Letchworth State Park
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Letchworth State Park
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| location | New York (USA) | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 35 ' N , 78 ° 3' W | |
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| administration | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation | |
The Letchworth State Park is located in the west of the US state New York , about 55 km south of the city of Rochester . It extends in a northeast-southwest direction over a length of about 24 km on both sides of the Genesee River and covers an area of almost 60 km².
Three waterfalls in the south of the park - Upper , Middle and Lower Falls - and the up to 200 m high cliffs have given this part of the park the name Grand Canyon of the East . The Middle Falls is over 30 m high and, according to an old Seneca legend, is so wonderful that even the sun stops at its zenith every midday to admire it. A little upstream from Ska-ga-dee , as the Middle Falls is called by the Seneca, the Portage Bridge of the Erie Lackawanna Railway spans the gorge at a breathtaking height .
There are also about 50 other smaller waterfalls in the park, including the Inspiration Falls on a small tributary , the deepest waterfall in New York State with a drop of 107 m .
The park goes back to a piece of land around the Glen Iris Inn, which William Pryor Letchworth acquired near the Middle Falls in 1859 and expanded in the following years. In 1898 he opened a natural history museum next to the inn. In 1907 he transferred the park to New York State. The park, predominantly deciduous forest, is a popular destination thanks to its numerous hiking trails.
