Heading to Letchworth State Park this weekend

[mdprowash]

I'm excited to be heading up to Letchworth State Park this weekend (Friday thu Monday) but not sure exactly what my plan is. Forecast looks like great weather. Want to take bikes and canoe. Can anyone tell me about this area? Is there a trail that we can ride bikes to each of the waterfalls? What the distance is between the waterfalls? Can we canoe right there at the campground? Any help to get the most out of this trip would be greatly appreciated!

[mdprowash]

Thanks again for the feedback. Had great weather and a great time. Beautiful place....

[mdprowash]

Wow... Thanks for the info!! I guess I'll leave the canoe behind 🙂

[WNYBob]

Yes be careful, read and OBEY all regulations and signs! Two boys lost their lives last weekend an put many others at risk in the search and recovery!

With that said it is a beautiful place. Here is something that is unique. Go to Mt. Morris then to the "other" side of the river, there is a tour through the dam (I mean in the dam), very interesting.

[windviewer]

Just came back from a week at Letchworth. Beautiful park and well kept. As noted earlier, Portageville entrance is closed (until 2018) and trail 1 and 2 are truncated at the upper falls portion.

If camping, note store is open only Saturday Sunday at this time of year. Buy firewood outside park (prices vary but are 3 - 5 bundle, bundle sizes vary - price at campground store is $8....).

Geneseo has largest supply of things (walmart for groceries, etc.), but Castile also has a smaller market (Carneys) for most things.

Another park south of Letchworth (Stoneybrook) has a very nice gorge trail (that is AT water level) for hiking (too many stairs for biking I would say). It is near Danville.

[SpeakEasy]

I used to live a mile from the park, and during that time I hiked just about every trail in the park. I didn't do much biking, but as was mentioned, there are some restrictions on some of the trails. Trail #1 is the trail along the rim of the gorge. If you like a long, multi-faceted view of the gorge, it is a nice hike. It's several miles long. I would recommend entering it at the St. Helena overlook and walking all the way down to the Glen Iris Inn at the Middle Falls. It would be best if you had two vehicles and could leave one down there at that end of the trail.

If you like more private, wilderness-y hiking, drive over to the east side of the river and hike any of the trails over there. The Letchworth Branch of the FLT (Finger Lakes Trail) goes pretty much the whole length of the park over on that side of the river, and almost no one goes there. About half way there is a lean-to where you can overnight if you are backpacking. I think the whole trail is about 23 miles, so overnighting is a good idea if you want to do the whole thing. There is no RV camping on that side of the park.

If you are planning to enter the park from the south end, at Portageville, be aware that about a month ago when I was last there, the park road was closed from the Middle Falls to the Portageville entrance. You would have to enter at Castile. Most of the really tourist-y things in the park are clustered around that southern part of the park. As was mentioned, the campground is several miles north. If you are entering the park at that southern area, stop in at the visitors' center before you go north to set up in the campground. You can get a lot of park information including park maps and a nice little booklet showing all the hiking trails.

The reason there is no canoeing from the campground is that the campground is about 500 vertical feet above the river at that point.

Please, please be aware of and obey all posted signs about where you are allowed to be and where you are not allowed to be. This past weekend there was a tragedy in the park because a family ignored signs telling them to stay out of the river. A number of people were swept over the lower falls because they were swimming and wading in the river. At least one child lost his life.

If you'd like more detail and information about the whole area, PM me with some specific questions and I'll give you some more tips. It's a great area to visit!

-Speak

[DrewE]

Have you looked at a map of the park? That might help answer some of your questions. It's quite a long park.

Canoeing is through whitewater/rapids. It's probably best to call the park for the details; there are fairly long portages to put in and take out, and mandatory permits (free, I think) and various other regulations, and especially if the water is high it can apparently be pretty demanding (probably especially in a canoe as opposed to a kayak or raft). You can't canoe from the campground.

The waterfalls are fairly close together, within a couple miles as the crow flies and within reasonable hiking/walking distance of each other. They are not, however, close to the campground, which is perhaps a dozen miles away towards the other end of the park.

There are some trails open to biking, and of course the main park road system is open to biking. Most of the more interesting/scenic trails are hiking only (at least, the ones that I consider more interesting, i.e. those immediately along the gorge).

The scenery and hiking are spectacular. The park overall is beautiful and quite well-kept; you'll have a great time.