Letchworth State Park is in western New York, 40 miles south of Rochester and 50 miles south east of Buffalo. There is a lot to do and see at Letchworth State Park.

From the Lower Falls parking area, find the trail to the (right). The trail follows a fence along the rim of the gorge, and there are some nice views of the gorge. At a little corner in the trail you will see this view. The trail leads to a stairway, which takes you down to the Lower Falls. At the bottom of the stairs, the trail splits.

The path to the right leads to the lower falls. It ends in a wet, muddy, grassy area right in front of the falls. There are no fences, platforms or other manmade structures. You are at the height of the top of the falls, and the mist makes everything wet. It also makes rainbows in the morning. The entire area is (or was when I was there) wet and slippery and any attempt to get lower would probably be very dangerous (then again, the locals probably know some way to get right to the base). The trail continues past a sign that says the trail does not continue any farther. It was not clear why the official trail ended there, because it was not at all treacherous or dangerous beyond that point and there are some really nice views of the falls (just don't tell anyone who told you about it).

The path to the left leads to the area seen from the previous view. There are nice distant views of the falls to be had from the bridge and surrounding areas. The bridge leads to the less visited east side of the park. The trail climbs up the gorge. You can reach the road, and trail #6, from which you can get some interesting views of the Lower Falls from high above.

Nearby Falls

The Middle Letchworth Falls and Upper Letchworth Falls are farther upstream. It is a nice walk of about 2 miles filled with lovely scenery where deer are commonly seen early in the morning. Along the way you will cross over the top of a Deh-ga-ya-soh Falls.

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Last Modified: Thursday, 24-Sep-2009 17:06:26 MDT.