Review of Letchworth State Park, New York

 

Letchworth State Park, NY

After my wife and I (and our Pomeranian dog Toby) visited the Niagara Falls State Park during our June trip to western New York, we thought we had seen the greatest state park anywhere.  I was wrong!  

As much as we loved Niagara Falls State Park for all its grandeur and the greatest falls anywhere in the US, we both fell in love with Letchworth State Park.  We would put Letchworth State Park on the same level as Niagara Falls State Park.

Letchworth State Park is in the Genesee region of New York, and is known as the “Grand Canyon of the East.”  It was chosen as the best state park (2015) in a poll by the readers of USA Today.  The park is known for three major waterfalls, whitewater rafting, Genesee River, hot air ballooning and hiking.  

Little did I know at the time of our trip planning to Letchworth State Park, but we had actually visited the park exactly 25 years ago, with our good buddy Charlie.  He went to school near Rochester (NY), and he introduced us to the park.  It was a really brief visit then, but he did confirm that we had indeed visited the park together!

On a warm and sunny Wednesday in June, our pack set out to Letchworth State Park.  As usual, we prepared lunch, snacks, drinks, and food/water for Toby so we can eat at the park.

The drive from Ellicottville to Letchworth State Park takes about an hour.  As we drove closer to the park, we noticed the cellular coverage had dropped down to no service.  Our navigation via Apple CarPlay was useless at that time, as it took us to a deserted location near the park, but not one of the main entrances to the park!

Because of no cellular service, we had to backtrack, then figure out how to get to one of the main entrances.  Luckily, our detour only took about 15 minutes.  I was able to find the same road we had come in, then realized that we had missed the main entrance to the park at the intersection.

All we had to do was go straight in at the intersection, and not turn right at the same intersection.

We paid the $10 entrance fee then made our way to what we thought was the visitor center.  It was not.  We had stopped at the Glen Iris Inn instead.  Nonetheless, there was a restroom across the street from the inn, and we made a quick pit stop.

Visitor center was bit further up and we stopped by there to eat our lunch.  Once we had done so, we decided to drive the entire length of the park to where the Mt. Morris Dam was.  We had driven in at the Portageville entrance at the southern end of the park, and the dam would be on the northern end of the park.

It was a Wednesday, but we already saw tons of visitors by about 10:30 a.m.  We saw hikers, bikers, and slow drivers (like us) gawking at the incredible scenery all around us.

We drove north via Park Road and stopped at one of the many incredible overlooks at the park.  The first one we saw was Inspiration Point.

View from the Inspiration Point overlook
View of the Genesee River below
Inspiration Point
Gardeau Overlook

We made our way to Eddy’s Overlook next.  Again, the views were magnificent almost reminding us of Grand Canyons, but with trees and foliage!  Everywhere we looked, we were in awe…

We saw whitewater rafters carefully navigating their way over the Genesee River and having the time of their lives!  We saw raptors hovering over the canyons looking for prey.  What a sight…

The final stop we made on our way to the dam was Gardeau Overlook.  Unlike the other overlooks, this one was completely abandoned.  There were no other cars or people for that matter, at this overlook.  We stopped by admiring the views yet again!

What a view…
Another beautiful view!

We met fellow travelers at one of the overlooks who were visiting from Israel.  We chatted briefly and wished them well.  We all talked about how beautiful the park was…

After leaving the final overlook, we had finally made it to the Mt. Morris Dam.  We were a bit underwhelmed as there wasn’t much water near the dam.  We had expected water to be filled up to the top.  Oh, well…

After a quick view of the dam area, we were in the mood for some snacks!  We found a gift shop/refreshment stand that was selling cold drinks and French fries.  We had to have some fries!

We enjoyed the fries and a cold drink at a shaded picnic table right in front of the shop.  Toby of course wanted some fries, so we gave him some. He wolfed it down and looked for more, like a scary predator that he is, looking for more prey…

Had French fries here!

After finishing the fries, we headed back to where we had come from, to the Upper Falls area.  We parked our car, then slowly walked towards the sound of the falls.  It was an unmistakable sound of tons of water crashing down to earth.  

We made it to where we can clearly see the Upper Falls!  It was so breathtaking!!!

Upper Falls!
A closer view of the Upper Falls 
View of the Upper Falls from the top of the falls
Had to include this photo!

We decided to walk all the way up the steps to the top of the Upper Falls.  Toby was feeling the heat, so I ended up giving him a free ride up the steps.  Climbing the steps was a heck of an exercise!  We took short breaks up the steps, but we had finally made it to the parking area at the top of the Upper Falls.  Yeah!! 

After catching our breath, we headed back down the steps to the parking lot.  By that time of the day, large crowd had gathered at the bottom of the Upper Falls area.  We were glad we got there early!

There was a small bench near the Upper Falls viewing area, and we decided to stop by to see the falls for one last time.  We took our time getting mesmerized by the beauty of the falls, and reminisced about our overall trip.

It was a perfect trip filled with exciting drives, beautiful scenery, jaw dropping waterfalls, plenty of nature, and awesome hiking trails.  

To say Letchworth State Park is beautiful is an understatement.  We would put this park up there with any park we’ve visited, and that includes places like the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Niagara Falls State Park!

We thank you all for reading, and hope you’ll also get to enjoy this awesome park!


Jake

Wandering Money Pig 


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