Edge a visit on the border of Cattaraugus County crossing Cattaraugus Creek to Erie County
The power plant and dam built in 1925 by the architect Brass Bros. In 1996 this location was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although this site is managed by Erie County, it sits at the roots of Cattaraugus County where many early inhabitants came by raft or boat to both counties, with many moving to the Cattaraugus side of the creek. Many of the early inhabitants of Cattaraugs County arrived on the Cattaraugus Creek and settled in the Zoar Valley Region further down the stream from Scoby Hill. This area is a beautiful site to visit as it sits at the county lines to be enjoyed.
The Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry acquired the dam and surrounding property shortly after the Village of Springville ceased using the dam for power generation in 1998. The park is managed as a "conservation park" with minimal improvements and facilities. The park is located in the Towns of Ashford/Concord, New York and the nearest community is Springville on the Erie County side of Cattaraugus Creek. Coordinates42°28′42″N 78°41′56″W
The park is popular with anglers seeking steelhead during the fall, winter and spring, and also includes space for picnicking and hiking. In 2014, local residents began petitioning for state and local support to install the "Springville Whitewater Park" at the site, which would include dedicated access and space for whitewater rafting activities.
Proposed dam lowering: Concerns over the dam's structural integrity and the desire to remove a barrier to stream-running steelhead has led to a proposal to lower the currently-38-foot (12 m) Scoby Dam by about 30 feet (9.1 m). The $6.6 million (USD) proposal was put forth by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2014, and if approved the work could happen within three years of the proposal's passage.
In addition to lowering the dam, a 15-foot (4.6 m) fish ladder would also be installed to allow migratory fish to access an additional 44 miles (71 km) of Cattaraugus Creek and its tributaries above the dam. By allowing steelhead access beyond the dam, anglers would be able to seek these fish by utilizing an additional 34 miles (55 km) of public stream access. Currently, only four miles (6.4 km) of the stream below the dam is publicly accessible for fishing.
Appropriate habitats for steelhead spawning exist above the dam, and its removal could allow for steelhead populations to become more self-sustaining. Currently, the steelhead fishery is maintained only through annual stocking of fish.
Critics of the project have raised concerns about impacts on resident brown and rainbow trout populations above the dam, and the possibility of introducing invasive species such as the sea lamprey into stretches of the creek currently free of such organisms. The USACE proposal includes barriers that are intended to restrict the movement of sea lamprey beyond the dam
Information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoby_Power_Plant_and_Dam