By 1823, an average of eight boats a day were passing through the lock at Waterloo, carrying flour, potash, pork, whiskey, lumber and wool and returning with other products and merchandise.

Job Smith, Seneca Falls’ first businessman, opened a portage company on the eastern end of the river in 1787.

The company transported travelers, boats and goods around a mile-long series of rapids with a 42-foot (13 m) drop known as “the Falls.” The locks at Seneca Falls were completed in 1818.

Improvements between the lakes, completed in 1821, made eight stone locks and nearly two miles of dug canal in addition to sections of the river.

The Canal was enlarged in 1862, and the Flats, an area adjacent to and east of the village center, grew into a major industrial area, producing fire engines, hose carts and other firefighting equipment, pumps and other iron goods including stove parts, bootjacks, corn shellers, meat choppers, sausage stuffers, flatirons and bells.

From there, the canal makes a sharp turn westward and continues towards Seneca Lake, where the mean elevation at the western terminus is 445 feet (136 m).

The trail connects to the lakefront at Seneca Lake State Park as well as Bishop Nature Preserve and runs to the Village of Waterloo.