Seneca Mills Falls is a 25-foot cascade waterfall on Keuka Lake Outlet in Yates County, New York, about 2.5 miles east of Penn Yan. It pours over a small dam among the stone walls of a ruined mill and is a highlight of the Keuka Outlet Trail between Penn Yan and Dresden.
The falls
The falls form a wide, steep cascade capped by a small dam, with lidar data putting the natural drop at about 25 feet. Other estimates range from 30 to over 40 feet across three cascades. The outlet links Keuka and Seneca lakes, and the waterway formed about 10,000 years ago.
Getting there
The falls sit near the midpoint of the 6.8-mile Keuka Outlet Trail, close to Lion Bruce Hansen Memorial Park. The nearest parking is on Outlet Road, an easy 500-yard walk from the falls. The full trail can also be joined at trailheads in Penn Yan and Dresden. Access is free, and the trail is maintained by Friends of the Outlet. The surface varies from pavement to stone dust, gravel and single track.
When to go
The trail is open to hiking, biking and horseback riding, and in winter to cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
On site
The falls are surrounded by the crumbling walls of the old mill. Deteriorating masonry walls, dozens of feet tall, stand right beside the stream, with sheer drops from the old stone walls; stay off them. Exploring the abandoned buildings is prohibited. A picnic area sits at the former paper mill site, with interpretive signs along the trail. Dogs are allowed and must be leashed around horses.
History and name
The trail follows the route of the Crooked Lake Canal, which operated from 1833 to 1877, and of a railroad built in 1884. Flood damage ended rail service in 1972, and the trail opened on July 4, 1984. Seneca Mills Falls is a colloquial name for the site.
Nearby
Cascade Mills Falls, also on Keuka Lake Outlet, is about 1 mile away. The three Bruces Gully falls, Lower Bruces Gully Falls, Bruces Gully Falls and Upper Bruces Gully Falls, are about 1.2 miles off.
Distances are straight-line.