List of canals in the United States explained

The following is a list of canals in the United States:

Transportation canals in operation

This list includes active canals and artificial waterways that are maintained for use by boats. Although some abandoned canals and drainage canals have stretches that can be paddled in a small craft, such as a canoe, they are not included in this list.

Name	Place	State	data-sort-type="number"	Navigable length !	class=unsortable	Notes
Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal	Chesapeake	VA	8.5miles	Two canals apart in two states
	Currituck County	NC	5.5miles
Alligator–Pungo Canal	Hyde County, Tyrell County	NC	22miles
Assawoman Canal	Sussex County	DE	4miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway	East Coast			Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Augusta Canal	Augusta Columbia County	GA	6.8miles	Not navigable to other waterways
Bricktown Canal	Bricktown	OK	1miles	Has water taxi service. Not navigable to other waterways
Barkley Canal	Lyon County	KY	1.25miles
Cal-Sag Channel	Cook County	IL	16miles	Part of the Illinois Waterway
Calcasieu Ship Channel	Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish	LA	36.5miles
Canaveral Barge Canal	Merritt Island	FL	6miles
Cape Cod Canal	Barnstable County	MA	7miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Cape May Canal	Cape May County	NJ	3.3miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Cayuga–Seneca Canal	Seneca County	NY	20miles
Chain of Rocks Canal	Madison County	IL	9miles	The most downstream lock on the Upper Mississippi River
Champlain Canal	Upstate New York	NY	60miles
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal	Cecil County	MD	14miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
	New Castle County	DE
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal	Cook County, Will County	IL	28miles	Part of the Illinois Waterway
Clam Lake Canal	Cadillac	MI	0.33miles
Corpus Christi Ship Channel	Corpus Christi	TX
Cumberland and Oxford Canal	Naples	ME	0.04miles	Only the Songo Lock is still in use
Delcambre Canal	Iberia Parish	LA	12miles
Dismal Swamp Canal	Chesapeake	VA	22miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
	Camden County	NC
Duluth Ship Canal	Duluth	MN	0.33miles
Erie Canal	Upstate New York	NY	363miles
Galveston and Brazos Canal	Brazoria County	TX
Gowanus Canal	Brooklyn	NY	1.8miles
	Great Lakes region			Has many branches. Reaches into Canada
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway	Gulf Coast		1050miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Harlem River Ship Canal	New York	NY	8miles	Now indistinguishable from the Harlem River
Haulover Canal	Brevard County	FL	1.25miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Houston Ship Channel	Houston	TX	50miles
Illinois Waterway	Northern and Central Illinois	IL	336miles
Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal	East Chicago	IN	6.75miles	Has two branches
Industrial Canal (Inner Harbor Navigation Canal)	New Orleans	LA	5.5miles
Intracoastal Waterway			3000miles	Consists of many canals and natural waterbodies
Keweenaw Waterway	Houghton County	MI	24.5miles
Lake Washington Ship Canal	Seattle	WA	8miles
Lauritzen Canal	Richmond	CA	0.32miles
Lechmere Canal	East Cambridge	MA	0.2miles
Lewes and Rehoboth Canal	Sussex County	DE	9miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Louisville and Portland Canal	Louisville	KY	2miles
Matagorda Ship Channel	Matagorda County	TX	2miles
McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System		AR	445miles
	Eastern Oklahoma	OK
Ogden Slip	Chicago	IL	0.35miles
Okeechobee Waterway	South Florida	FL	154miles
Oswego Canal	Oswego County	NY	23.7miles
Point Pleasant Canal	Point Pleasant	NJ	2miles	Part of the Intracoastal Waterway
Port Townsend Ship Canal	Jefferson County	WA	0.9miles
Portage Lake Canal	Houghton County	MI	2.5miles	Part of Keweenaw Waterway
Sabine–Neches Waterway	Southeast Texas	TX	64miles
	Calcasieu Parish	LA
Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel	Solano County, Yolo County	CA	43miles
Smith Canal	Stockton	CA	2.4miles
St. Clair Flats Canal	Clay Township	MI
St. Lawrence Seaway	Jefferson County, St. Lawrence County	NY	370miles	Spans into Canada
St. Lucie Canal (C-44)	Martin County	FL	26miles	Part of the Okeechobee Waterway
Stockton Channel	Stockton	CA	2.5miles
Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel	San Joaquin County, Contra Costa County	CA	41miles
Shinnecock Canal	Hampton Bays	NY	0.9miles
St. Marys Falls Canal (Soo Locks)	Sault Ste. Marie	MI	2miles	Part of the Great Lakes Waterway
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal	Door County	WI	1.3miles
Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway	Northeast Mississippi	MS	234miles
	Southwest Alabama	AL
Victoria Barge Canal	Victoria County, Calhoun County	TX	35 mi (56 km)
West Neebish Channel	Chippewa County	MI	6miles	Part of the Great Lakes Waterway
Wiley-Dondero Canal	St. Lawrence County	NY	9.2miles	Part of the St. Lawrence Seaway

