The question has come up on NYHIST-L as to travel routes in NY before the opening of the Erie Canal. The material below comes from a description of William Darby's travels which is available on line at the remarkable U. of Pennsylvania Digital Library. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/

"In a series of letters, William Darby (1775-1854), who describes himself as a member of the New-York Historical Society, chronicles his journey up the Hudson, across New York to Ogdensburg and Sackett's Harbor (on Lake Ontario), and on to Buffalo and Detroit. Along the way, he spends time in Rhinebeck, Utica, Geneva, Niagara Falls, and other points of scenic or economic interest. He also discusses the St. Lawrence River and its commercial traffic at length, analyzing development on both shores and comparing the United States's and Canada's growth. Darby made the trip across Lake Erie from Buffalo to Detroit on the schooner Zephyr, stopping at such towns as Dunkirk, Cleveland, and Sandusky. His return trip to New York took him back along the American shore of Lake Erie to Buffalo and Albany (by way of Auburn, the Finger Lakes, and Schenectady). Appended to these letters are "general remarks" (which include excerpts of a speech by Governor Clinton to the New York State Legislature), a description of Ballston Spa, a letter Darby received about the not-yet-opened Erie Canal, and long excerpts from Bouchette's Canada."