Letchworth State Park

Understand

A popular destination for day-trips and camping alike, the vistas of Letchworth State Park have entranced since human eyes first sighted them. Today, outdoor enthusiasts use bikes, skis, snowshoes, horses, or just their feet to traverse the trails, while sightseers gape at the three magnificent cascades of the Genesee and the abundant foliage. It's well worth a side trip for anyone visiting nearby, or even as the main destination for travelers from afar.

History The Seneca Indians called the area Sehgahunda, meaning the "Vale of Three Falls," forming several villages within what are now the park boundaries. Many of the trails in the park today are based on original Seneca trails, which were used for river access. In the middle of the 19th century, when the Erie Railroad needed to bridge the gorge, they built the world's tallest wooden bridge right above the Upper Falls. The view from above was so spectacular that trains would stop and let passengers off to take in the sight. On one such voyage was Buffalo industrialist William Pryor Letchworth; he so enjoyed the view that he bought over a thousand acres of gorge land and built himself a summer home. He called the estate Glen Iris after the rainbow that often formed in the mist of the Middle Falls. As his death approached, the elderly Letchworth decided to protect the gorge from hydro-power or other commercial development by deeding it to the State for use as a park in 1906.

Landscape

Despite its nickname, the valley carved by the Genesee River doesn't really look like the Grand Canyon; visitors who've seen the real thing won't be very impressed by the comparison. For starters, it's much smaller in scale. At its widest point, the Grand Canyon is 18 miles (29 km) wide; Letchworth Park would just fit inside there—lengthwise! And the Grand Canyon's mile-high depth dwarfs the 300- to 500-foot-plus (100- to 150-meter-plus) walls of the Letchworth gorge. On the other hand, Letchworth has far more vegetatio

Getting there

Letchworth is located on the western edge of New York's Finger Lakes region. It's about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast of Buffalo, and about 40 miles (65 km) south-southwest of Rochester, depending on what part of the 17-mile-long park you're headed to. For example, if you're headed from the Rochester airport to the Mount Morris Dam, at the north end of the park, it'll take about 45 minutes to drive. If you're headed to the Portageville end, to see the waterfalls, on the other hand, you'll tack on an extra twenty minutes—or an extra 45 minutes if you drive through the park.

By car The most convenient expressway to Letchworth is I-390, which runs south from the Rochester airport and passes near Mount Morris as it travels through the preglacial Genesee Valley. If you're going to the north end of the park, take the Mount Morris exit (Exit 7); if you're going to the south end, you can take Exit 7 and drive through or around the park, or take Exit 4 or 5 in Dansville and follow State Route 436 west to Portageville. The major east-west expressway routes are the New York State Thruway (I-90), about 20 miles (30 km) north of Mount Morris, and I-86 (the Southern Tier Expressway), about the same distance south of Portageville; both connect up with I-390 or any number of state routes that are more direct. The park has six entrances, but choose wisely, as there's no way to cross the river (by car, at least) once you're in the park. All of the amenities, including the main park road, are on the west side of the river; the east side has a number of trails and a couple of campgrounds, but is largely wild and undeveloped. On the other hand, only the west side carries an admission fee. On the east side, the 1 Parade Grounds Entrance is to the south near Portageville, off New York State Route 436; it's closed in winter, but the rest of the year leads to the only cabins on the east side. Its trails provide east-side views of the falls and gorge that many visitors never see

Getting around

The park is close to Interstate 390 and served by several state highways of good quality. Roads within the park are all hard-surfaced, with ample parking at major sightseeing points. It is illegal to leave the marked trails and roads, even on foot or snowmobile. Don't do it; leave the wilds to the animals!

See

Waterfalls Located near the south end of the park, these are Letchworth's primary draws. Though the views of the falls and gorge are great year-round, the place really shines in autumn; it's one of the best sites for leaf-peeping in the entire Northeast. The 1 Upper Falls, whose drop totals 71 feet (a 50-foot main drop and a few rapids just below), cascade over a tight horseshoe bend, making them a little hard to see. But the Portage Bridge just above the crest makes for a dramatic backdrop. The 2 Middle Falls are within easy walking distance of the Upper via a paved trail, and they are both the tallest (107 ft) and the most picturesque. The rainbows of the Middle Falls captured the imagination of both the Seneca Indians (who believed the beauty of the falls made the sun pause at midday) and William Pryor Letchworth, who named his estate Glen Iris after the rainbow-filled valley of the Middle Falls. The 3 Lower Falls are a bit further downstream, and they have the shortest drop (70 feet). You've got to climb down a substantial set of stairs to get to any decent viewing location, but it's worth it, as the Lower Falls' face is the most interesting of the three. There's a stone footbridge just below the Lower Falls, the only (legal) way to walk across the river within the park. While the three main waterfalls capture most of the attention—rightfully so—there are a number of other waterfalls in the park, each representing a tributary of the Genesee that now has to drop all the way down into the carved gorge. That makes for some very tall falls, though they tend to be fairly small in width and volume. Some even dry up seasonally. But with total drops approaching 500 feet, the heights some of these falls reach can rival the volume of the Genesee Falls for sheer spectacle.

Other points of interest Once you're done gazing at the falls, there are a few more attractions to check out.

4 Letchworth State Park Visitors Center, ☏ +1 585 493-3600. There are concession bui

Do

By far, the most popular activity in Letchworth—not counting sightseeing—is walking the trails, though bicyclists and horseback riders also make extensive use of them. In the winter, bicyclists and hikers are replaced by cross-country skiers and snowshoers. But there are a couple of other ways to traverse the park's spaces. There are playgrounds throughout the park.

1 Adventure Calls Outfitters (white-water rafting) (near Lower Falls Restaurant; use Castile entrance), ☏ +1 585 343-4710, toll-free: +1-888-270-2410, fax: +1 585 345-4232, [email protected]. Apr 6 - Nov 17, Sa Su holidays; plus once daily Tu-Fr from Jun 23 - Sep 2. Five-mile white-water rafting trips through the g