Seneca Mill, Keuka Outlet Trail

Seneca Mill Falls is a prominent cultural and recreational destination along the 7-mile Keuka Outlet Trail. Located within a National Register Historic District, the impressive waterfall and stream corridor site is owned and managed by Friends of the Outlet, Inc., a not-for-profit organization. In 2022, Steele Landscape Architecture was hired to develop a master plan for rehabilitation. Based on the 2022 master plan, and with assistance from the Yates County Soil and Water Conservation District and a Yates County Recreation grant, Steele advanced the project through detailed design and regulatory approvals (DEC, US Army Corps, SHPO). The project is currently under construction, to be completed in 2027.

The site contains a historic stone mill wall along the stream bank that was at risk of imminent failure due to fill placed behind the wall in the 1980s. The project will reduce the safety hazards from wall failure for users of the Seneca Mill Falls overlook area, stabilize the eroded embankment with native vegetation, and preserve the historic wall alignment. The project includes removal of fill behind the stone wall, reduction of the wall height to 3 feet above the high-water line, creation of a fishing access point, vegetated rip-rap stabilization, a lawn access pathway from the existing trail to the viewing area, and planting of native trees, shrubs, and a riparian buffer seed mix along the regraded slope areas.