Letchworth Upper Falls
by Peter Chilelli
Title
Letchworth Upper Falls
Artist
Peter Chilelli
Medium
Photograph
Description
The "Grand Canyon of the East" Letchworth State Park, NY.
Letchworth State Park is a New York state park located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Rochester and 60 miles (95 km) southeast of Buffalo in Livingston (towns of Leicester, Mount Morris, and Portage) and Wyoming (towns of Castile and Genesee Falls) counties. The park is roughly 17 miles (24 km) long,[2] covering 14,350 acres (58 km2) of land along the Genesee River.[2]
Within the park, there are three large waterfalls on the Genesee River and as many as fifty waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into it; the gorge formed by the river, with rock walls rising up to 550 feet (170 m) in places and which narrow to 400 feet (120 m) across above the middle of the three falls, prompted the area's reputation as the "Grand Canyon of the East".[3]
The park is named after William Pryor Letchworth (1823-1910), an industrialist who in 1906 bequeathed the 1,000-acre (4 km2) estate that forms the heart of the park to New York State.[2] There are park entrances near the towns of Mount Morris, Perry, Castile and Portageville, New York. A modern, well-maintained two- or three-lane road follows the west side of the gorge, allowing many scenic viewpoints for the geologic features.
The three major waterfalls � called the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls � are located in Portage Canyon, the southern section of the park. The Seneca called the land around this canyon "Seh-ga-hun-da", the "Vale of the three falls";[4] the Middle Falls ("Ska-ga-dee") was believed to be so wondrous it made the sun stop at midday.[2]
The only trail bridging the Genesee River across Portage Canyon crosses a stone bridge just below the Lower Falls. The Middle Falls is the highest, and the Upper Falls has an active railroad trestle crossing immediately above it, providing an even higher vantage immediately above the falls.
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October 5th, 2013
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