"The Grand Canyon of the East"

   First day off and it's nowhere in the neighborhood of 90 degrees. I had a new pair of hiking shoes I have to break in for my overseas trip in December and couple that with the great weather today got me itching to go outdoors so I headed to a hidden gem of Western New York, dubbed the "Grand Canyon of the East", Letchworth State Park.

   Letchworth is located a little over an hour from the Buffalo Metro area and even closer from Rochester.

Letchworth is a very large park. It has multiple entrances and based on the entrance will depend what views/trails or services you have access to. There is a road way that circles the park allowing you to see the whole park in a day. This is great if you are trying to see the whole park in one shot or are unable to hike long distances. For me I'd rather hike as much of it as possible.

Entering the park is a modest $8 per car so if you come with a full car $2 per person is a great deal. I wasn't very familiar with Letchworth and its hard to figure out the best places to enter the park. I entered the far end near the town of Perry. The map showed more trails on the southeast side of the river and with no access to the other side of the river without driving around. This is where you have to plan where you want to enter other wise you'll be driving a lot to get to your preferred spot.

Instead of going to the most popular part of the park, a series of waterfalls, I took a trail that follow the river. This trek was not without some amazing views.

    I only hiked about 3-4 miles then headed back that same distance. I have to build up my cardiovascular fitness to go farther as some trails can be quite strenuous and steep. I plan to travel I'm hoping twice this summer and well as once this fall when the leaves are changing. I hiked on a stretch of trail 1 and that's just a small fraction of the park. Here's a link to map to show you how big this place is: http://nysparks.com/parks/attachments/LetchworthTrailMap.pdf


Farther up river is a set of waterfalls that are supposed to be amazing. For another day. Here's the website for the park for any info you like to know: http://nysparks.com/parks/79/details.aspx
I would like to try camping here someday, maybe next summer. They have campsites and well as cabins for rent. I recommend spending a few days there.