The United States also built the Panama Canal on territory it controlled.

Abandoned transportation canals

See also: History of turnpikes and canals in the United States.

Name	State	Opened	Closed	data-sort-type="number"	Length !	class=unsortable	Notes
Alexandria Canal	VA	1843	1886	7miles
Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation	PA	1837	1865
Baillie-Grohman Canal	WA	1889	1902?	5049feet
Bank's Canal	VA
Beardstown and Sangamon Canal	IL
Beaver and Erie Canal	PA	1844	1872	136miles	Part of the Pennsylvania Canal
Bellows Falls Canal	VT	1802	1858
Black River Canal	NY	1855	1925	35miles
Blackstone Canal	RI	1828	1848	45miles
	MA
Brunswick–Altamaha Canal	GA	1854	1860	12miles
Cascade Locks and Canal	OR	1896	1938
	WA
Celilo Canal	OR	1915	1957
	WA
Chemung Canal	NY	1833	1878
Chenango Canal	NY	1836	1878	97miles
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal	MD	1830	1924	184.5miles
	DC
Clinton–Kalamazoo Canal	MI	1843		13miles	Partially completed
Codorus Navigation	PA	1832	1850	11miles
Colbert Shoals Canal	AL				Flooded by Pickwick Lake
Columbia Canal	SC	1824			Now used for hydroelectic power
Conestoga Navigation	PA	1826		18miles
Conewago Canal	PA	1797		1miles
Cross Florida Barge Canal	FL			30miles	Partially completed
Culpeper Gold Mine Canal	VA
Cumberland and Oxford Canal	ME	1832	1873	38miles	Songo Lock remains open
Deep Run Canal	VA
Delaware and Hudson Canal	PA	1828	1917	108miles
	NY
Delaware and Raritan Canal	NJ	1834	1932	66miles
Delaware Canal	PA	1832	1931	60miles	Part of the Pennsylvania Canal
Des Moines Rapids Canal	IA
Enfield Falls Canal	CT	1829		5.25miles
Farmington Canal (New Haven and Northampton Canal)	CT	1828	1847	56miles	Continued into Massachusetts as the Hampshire and Hampden Canal
Ficklin's Canal	VA
Fox–Wisconsin Waterway	WI				Partially restored
Franklin Line	PA	1833	1837	22miles	Part of the Pennsylvania Canal
Fredericksburg Canal	VA
Genesee Valley Canal	NY	1840	1878	124miles
Hampshire and Hampden Canal	MA		1847	30miles
Hennepin Canal	IL	1907		75.2miles
Hocking Canal	OH	1841	1890	56miles
Illinois and Michigan Canal	IL	1848	1933	96miles
Indiana Central Canal	IN			8miles	Partially completed
James River and Kanawha Canal	VA				Only Virginia portion completed
Junction Canal	PA	1854	1871	18miles
	NY
Landsford Canal	SC	1823		2miles
Lehigh Canal	PA	1821	1942	72miles	A mule-drawn tourist barge operates at the National Canal Museum
Leiper Canal	PA	1829	1852	3miles
Love Canal	NY
Main Line of Public Works	PA
Miami Canal	FL
Miami and Erie Canal	OH	1844	1913	274miles
Middlesex Canal	MA	1803	1851	27miles
Milan Canal	OH	1839	1868
Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal	LA	1968	2009	76miles
Morris Canal	NJ	1829	1924	107miles
Muscle Shoals Canal	AL				Drowned under Wilson Lake?
Ohio and Erie Canal	OH	1827	1913	308miles
Patowmack Canal (Potomac Canal)	MD	1795	1828		Consists of the Little Falls Canal, Great Falls Canal, Seneca Falls Canal, Payne's Falls Canal, and House Falls Canal
	VA
Pawtucket Canal	MA	1796
Pennsylvania Canal	PA
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal	PA	1840	1877	82miles
	OH
Portage Canal	WI	1876	1951	2miles
Powell's Canal	VA
Rapidan Dam Canal of the Rappahannock Navigation	VA
Sandy and Beaver Canal	PA	1848	1852	73miles
	OH
Santee Canal	SC	1800	1865	22miles
Savannah Ogeechee Canal	GA
Schuylkill Navigation	PA	1825	1931	108miles
Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company	PA
Delaware and Schuylkill Navigation Company	PA
Skinker's Canal	VA
Snake Castle Canal	VA
South Hadley Canal	MA	1795
Spring Valley Canal	VA
Susquehanna Canal	MD	1802	1840	9miles
Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal	PA	1840	1894	43miles
	MD
Suwannee Canal	GA
Taylor's Canal	VA
Union Canal	PA	1828	1885	82miles
Wabash and Erie Canal	OH	1843	1874	460miles
	IN
Walhonding Canal	OH	1842	1896	25miles
Warren County Canal	OH	1840	1848	20miles
Washington City Canal	DC	1815
Wheatley's Canal	VA
Whitewater Canal	IN	1839		76miles
Wiconisco Canal	PA	1845	1889	12miles

