Letchworth State Park: One of New York State’s Best Kept Secrets

Although not as famous as the Grand Canyon, Letchworth State Park has been called the Grand Canyon of the east. The park attracts up to 600,000 visitors annually, and has attracted numerous visitors since it officially became a state park in 1906. Trails take you along the canyon walls and down to the Genesee River.  Among its rewards includes being ranked as the best park in a poll by USA Today’s reader’s choice competition. 

Before the revolutionary war, the original inhabitants of the area were the Seneca Nation of Native Americans. The Seneca tribes allied with the British during the Revolutionary War. When the British lost the war, so did the Seneca tribes who lost the territory that they had at Letchworth. Eventually the park would be named after its founder and the man who pushed to preserve this natural wonder, industrialist William Pryor Letchworth, who died at the park in 1910 only four years after Letchworth became an official park.

I had the privilege of visiting the park the other day and can say with certainty that it is worth the visit. The visit left such an impression on me that I thought I’d share my experience with this site’s readers. For anyone who lives in New York, it is not that far out of your way and can be easily accessed through the towns of Mount Morris and Castile.

The Author at the Upper Falls of Letchworth

For more information:

Letchworth State Park

https://parks.ny.gov/visit/state-parks/letchworth-state-park