Western New York hides a 600-foot gorge with 50 waterfalls and a balloon ride into it

It’s deeper than you’d expect from western New York

Somewhere between Rochester and Buffalo, a river spent millions of years cutting a 17-mile slot through the rock of western New York.

The result is a gorge with walls nearly 600 feet high, three major waterfalls, and about 50 more that most visitors never find.

Letchworth State Park covers 14,350 acres of this terrain, and the Seneca people who lived here long before anyone called it a park had a name for it: Sehgahunda, the Vale of Three Falls. That name still fits.

One man saved the waterfalls from a dam

The park exists because of a decision made in the 1800s.

Buffalo industrialist William Pryor Letchworth started buying land near Middle Falls in 1859, and when plans surfaced to build a hydroelectric dam in the gorge, he stopped them.

That dam would have altered the river’s flow and weakened the falls he loved. In 1906, he gave his entire 1,000-acre estate to New York State.

Crews from the Civilian Conservation Corps spent the 1930s building the cabins, overlooks, bridges, and trails you still walk today.

Middle Falls drops 107 feet right below a historic inn

The Seneca believed Middle Falls was so beautiful it made the sun pause at midday. Standing at the concrete walkway alongside it, that’s not hard to understand.

The falls run 107 feet high and about 285 feet wide, and you can walk right up to the edge of the platform with nothing but a railing between you and the spray.

The historic Glen Iris Inn, Letchworth’s restored former home, sits directly above on the rim. It’s the kind of view that comes with breakfast if you stay there.

A railroad bridge soars above Upper Falls

Upper Falls stands 70 feet tall and curves in a horseshoe shape near the Portageville entrance. High above it, the 963-foot Genesee Arch Bridge carries an active railroad line across the gorge.

The bridge you see now is the third one at this spot. The original wooden trestle opened in 1852 and burned down in 1875.

An iron replacement held for over 140 years before the current arch bridge saw its first train in December 2017. If a freight train crosses while you’re watching the falls, you’ll want your camera ready.

Lower Falls is the only place to cross the river

Getting to Lower Falls takes some effort. The Gorge Trail drops you down a series of steps into the canyon, and the walls close in around you as you descend.

Lower Falls drops an estimated 70 feet, and a stone footbridge near the base lets you cross the Genesee River, the only crossing point inside the entire park.

The rock walls on both sides rise above you, and the light at the bottom of the gorge feels different from anywhere else in the park, quieter and darker, like you’ve stepped into the earth.

Fifty waterfalls hide throughout the gorge

Most visitors stick to the big three, but the park holds around 50 waterfalls in total.

Inspiration Falls drops 350 feet, which makes it the tallest waterfall in New York State, though it only runs after heavy rain or snowmelt.

Deh-ga-ya-soh Falls flows more reliably at 150 feet and sits between Middle Falls and Inspiration Point. Wolf Creek Falls plunges 225 feet in four cascades, with the most dramatic drop only visible from the river below.

The gorge keeps its secrets from anyone who stays on the rim.

The Gorge Trail connects every major view in one walk

The Gorge Trail runs seven miles one-way along the canyon.

The most popular stretch covers about 4.8 miles round-trip from Lower Falls to Upper Falls, passing all three main waterfalls along the way.

Inspiration Point puts Middle Falls, Upper Falls, and the Genesee Arch Bridge all in one frame at the same time.

Beyond the gorge, the park has 66 miles of trails total, including the 24-mile Finger Lakes Trail running the full length of the east side for anyone who wants a longer day.

Balloons drop into the gorge and skim the river

Balloons Over Letchworth has been launching hot air balloons from inside the park for over 50 years. Flights run from May through mid-October, and they don’t just float above the canyon.

Pilots bring the balloon down into the gorge, sometimes low enough to skim the surface of the Genesee River, before rising back above the rim.

USA Today ranked it one of the top ten balloon rides in the country.

From up there, the gorge looks exactly as deep as it is, which is much deeper than it looks from the trail.

Raft the Genesee where the trails can’t take you

The gorge walls hold waterfalls that you simply cannot see from above. A rafting trip changes that.

Guided runs cover about 5.5 miles of the Genesee River through Class I and Class II rapids, calm enough for beginners and families but moving fast enough to keep things interesting.

From the water, you look up at gorge walls and waterfall faces that the trails never show you. Trips run seasonally from around May through October through licensed outfitters operating inside the park.

The nation’s first autism trail opened here in 2021

The Humphrey Nature Center opened in 2016 as a 5,000-square-foot building with hands-on exhibits covering the park’s wildlife, geology, and river ecology.

Right next to it, the Autism Nature Trail opened on Oct. 1, 2021, the first trail in the country designed specifically for visitors on the autism spectrum.

The one-mile ADA-compliant loop has eight sensory stations, some quiet, some active. Dr. Temple Grandin, one of the world’s most recognized autism advocates, helped shape the trail’s design.

Winter turns the gorge walls into frozen sculpture

From November through April, you get into the park for free. What you find inside is worth the cold.

The waterfalls partially freeze, and ice builds along the gorge walls in formations that change week to week.

Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling trails open when snow hits the ground, with snowmobile routes connecting to the New York State trail system. Snow tubing runs during winter months as well.

The gorge in January looks nothing like the gorge in July, and both versions are worth seeing.

Stay the night and the park looks different after dark

The park has tent and trailer campsites, cabins spread across several areas, and group camping options. The Glen Iris Inn serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Middle Falls right outside the window.

At Highbanks Recreation Area, an Olympic-size swimming pool is free with park admission. Ten pavilions handle group gatherings, and picnic areas and playgrounds run throughout the grounds.

If you’re driving from Rochester, you’re about 35 miles out. From Buffalo, plan for about 60 miles southeast.

Either way, give yourself a full day.

Visit Letchworth State Park in New York

To get here, take one of four entrances near Mount Morris, Perry, Castile, or Portageville, all in Livingston and Wyoming Counties in western New York.

The park is open year-round, with a $10 vehicle entrance fee from May through October between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. New York residents 62 and older get in free on weekdays, holidays excluded.

Before you go, download the NYS Parks Explorer App for an interactive trail map that tracks your GPS location inside the park.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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