A weekend around Rochester
Rochester might not be the first thing you think when talking about visiting New York state, but it’s a completely different vibe than what you get in the City that Never Sleeps. While Rochester itself is quite a small city, it’s in a perfect location to explore many state parks and thus, an excellent outlet for a weekend trip. Explore with me some ideas on how to spend a weekend around Rochester.
We visited in April, and let me tell you: it’s extremely cold! Especially in the Niagara falls, where the wind made the air feel freezing. So pack up enough layers or suffer the consequences.
Itinerary
Day 1 – Waterfalls: Niagara Falls & Letchworth State Park
Niagara falls
Rochester is a good base city to start your visit to the Niagara falls from the US side, since it’s located only 1,5 h away from the falls. Both Rochester and the Niagara Falls have local airports, so the falls are relatively easy to visit. The Niagara Falls are a group of three waterfalls, one from which lies on the Canadian side, while the other two are on the US side. The Niagara Falls is a pretty urban territory, with the falls located in the middle of the city. The falls area is well-developed and has many areas that are paved to walk around. This was my second time seeing the Niagara Falls, with the first time being from the Canadian side.
Because of when I visited (April), many of the attractions were still closed. The whole city seems to be quite touristy, with the Niagara Falls being the main attraction. That early in the season, everything was still a bit dead. If you want to take full advantage of the park, I would recommend visiting during peak season (summer).
Is the Canadian or the US side better to see the Niagara Falls?
The US side of the Falls is located on the top side of the Niagara Falls, so you can see the river flowing towards the cliff. There are several viewpoints from which you can see the different waterfalls, and also have views of Canada. In the US, the Niagara Falls area constitutes a well-developed State Park. When I came, in April, many of the attractions in the State Park were still closed, as the weather is still too cold to get wet. In summer, however, it is possible to take a boat to the American and Horseshoe Falls, or to visit the Cave of Winds to look at a waterfall from inside.
The Canadian side offers views of the waterfalls from the front. There’s also the possibility of taking a boat to the Canadian-based waterfall (grab that rain poncho, because you’ll get wet). For me personally, the views from the front are better, as you can appreciate the whole waterfall. However, both sides offer different perspectives, and if you have the chance to cross the border to see both of them, that’s really recommended.
Letchworth State Park
New York state has quite a few interesting state parks. After visiting the Niagara Falls -or better said, once we had enough of freezing-, we drove to the Letchworth State Park, only 1,5 h away. Once again, spring doesn’t seem to be the best season to get beautiful views. As you can see in the photos, the waters looked quite brown due to the constant rains, and the trees didn’t have leaves yet, giving the whole par a more desolate view. Based on the photos I’ve seen online, fall seems to be the best season to visit to enjoy great views.
We parked at the Portageville Entrance, and followed the main trail of the Letchworth Park, which follows the river. There’s a few waterfalls along the way – the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls. We stopped our ways shortly after the middle waterfall, as it was cold and the lanscapes were not that great in this season. However, the trail still continues along the river, following it for several miles.
Day 2 – Chimney Bluffs State Park & Rochester
Chimney Bluffs State Park
The Chimney Bluffs State Park offers a very unique landscape. It is located at the shore of the Lake Ontario and has massive clay formations at the water edge. We parked at the official parking, which was quite empty due to the season. I can imagine that it can get crowded in summer, as it’s not too big. You also need to pay a $5 fee. We then followed a road (the Meadow Trail) towards the lake shore, where you could see a map with the different trails of the park. We were interested in visiting the shore to see the characteristic bluffs, so we took the Bluff trail, only 1.29 miles along the coast. In principle, one can return to the parking either through the same way, or taking the Drumlin trail and the connection to the East-West trail.
The bluffs are very interesting structures, offering a sharp contrast with the forest and the lake. These structures are also not particularly stable, so one shouldn’t walk on them for danger of falling and to preserve the landscape. Because of the terrain characteristics and the recent rains, the hiking trail was in many parts full of water, forming clay. This made our shoes dirty and wet pretty fast. However, in many parts this was impossible to avoid, as there were plants with thorns along the trail. While the Bluff trail was mostly well-maintained, the East-West trail was extremely muddy – I would have appreciated having rain boots instead of trianers.
Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester
After our muddy experience in the morning, we returned to Rochester to visit the city itself. Rochester has no shortage of museums, so after some consideration, we decided to opt in for the Memorial Art Gallery, with tickets for $20. This art gallery was started in 1913 and has more than 13,000 art works in its collections. This includes art from the ancient world, African art, and plenty of 19th century paintings and sculptures, including paintings by van Dyck and El Greco.
When to visit Rochester?
The best seasons are summer or fall, when the weather is generally good and the plants are growing. Winter in NY state can be very cold and snowy, while spring is wet and still quite cold. Going in summer and fall will also allow you to see the nature in its splendor.
Personal highlights
Because of when I visited, my personal favorite was the Chimney Bluffs State Park. While the hike was a bit challenging due to the wet terrain, it was still a fun experience and the bluffs were really interesting structures. However, I’m quite sure that this evaluation would change had I visited in a different season.
While the Niagara falls are nice to see, I find them too artifical. I usually prefer seeing falls in a more natural setting, when here the falls are surrounded by a big city and plenty of attractions. However, this makes them an excellent place to visit for people with reduced mobility or with small children, as they are very accessible (even for wheelchairs!) and still a great representation of the power of nature.