Irrigation, industrial, and drainage canals

Alaska

• Davidson Ditch

Arizona

• Central Arizona Project
• Salt River Project Canals
  • Arizona Canal
• Yuma Project Canals

California

• All-American Canal
• Back Channel
• Beardsley Canal
• Buena Vista Canal
• California Aqueduct
• Calloway Canal
• Carrier Canal
• Coachella Canal
• Colorado River Aqueduct
• Contra Costa Canal
• Corning Canal
• Delta–Mendota Canal
• Eastside Canal
• Folsom South Canal
• Friant-Kern Canal
• Glenn Colusa Canal
• Inter-California Canal
• Kern Island Canal
• Los Angeles Aqueduct
• Madera Canal
• Orland South Canal
• Orland North Canal
• Pioneer Canal
• Putah South Canal
• Stine Canal
• Tehama Colusa Canal

Florida

• Hillsboro Canal
• Miami Canal
• North New River Canal
• Tamiami Canal
• West Palm Beach Canal

Hawaii

• Waiolama Canal, Hilo

Idaho

• New York Canal

Illinois

• North Shore Channel (popular for canoeing and kayaking)

Louisiana

• 17th Street Canal
• Carondelet Canal
• Florida Canal
• London Avenue Canal
• New Orleans Outfall Canals
• Orleans Canal
• Washington-Palmetto Canal

Massachusetts

• Holyoke Canal System
• Lowell Power Canal System

Michigan

• Edison Sault Power Canal

Nebraska

• Loup Canal

New Jersey

• Cape May Canal
• Delaware and Raritan Canal
• Dundee Canal
• Morris Canal
• Point Pleasant Canal
• Raritan Water Power Canal
• Washington Canal

Texas

• American Canal
• Franklin Canal
• Riverside Canal (El Paso)
• Texas Irrigation Canals

Washington

• Banks Lake Feeder Canal
• Centralia Canal
• Tieton Main Canal
• Yelm Ditch (defunct)

Natural inlets called canals

Behm Canal, Duncan Canal, Lynn Canal, and Portland Canal in Alaska, and Hood Canal in Washington are natural inlets that use the name canal.

