Introduction
Letchworth State Park is a New York state park located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Rochester and 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Buffalo in Livingston (towns of Leicester, Mount Morris, and Portage) and Wyoming (towns of Castile and Genesee Falls) counties. The park is roughly 17 miles (24 km) long, covering 14,350 acres (58 km2) of land along the Genesee River.Within the park, there are three large waterfalls on the Genesee River and as many as fifty waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into it; the deep gorge formed by the river, with rock walls rising up to 550 feet (170 m) in places and which narrow to 400 feet (120 m) across above the middle of the three falls, prompted the area's reputation as the "Grand Canyon of the East".
Geology
The bedrock exposed in the gorge is Devonian in age, mostly shales, with some layers of limestone and sandstone. The rock was laid down in an ancient inland sea, and it holds many marine fossils. The landform of the section of the Genesee River valley represented by the park is geologically very young, caused by a diversion of the river from the old valley by the last continental glacier, which forced the river to cut a new section of valley.
Features
The historic, restored Glen Iris Inn, Letchworth's former residence adapted for use as a hotel, located on the top of a cliff overlooking Middle Falls, offers in-season meals and overnight accommodations.It is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Other features of the park include pavilions, picnic tables, a playground, hiking trails, two large swimming pools, cabins, campsites for tents, trailer sites with dumping stations, and horse-riding trails.
Activities
Activities within the park include hiking, biking, fishing, geocaching, hunting (wild turkey and deer when in season); in winter, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, whitewater rafting and kayaking, snow tubing, and horse-drawn sleighs.There is also hot air ballooning, weather permitting.
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