Waterfall Wednesday: Letchworth Lower Falls

Did I ever mention that I ended up visiting Letchworth State Park on accident? I mean, it was on my list for my 50 New York Waterfalls series, but I had planned to see it much later in the project.

If you’re familiar with Route 17/86 through New York, you may know the stretch of highway that caused me some difficulties. I was starting my drive west to Colorado Springs last spring and somewhere around Bath the highway splits where if you continue on the same path you end up north or you have to take the exit to stay on 86. Well I wasn’t paying enough attention and by the time I noticed, I started seeing signs for Letchworth State Park ahead.

Letchworth State Park is located in Wyoming and Livingston Counties about 40 miles south of Rochester and 50 miles east of Buffalo. The park covers 14,427 acres of land and is approximately 17 miles in length. The Genesee River flows through the park creating over 30 waterfalls. The three main waterfalls are Upper Falls, Middle Falls (previously I shared about Middle Falls), and Lower Falls.

Today’s featured waterfall – Lower Falls – is approximately 55 feet high and has a 150 foot crest. The area surrounding this waterfall is less trafficked and more rustic than the area that surrounds Upper Falls and Middle Falls.

When I visited I wasn’t able to get the most frontal angle like I would have liked, however I found out that there is a bridge that crosses the river just south of this location that gives a great view. I’ll have to check it out next time I make it up that way.

There were so many beautiful views -even in the early spring before the trees bloomed. The park has so many different features for its visitors. There are over 50 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and biking. There’s also a dam, historic sites, camping, restaurants, playgrounds, a nature center, guided tours, rafting, and even hot air ballooning!

Painting Letchworth Lower Falls

Painting Letchworth Lower Falls was a little frustrating initially. I didn’t have a lot of reference photos to work off of and I wasn’t pleased with the angle. The area around the falls seemed so different with the vegetation being so sparse. Now that the project is over, the things that initially frustrated me during the project are the things that I most like about the painting.