New York › Trail
The Genesee valley
The trail down the Genesee from the falls at Rochester through Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris to Nunda, Caneadea and the Allegheny.
| Endpoints | Rochester (Ga-sko-sa-go) → Avon → Geneseo → Mount Morris (So-no-jo-wau-ga) → Nunda → Caneadea → Olean |
|---|
| Modern roads along the route | NY-15/NY-39 Avon–Geneseo–Mount Morris; NY-408 Mount Morris–Nunda; NY-19 Caneadea–Belmont |
|---|
| Drawn on | Iroquois trails and villages, 1851 |
|---|
The Genesee was the Seneca heartland in the eighteenth century, and the 1851 sheet lines the valley with villages: Ga-sko-sa-go at the falls (Rochester), Canawaugus at Avon, Ga-nus-ga-go at Dansville on the Canaseraga, So-no-jo-wau-ga at Mount Morris, Nun-da-o at Nunda and Ga-o-ya-de-o at Caneadea. Mary Jemison’s Gardeau flats lie between Mount Morris and Portageville.
The trail followed the river on the east bank from the lake to Mount Morris, then the Canaseraga and the upper Genesee toward the Allegheny and Pennsylvania. Sullivan’s army reached its western limit here in 1779. Today NY-39, NY-63 and NY-19 follow the valley; the Genesee Valley Greenway runs the old canal line beside it.
Sources
Updated 2026-09-17. Where a route crosses private land today, stay on public roads and marked trails.