Fair Haven, NY to Niagara Falls, NY

Today's scenic marvel is Letchworth Gorge State Park in Western New York State.  Here is a description from Roadside Geology of New York  by Bradford B. Van Diver:

           Letchworth Gorge, the "Grand Canyon of the east," is the 22-mile section of the Genesee River between Portageville and Mt. Morris that is now under state protection as Letchworth State Park.  It is a portion of the river whose meandering course has been deeply incised into the plateau since the end of the Ice Age, producing remarkably narrow, winding bedrock canyons at either end with nearly vertical walls.  The upper canyon at the Portageville end contains three major cataracts, and the Mt. Morris Highbacks canyon at the lower end is the site of the Mt. Morris flood-control dam.  In the central section, the river now occupies a preglacial valley with high, but gently-sloping sides; it meanders over a moderately broad flood plain.

There you have it.  It ain't a 'grand canyon', but its not bad.  Let's go to the pics:

Letchworth Gorge Canyon

Letchworth Gorge Canyon

Letchworth Gorge Canyon
Below Lower Falls

Lower Falls
70-foot drop

Middle Falls
107-foot drop

Norfolk Southern Railroad Trestle
Above Upper Falls

Upper Falls
71-foot drop

The interesting thing about the Mt. Morris Dam at the bottom of the gorge is that it is a dry dam.  Most of the time it holds back no water.  But about once every seven years the Genesee River floods the gorge and the dam is closed to keep from flooding the agricultural land downstream.  The water is then released at a measured pace.

Three falls formed rather than one probably because at the end of the ice age, meltwater lakes formed downstream that controlled the base level of erosion in the gorge.  The upper falls formed when the river spilled over a scarp (a steep slope) at the edge of the lake.  As the lake receded, the middle and lower falls formed as the river fell over newly-exposed scarps.

Mileage: 229.  Cumulative mileage:  6,113.