Even if you load up my blog page regularly, you might not have noticed the tagline I put at the top. It reads: “A full serving of Webster happenings with an occasional appetizer on the side.”
Today is one of those appetizers.
My husband Jack and I recently decided to get out of town for a night, just to do something different and fun. So we loaded up our bikes and drove down to Penn Yan, a village which neither of us knew much about. We thought it’d be fun to explore it, have dinner, and check out some brew pubs.
But our main goal that day was to ride the seven-mile long Keuka Outlet Trail (KOT), which follows the winding waterway where Keuka Lake flows eastward into Seneca Lake. Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of the Outlet, the trail is nicely maintained and offers an impressive mix of history and natural beauty.
The Fall Brook Railroad once traveled along this route, back and forth between Penn Yan and Dresden. Some of the old railroad ties and concrete signal markers still mark the way. At one time, there were 30 to 40 mills operating along the waterway, including sawmills, paper mills, distilleries, tanneries and forges. The remains of many of these mills can still be seen.
The most popular stop on the trail is Seneca Mills Falls, a 40-foot waterfall surrounded by the ruins of the former Seneca Paper Mill. About half a mile to the east are the 20-foot high Cascade Falls — not as spectacular as Seneca Mills, but still beautiful. If you look carefully as you ride (or hike), you might see turtles sunning themselves on logs in Turtle Pond, and ruins of a bridge which once led to the Village of Hopeton, which disappeared as Dresden began to grow.
The Friends of the Outlet have put together a very informative brochure describing all of the trail’s historical treasures. They’ve even created an audio tour, which — for an all-volunteer organization — is really impressive. Their efforts remind me of the dedication to preserving natural habitats exhibited by our very own Friends of Webster Trails.
The next day, before heading back to Webster, Jack and I tackled another bike trail, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail between Waterloo and Geneva. This one was only about five miles long, and the surface was actually a bit smoother than the KOT, so it was even easier to ride.
We rode from Waterloo to Geneva, where the trail ends at Seneca Lake Park. There, we took some time to relax, have a snack, and watch the seagulls along the lake shore before heading back to Waterloo.
This trail (or at least this section of it) doesn’t have as much history as the KOT, but it had something better. About two miles in, a local resident has created a wonderland of flowers, dragons, teddy bears, angels, bunny rabbits and more. The display stretches about 200 yards, with a welcome sign at each end marking the beginning of the whimsy. It’s clearly a labor of love, and surely brightens the day of anyone who passes through.
Lock CS4 sits on the canal in Waterloo, which is pretty cool to see, and when I rode over to get a closer look, I discovered something else that was even more cool.
Waterloo (officially the “birthplace of Memorial Day”) has installed an outstanding American Civil War Memorial just to the north of the lock on Washington St. It’s a small area of land, but it has so many meaningful markers, monuments and historic artifacts that even after examining them for a half hour, I still feel like I need to go back.
The memorial recognizes 59 men from Waterloo who died in the Civil War. It includes individual cenotaphs for each man, marked with his name, regiment, where he died and how old he was. There’s a North South Cenotaph, constructed with stones from each of the 36 states which existed at the end of the Civil War. The Star Stone is adorned with 620 golden stars, each of which represents 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers lost in the Civil War. A Woman’s Cenotaph pays tribute to all of the women of the Civil War.
You see? Pretty cool, and there’s so much more. It was a great discovery and I need to go back.
So next time you need a short adventure, I recommend you take a hike or a bike trip along the Keuka Outlet Trail or the Seneca-Cayuga Trail. And if you’re a Civil War buff, definitely head out Waterloo to check out their memorial.
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(posted 8/13/2025)
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