Conesus Inlet Wildlife Management Area
Stony Brook State Park
Letchworth State Park
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Conesus Inlet DEC site
Stony Brook State Park official site
Letchworth State Park official site
Conesus Inlet photos
Stony Brook photos
Letchworth photos
Since this was probably the last weekend for a while where we could go away, I suggested that we visit one of the parks out near Rochester, and Ann suggested Stony Brook, since neither of us had been there before (well, she'd been there, but the gorge trail was closed because of high water.) Checking my maps, I realized that visiting the Conesus Inlet (which we previously missed going to when we were in the area to visit the Hemlock and Canadice Lake trails) would be fairly easy to do. So after breakfast and shopping for supplies (lunch and drinks) we headed south for a day of (hopefully) communing with nature.
Conesus Inlet
Conesus Inlet is a wetland habitat at the southern end of Conesus Lake. Managed by the NYS DEC, the area includes a heron rookery and spawning habitat for northern pike as well as walleye and carp. There are several trails in the area, including viewing platforms, and overlooks off of Rt 256 which forms the western boundary of the state-managed area.
I had hoped we'd see a variety of waterfowl and wildlife, but other than frogs of various sizes and robins throughout the woods, all of them were too far away to get a good view. So this visit turned out to be a short walk along the edge of the swamp and through the woods. Pleasant (except for being very hot and humid) but nothing particularly outstanding. Had I planned ahead a little bit better, we'd have brought binoculars and perhaps been able to see a few more birds off across the water.
Stony Brook
In the late 1800's the glen which is currently Stony Brook State Park was a popular resort which included a large dance hall and theaters as well as nature trails. Trains brought visitors from as far away as Pennsylvania and crossed the gorge on a 239 foot trestle, then the tallest such structure east of the Mississippi (the concrete footings of the bridge, which was dismantled in the 1940's, remain in the gorge.) In the early 1920's the resort closed and the state took over the property in 1928. Workers in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's built many of the structures that are found in the park today. (Bill Bailey, New York State Parks, 2003.)
Since it was a very hot and humid day, we expected Stony Brook to be very busy. It wasn't bad when we arrived - there was even still parking in the lot - but while we were eating lunch they began directing people to park on the grass, and the swimming area at the north end of the park was packed. We followed the recommended hike from Rich and Sue Freeman's 200 Waterfalls guide and hiked out on the gorge trail, which follows the brook, crossing it at several points on both wooden and stone bridges. There wasn't a huge amount of water flowing, since we've had a fairly dry summer, but there were still numerous small waterfalls and two fairly large ones. All in all, it would have been very pretty and scenic... except for the people seemingly everywhere. Once we were around the bend from the swimming area, it was like one long noisy waterpark (the rangers had clearly given up on the idea of enforcing the "no swimming or wading" rule.)
Ann had a good time, because she had come here intended to play in the water a bit, but I think I would like Stony Brook a lot more in cooler weather...
When we reached the old bridge foundations, I waited while Ann walked upstream a bit further to the last waterfall (when she came back and told me it was crawling with people, I decided to skip it) and then we hiked up seemingly endless steps to reach the west rim of the gorge. From there we followed the rim trail back - not as scenic, but a much quieter option, and I enjoyed getting away from all the noisy crowds. There were few level sections along this trail; mostly it ran downhill, in many spots steeply enough that there were more steps. We were passed by several folks hiking uphill, all of them grumbling to one degree or another about how difficult it was...
When we got back to the swimming area, Ann swam for a little while and I found a shady spot to sit on a bench and relax. Then she changed into dry clothes and we decided to visit Letchworth State Parkt, since it was still fairly early and we were only half an hour away (and having paid to get into Stony Brook - we'd get into Letchworth for free!)
Letchworth
Ann and I first visited Letchworth in July 2000. It was a rainy day and we actually didn't see that much of the park - mainly the road from Mount Morris to the south end by the Glen Iris Inn, and then we visited the Middle and Upper Falls and walked a ways on the trail along the rim of the gorge. We went back in July 2005 and between nicer weather and a couple of guide books saw quite a bit more (though still nothing approaching the entirety of the park.) Letchworth is a gorgeous place, so when I saw that we would be relatively close to the southern entrance when we visited Stony Brook, I kept it in the back of my mind that a visit there was a possibility.
The drive over was rather scenic, and we passed an old lock from the Genesee Valley Canal (the towpaths and subsequent railbeds now form the basis of the Genesee Valley Greenway, a trail I've visited quite often in the last 5 or 6 years.) Entered the park for free, thanks to having a receipt from Stony Brook, and the gate attendant told us to enjoy the sunshowers. (In fact, on the drive over the line of the rainstorm was quite clear. After a brief stop at the railroad bridge that crosses the top of the gorge, we drove down to the Middle/Upper Falls parking area and spent quite a while wandering around looking at the waterfalls.
After that we drove north on the park road, stopping frequently to enjoy the varied views of the incredible Letchworth gorge. It rained pretty steadily for a while (and got somewhat dark) but even in the rain Letchworth is a pretty incredible place. It's very easy to see why it is sometimes nicknamed "the Grand Canyon of the East" (though I've been told there's a gorge in Pennsylvania that also lays claim to that title.) We actually drove down to the parking area for the Lower Falls and hiked part of the way down the trail, but finally realized that it was too long a hike, in the rain, to go see the least impressive of the three falls.
As we continued the drive north, the rain stopped and the sun did its best to peek through the clouds, giving us both some nice rainbows and eventually a rather nice sunset!
Our final stop in the park was at the overlook for the Mount Morris Dam - one of these days I'll learn why the huge dam never has any water behind it when we visit (I suspect at times of lower water flow, it's all diverted for electricity generation, and the dam really only serves to block water flow when there's high volume coming down the gorge.) There was an impressive number of turkey vultures soaring above the dam, and I managed to get several pictures of both the birds and the rising moon.
We ended the day with dinner at the same place we bought dinner at two years ago - a small Chinese takeout place in Mount Morris. And then it was time for the drive back to Rochester, a drive that previously seemed long to me but with all the travelling I've done this summer seemed more like a hop around the corner tonight!
JMH
