ALBANY, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – Parks and Trails New York, along with the New York State Canal Corporation, are looking for volunteers to help clean up the Erie Canal.

The annual clean-up event is expecting 2,500 volunteers along the 524-mile Erie Canal and the over-400-mile Canalway Trail. The event coincides with Earth Day on Saturday, April 22 and will be running from Friday, April 21 to Sunday, April 23.

The City of Utica will be a part of this event as well. They will be holding a cleanup on Saturday, April 22 from 11 am to 2 pm at the Utica Trailhead off North Genesee Street. Volunteers are asked to meet at the Portofino restaurant on North Genesee Street.

Volunteers across the waterway will be picking up garbage and cleaning up various sites along the canal. The event comes a full year after the completion of the Empire State Trail, a 750-mile path which runs along the Erie Canal before splitting off to the north to the Adirondacks and south to Manhattan.

If you would like more information on the event, to register as a volunteer or more information on local events happening during the weekend, you are encouraged to visit the Clean Sweep’s website at www.ptny.org/canalsweep.