Erie Canal, Lock 7"
date: 2019-09-30
author: "Phoebe Moon"
featured_image: "https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-7.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Travel"
    url: "/category/travel.md"
---

# Blast from the past: a visit to the Erie Canal, Lock 7

These pictures were taken Sept 14, 2009, and show how a boat lock works. A lock is a system used for raising and lowering watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways.

First, the boat goes into the upper lock, heading east.

![A boat entering a river lock](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Lock-picture-1.jpg)

The upper lock gates close behind it.

![River locks closing](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Lock-picture-2.jpg)

The water drops (note the waterfalls behind it, generating power)

![Erie Canal Locks generating power](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Lock-picture-3.jpg)

The lower lock gates open.

![Lower Locks of the Erie Canal](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-4.jpg)

The boat goes out through the gate.

![Erie Canal Locks](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-5.jpg)

and down the river.

![Traversing the Erie Canal Locks](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-6.jpg)

Another boat comes in through the lower gate, heading in the other direction.

![Entering a lower river lock](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-7.jpg)

The lower gates close behind it.

![Closing the lower lock doors](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-8.jpg)

The water rises

![Going up a river lock](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-9.jpg)

The gates open

![Go up a lock on the Erie Canal](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-10.jpg)

and the boat heads west.

![Leaving the upper lock on the erie canal](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/lock-picture-11.jpg)

Are there locks in your area? This one has a great parking lot and some trails. You can boat watch all day if you like.

[![Gray stone monument engraved with Erie Canal 1825—1918. Once was the eighth wonder of the world, with a carved image of a boat at the top. Monument is outdoors, with grass and a gravel path in the background.](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/erie-canal-stone.jpg)](https://scrapdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/erie-canal-stone.jpg)





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