Canals by state

These are man made canals in each state that have been given a name and may consist of a narrow irrigation or drainage ditch to a large ship, municipal water and/or irrigation canal. States with extensive agricultural acreage may have many hundred to thousands of canals. USGS Topographical map numbers and latitudes and longitudes of each canal, usable as inputs into Google, Bing, etc. maps, are usually given.

Canals in each state
State	Number of canals	Ref.	State	Number of canals	Ref.
Alabama	21	[1]	Montana	858	[2]
Alaska	23	[3]	Nebraska	209	[4]
Arizona	289	[5]	Nevada	263	[6]
Arkansas	6	[7]	New Hampshire	10	[8]
California	2,903	[9]	New Jersey	41	[10]
Colorado	1,888	[11]	New Mexico	69	[12]
Connecticut	8		New York	116	[13]
Delaware	54	[14]	North Carolina	151	[15]
Florida	245	[16]	North Dakota	69	[17]
Georgia	25	[18]	Ohio	22	[19]
Hawaii	125	[20]	Oklahoma	9	[21]
Idaho	1,540	[22]	Oregon	661	[23]
Illinois	278	[24]	Pennsylvania	11	[25]
Indiana	2,239	[26]	Rhode Island	3
Iowa	299	[27]	South Carolina	33	[28]
Kansas	27	[29]	South Dakota	91	[30]
Kentucky	62	[31]	Tennessee	61	[32]
Louisiana	45	[33]	Texas	299	[34]
Maine	7		Utah	575	[35]
Maryland	44	[36]	Vermont	1
Massachusetts	26		Virginia	59	[37]
Michigan	1,668	[38]	Washington	237	[39]
Minnesota	1,451	[40]	West Virginia	2	[41]
Mississippi	185	[42]	Wisconsin	89	[43]
Missouri	287	[44]	Wyoming	1085	[45]
Total canals	18,241

See also

• List of canals
• Sheep Creek

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alabama canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
2. Web site: Montana canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
3. Web site: Alaska canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
4. Web site: Nebraska canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
5. Web site: Arizona canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
6. Web site: Nevada canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
7. Web site: Arkansas canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
8. Web site: Canals in New England. April 14, 2012. NewEnglandTowns.org.
9. Web site: California canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
10. Web site: New Jersey canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
11. Web site: Colorado canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
12. Web site: New Mexico canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
13. Web site: New York canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
14. Web site: Delaware canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
15. Web site: North Carolina canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
16. Web site: Florida canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
17. Web site: North Dakota canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
18. Web site: Georgia canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
19. Web site: Ohio canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
20. Web site: Hawaii canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
21. Web site: Oklahoma canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
22. Web site: Idaho canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
23. Web site: Oregon canals. March 24, 2014. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
24. Web site: Illinois canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
25. Web site: Pennsylvania canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
26. Web site: Indiana canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
27. Web site: Iowa canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
28. Web site: South Carolina canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
29. Web site: Kansas canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
30. Web site: South Dakota canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
31. Web site: Kentucky canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
32. Web site: Tennessee canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
33. Web site: Louisiana canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
34. Web site: Texas canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
35. Web site: Utah canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
36. Web site: Maryland canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
37. Web site: Virginia canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
38. Web site: Michigan canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
39. Web site: Washington canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
40. Web site: Minnesota canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
41. Web site: West Virginia canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
42. Web site: Mississippi canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
43. Web site: Wisconsin canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
44. Web site: Missouri canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..
45. Web site: Wyoming canals. April 14, 2012. HomeTownLocator, Inc..