EXPLORE
Canal Town Discovery Walk
Walk through a canal-era village where goods arrived by boat and moved through the community.
The Canal Town Discovery Walk takes you inside Historic Roscoe Village. Beyond the streets and storefronts, into the places where the doctor practiced medicine, cooked, and entertained, kids learned, tools were built, and goods were traded. Authentic artifacts from the 1830’s. It’s simple to follow and easy to explore at your own pace.
Plan Your Visit
- Location: Historic Roscoe Village
- Duration: Approximately 60–90 minutes
- Open Daily: 10 AM to 4 PM
- Experience Type: Self-guided walking tour
- Includes: Access to historic buildings and exhibits
- Parking: Parking is available throughout the village, with dedicated parking behind the Visitor’s Center
Tickets are available online, at the Visitor’s Center, and at the Roscoe Shoppe.
Exciting Updates
Please excuse our progress. The Roscoe Shoppe is being created as a storytelling experience that will help visitors connect more deeply with the people, places, and traditions that shaped Historic Roscoe Village while supporting our preservation mission.
What You’ll Experience
Your Discovery Walk ticket opens a series of historic spaces throughout the village, each showing a different part of canal-era life.
Visitor Center Theatre & History Room
Start here. Watch the film about the Big Ditch and a canal town came to life, explore the history room with models and artifacts to explore, and see the working canal lock model that explains how boats moved through the system.
Blacksmith Shop
One of the most memorable stops in the village. Watch metal shaped by hand and see how everyday tools, hardware, and canal-related parts were made.
The Roscoe Shoppe (Hay Craft Building)
The official gift shop of Historic Roscoe Village and a signature storytelling retail experience featuring curated goods, local products, and items inspired by Roscoe’s history. Watch traditional broom making and explore a working print shop where centuries-old printing traditions are still practiced today.
Doctor’s Office
A look at medicine in a canal town, where treatment was practical, personal, and often improvised by today’s standards.
Doctor’s Kitchen & House
A closer look at home life, where meals, soap, candles, and daily necessities were made from scratch. The stone walls and the open kettle for cooking make this area intriguing.
Craftsman’s House – Weaver
See how a working family lived and how labor inside the home connected directly to trade and production.
Roscoe School
Gather in the one-room schoolhouse exhibit for a daily lesson in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Hands-on Craft experiences including candle-dipping, tin-smithing, and rope-making are offered here.
Explore them in any order. Return to the ones that catch your interest. It’s a whole village, not a single stop.
From the village, you can also walk the towpath to see original canal locks, stone chambers that once raised and lowered boats along the route.
Brick streets underfoot. Doors open to working spaces. The canal is just steps away.
The Canal Experience
- Friday - Sunday from Memorial Day through October 18
The canal boat shows you how it felt to travel the canal.
Ride the canal. Then explore the village that made it work.
Do both, and it all connects.
- Location: Canal Boat Landing, Lake Park (minutes from Roscoe Village)
- Duration: ~45 minutes
- Season: Memorial Day through October 18
- Days: Friday–Sunday (after Labor Day: weekends only)
- Departures: 1:00 • 2:00 • 3:00 • 4:00
- Adult Discovery Walk | $13 per person
- Senior Discovery Walk | $12 per person (Ages 60 +)
- Student Discovery Walk | $10 per person (Ages 6-18)
- Children Discovery Walk | FREE (Ages 5 & Under)
- 5 Hands-On Canal Town Crafts | $20 per person
Important Note:
Starting on July 10, 2026, Canal Town Crafts will have new hours.
- Adult Discovery Walk + Crafts Combo | $30 per person
- Senior Discovery Walk + Crafts Combo | $29 per person (Ages 60 +)
- Student Discovery Walk + Crafts Combo | $27 per person (Ages 6-18)
- Children Discovery Walk + Crafts Combo | $20 per person (Ages 5 & Under)
- Adult Canal Experience | $23 per person
- Senior Canal Experience | $21 per person (Ages 60 +)
- Student Canal Experience | $18 per person (Ages 6-18)
- Children Canal Experience | FREE (Ages 5 & Under)
2 Adults & 2 Students Discovery Walk Tour Tickets
*A small per-ticket booking fee is added at check-out to help cover ticketing costs.
Purchase Discovery Walk Tickets
Advance online purchase encouraged.
*A small per-ticket booking fee is added at check-out to help cover ticketing costs.