Our 1st Full Day at Letchworth SP

This was a very hot and humid day, but we had a great time hiking!  After a cooked breakfast that was done outdoors, we headed towards the South entrance of the park to hike the gorge trail.  We parked our truck at the Lower Falls and then rode with Sam and Kathy to the Middle Falls.  Mr. Letchworth had donated his estate with 1000 acres to New York as a park area.  Now there is 14,350 aces of scenic magnificence along the Genesee River, just 35 miles south of Rochester, NY.  One of the waterfalls is 107 feet high and the dramatic cliffs approach 600 feet in height.  Mr. Letchworth's estate is now the Glen Iris Inn and Restaurant and is beautifully preserved.


A small falls on the way to the Upper Falls!
The water was very cold!





The Letchworth Estate, now the Glen Iris Inn

The middle falls are probably the nicest and are located right in front of the Inn.  From there we followed the trail south to the Upper Falls.  A railroad bridge is right above the Upper Falls and it looks like it would be built from the old erector sets.  We walked all of the stone steps to right below the RR bridge.  So many steps!!!!  Here are 3 photos of the Middle Falls!

These are photos of the Upper Falls!



We hiked back to the Middle Falls and then hiked to the Lower Falls.  The gorge views from that part of the trail were beautiful.  Again you had to go down about 200 steps to get a good view of the falls and cross over the river on the stone bridge.  We were all tired by the time we got back to the truck and the heat and humidity took its toil!  Here are some pictures of the Lower Falls and the interesting foot bridge over the Genesee River!

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We got back to our campsite at 4:30 and decided to start getting our supper prepared.  We had snacked along the trail, but did not have lunch, so we were all hungry.  No waiting until 8 or 9 to eat tonight!  Ken built a campfire and we ate by 6:00.  Chatted around the table for a long time and then called it a day around 9:30.  Tomorrow we are planning to take a bike ride on a Rails to Trail.