The influence of the soil at touch-down-point (TDP) for steel catenary riser (SCR) design is of paramount importance because it can control the feasibility of the SCR option as a possible deepwater riser solution. Previous analyses suggest that fatigue responses are significantly influenced by the riser-soil interaction at the TDP. Understanding this interaction is, therefore, critical for acceptance/qualification of a SCR. The feasibility of SCR often depends on how accurately the SCR response is predicted near the TDP. In this paper, the impact of soil stiffness modeling, trench depth and soil non-linearity on the overall SCR response is examined in detail. Another important aspect of the touch down point response involves the degradation of the soil stiffness due to cyclic loading of the soils. Although not explicitly addressed by the analyses performed for this paper, comments are made about the potential overall effect on the SCR response.