Letchworth State Park
8633 River Rd
Hunt, NY
Often called the Grand Canyon of the East, a forested gorge where the Genesee River cuts nearly six hundred feet through the rock and drops over three great waterfalls.
Letchworth State Park follows the Genesee River as it carves a deep, forested canyon through western New York, a gorge so dramatic that it has long been called the Grand Canyon of the East. Along its middle stretch the river tumbles over three major waterfalls, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls, with cliff walls rising as much as six hundred feet above the water.
The park is named for William Pryor Letchworth, a Buffalo businessman who bought the land around the falls in the 1850s to save the scenery from mills and dams. He gave the whole estate to the state in the early twentieth century, and the hilltop where his home still stands, the Glen Iris, looks straight down onto the Middle Falls.
What Guests Love
- Standing above the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls where the river drops through the gorge
- The stone Glen Iris Inn overlooking the Middle Falls, once William Pryor Letchworth's home
- The old Portage railroad arch high above the Upper Falls, framing the whole scene
- Miles of rim trails, overlooks, and quiet forest along the canyon edge
Worth Knowing
- The gorge is deep and the drop-offs are real, so keep to marked overlooks and trails
- Autumn draws big crowds for the color, so arrive early on fall weekends
- The main park roads and some facilities close for the winter, so check conditions first
- It is a large park with several entrances, so decide which falls you want to see before you go
Details
Hunt, NY
Learn about Letchworth State Park
The Seneca and the story of the gorge
This land lies within the homeland of the Seneca, the Keeper of the Western Door of the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations confederacy, and their descendants remain in western New York today. The Genesee Valley was a Seneca heartland of villages, cornfields, and river trails, and the falls were a known landmark long before any European saw them.
One figure ties the human story of the gorge together. Mary Jemison, a Scots-Irish settler girl taken captive as a child during the frontier wars of the 1750s, chose to live out her life among the Seneca, raising a family in the Genesee Valley and becoming known as the White Woman of the Genesee. Letchworth had her cabin and her remains moved to the Council Grounds within the park, where a statue and a restored Seneca council house stand today, and where her long life is remembered as part of the valley's story.
How the river cut the canyon
The gorge is young by geological standards, carved after the last ice age when retreating glaciers left the Genesee River flowing along a new course. Blocked from its old channel, the river began cutting down through layers of sandstone and shale, and over roughly ten thousand years it wore the deep, steep-walled canyon that visitors see today.
The three waterfalls mark places where the river crosses bands of harder rock that resist erosion. The Middle Falls is the tallest and the centerpiece, a broad curtain of water below the Glen Iris, while the Upper Falls drops beneath the great stone arch of the old Portage railroad bridge and the Lower Falls lies deep in a narrow slot downstream.
Wildlife and the forest
The gorge and its rim forests are rich in wildlife. White-tailed deer are common in the meadows and woods, wild turkeys move along the field edges, and the canyon walls draw turkey vultures and, in some seasons, bald eagles riding the updrafts above the river.
The forest is classic western New York hardwood, with maple, oak, hemlock, and beech along the rim and cool, shaded hollows near the water. Spring wildflowers carpet the slopes, and the mix of ridge, ravine, and river makes the park a favorite for birdwatchers, with warblers passing through in migration and pileated woodpeckers drumming in the older stands.
Season by season
Spring is loud with meltwater, when the three falls run their fullest and the wildflowers bloom along the trails. Summer is warm and green, the busiest stretch for hiking, picnicking, and the hot-air balloon rides that lift off over the gorge.
Autumn is the park's signature season, when the hardwood canopy turns crimson and gold above the canyon and the overlooks draw their largest crowds. Winter is quiet and stark, the falls often edged with ice and the rim forest hushed with snow, though many roads and facilities close until spring.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Castile
Mount Morris
About 12 miles north
A small village near the park's north end, close to the Mount Morris Dam and its high overlook of the lower gorge.
Genesee Valley
Surrounding the park
Rolling farm country and quiet river towns that spread out along the Genesee north and south of the canyon.
Rochester
About 45 miles north
A lakeside city with strong museums, the Genesee River waterfront, and an easy base for exploring western New York.