2019-10-13: Letchworth State Park

In mid-October, I took a trip out to western New York to visit Letchworth State Park. Heralded as 'the Grand Canyon of the east' and claimed to be the best state park in the country, Letchworth preserves a stretch of land along 17 miles of the Genesee River. The river here flows through the bottom of an impressive 550-foot gorge, winding its way towards the distant Lake Ontario. The land around it consists of diverse forest and is filled with historical sites from the Seneca Nation and the European settlers that followed.

A traffic jam in Mount Morris forced me to enter through the south side of the park. My first stop was Inspiration Point, where I caught both the Middle and Upper Falls in one shot.

Only part of the Middle Falls was visible from this angle, through an impressive gap in the gorge.

View of the Upper Falls from a mile downstream.

The lower falls pour through the gorge in the mid-afternoon sun.

The white walls of the canyon were impressive in all directions. Here, a pine tree (Pinus rigida) intersects a view of the near wall.

I found this caterpillar atop a downed branch on an unmarked trail, near the parks visitor center.

A view of the Lower Falls from near the Bridge Across the River. A closer overlook of these falls was too obscured by mist to get any good pictures.

Landslides such as this one line the walls of the canyon.

A view downstream along the gorge from a platform near the bridge.

The late afternoon sun cast long shadows at the bottom of the gorge, putting half the river in darkness.

White cliffs line the river at the base of the gorge.

Steep cliffs line both sides of the forest at these flats along the Genesee.

A wide shot of autumn colors from an overlook above the Lower Falls.

Steep forested cliffs cut into a clear blue sky.

Trees line a steep protrusion in the gorge's wall.

A wide view of the Middle Falls, from an upper overlook.

A powerful volume of water careens off the edge of the Middle Falls.

A smaller - but equally impressive - stream of water breaks its own path to the east side of the main falls.

As the sun cast the falls in shadow, a rainbow was briefly visible at their base.

Perfectly yellowed oak leaves (Quercus rubra), a telltale sign of late autumn.

This statue of Deh-Ge-Wanus, the 'White Woman of the Seneca', was located at the Seneca Council Grounds behind the museum.

View of the Upper Falls from an overlook above.

View downstream from the Archery Field overlook, perhaps the most impressive spot in the park.

'KEEP OFF WALL', looking south from Archery Field.

A stand of pine trees tops the near cliffs at Archery Field.

Sunset obscured the cliffward view from the Great Bend overlook.

An unnamed overlook north of Great Bend provided impressive views of bluff-like cliffs along the lower Genesee.

A close-up on the far wall from the above overlook.

At the northern tip of the park is the overlook at the Mount Morris Dam, which I reached just after sunset.