Hiking the Keuka Outlet Trail to Seneca Mills Falls in the Finger Lakes

Hi everyone, Amy here for Finger Lakes Explorers. Today we're going on a hike on one of my favorite family-friendly trails in the Finger Lakes, the Kuka Outlet Trail. Like so many places in the Finger Lakes, the Kuka Outlet Trail is rich in both natural beauty and history. The story of this trail dates back all the way to the 1830s when a canal was built alongside the outlet, or stream, connecting Kuka and Seneca Lakes. The canal was constructed to help with the development of mills that had begun popping up along the outlet. Unfortunately, canals went out of vogue soon after, and the canal towpath was replaced by a railroad which followed the bank of the outlet between the two lakes. The train served as the main means of connecting the mills with the two lakes until 1972 when Hurricane Agnes washed out the tracks, and they were never rebuilt. Later in the 20th century, the former rail bed and towpath were repurposed into the current multi-use trail we see today. Covering just under seven miles, the trail runs from the village of Peñan all the way to Dresden on Seneca Lake. It truly is a multi-use trail. It's not uncommon to see hikers, bikers, folks on horseback, and in the winter, cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. And while the function of the trail has changed over time, many remnants of the old mills and There are a few places you can access the Keuka Outlet Trail. Starting on the west side, you can get to one of the trailheads right in the village of Peñan by the boat launch, and there's an access point at the other end of the outlet in Dresden. There are a couple other spots with trail access and parking along the way just off Outlet Road. As with the majority of visitors to the trail, we typically head to the access point along Outlet Road that's just about in the middle of the trail. I'll link to the Google Maps location for this in the description below. There is a decent-sized parking lot here, though it can fill up on nice summer days. This is the closest lot to Seneca Mills Falls, which is where we'll be walking today. These falls are the highlight of the trail for most folks and just a short walk from this lot if you're not looking for a long trek. I did this hike with my two toddlers and my 74-year-old mother, none of whom had any issue with the walk, so it truly meets the definition of family-friendly. After parking in the lot, we turned right on the trail, which took us in the direction of Seneca Mills and on to Penn Yan. The trail climbs gradually upward in this direction, though it's not very noticeable. Except for a few small hills, mostly by Seneca Mill, the trail seems pretty flat, which makes sense for an old towpath and railroad bed. The trail is wide, mostly made of gravel or crushed gravel, with some paved sections closer to Penn Yan. If you're biking, I'd definitely recommend a mountain bike or fatter tire bike. Some of the gravel is coarse enough that it could make for a tough go with a road bike. The path mostly follows close to the edge of the outlet. Though there's some sections of vegetation between the trail and the water, there are plenty of spots to stop and take in the view. The trail is completely wooded, which makes it a great option during warm weather. And it's teeming with life. We spotted tons of frogs, turtles, butterflies, and bees along the way. It wasn't long before we heard and then caught our first glimpses of Seneca Mills Falls. The walk from the parking lot to this point was just about a quarter of a mile. These falls cascade more than 30 feet over several steps and are surrounded by remains of the old paper mill. Even though we had a very dry summer, the falls were still impressive. Being so accessible and having a consistently good flow of water, these falls are great to visit year-round. They made our list of favorite waterfalls to visit in the winter. We'll link to that video in the description below in case you want to check out some of the others. We followed the trail up the hill to the top of the falls. Here we could see some of the rusty old machines that used to work the mill, which are pretty cool, and a view of the falls from above. Also at the top of this hill is a small park with a pavilion and a couple picnic tables, perfect for a picnic lunch. Lots of folks turn around at this point, but we continued walking the trail toward Pen Yen for a little while longer. There's not a ton to see for a while, but it's a quiet peaceful section of trail. After a little while, we came across a side trail that went down to a rocky beach area next to the creek. High cliff walls and the opposite bank made it feel like we were tucked in an enchanted glen. It was such a peaceful spot to stop and just be immersed in nature. After getting our fill of beautiful scenery, we turned around and headed back to the parking lot. If you continue on the trail, you'll eventually run into the second waterfall that often brings visitors to the trail, Cascade Mills. It's just about a mile walk from that parking lot to Cascade Mills. If you're not feeling up for the walk, you can drive down to the next trail access point and walk about half a mile from there. We didn't do this walk today since I had the kids in tow and they'd had enough, but it's worth a stop if you have some time. I don't think the falls are quite as impressive, but there are a number of old mill buildings still standing, so it's definitely an interesting stop if you're a history buff. That's it for our hike along the Keuka Outlet Trail. Let us know some of your favorite trails in the Finger Lakes region in the comments below, and don't forget to like and subscribe and ring that bell to stay up to date on our latest videos. Thanks for watching!