I am fortunate to live in an area rich in natural beauty. So many great public lands available to access and enjoy all year long. Some of my favorite beautiful state parks are under an hours drive away. How much more could you ask for.

Well, you could ask for a state park that takes those beautiful close to home state parks and scales them up to the next level. And that is exactly what Letchworth State Park does. And this park is still only around a 1.5 hour drive from home for me. It is kind of mind blowing.

Gorges are a big feature at our more local state parks and if you like a gorge boy does Letchworth have one for you. It is more like a chasm. Our area is known for waterfalls and Letchworth takes those waterfalls and supersizes them. I mean it has a literal river flowing down the center of the park. Most state parks cannot say that. And if you like to hike take those maybe 1o miles of trails a state park might have and super size it. There are so many trails to explore at Letchworth State Park.

I have been coming to this park for years to enjoy its natural wonders. I love to get out in nature. And I love to take my camera with me and photograph what nature has to offer. But above all else I like to explore and I like to see new things.

I have often said I need to get out and explore more of the park at Letchworth. When I visit I most typically spend the majority of time at the amazing waterfalls or stunning gorge overlooks. And who could blame me. But there is much more to this park.

I started to slowly explore some of the other hiking trails camera in hand. But getting to see all the miles and miles of trails that way would take forever. Fortunately I do like to travel by foot as a runner and a hiker. I enjoy taking on ultramarathons especially if they get me to see beautiful landscapes. And I am willing to hike for hours and hours for more time out in nature.

So the process to explore Letchworth State Park exploded. Last year I ran the 47 mile Many on the Genny ultramarathon. This race made a complete loop around the park. I got to see so much of the trails and other aspects of the park I never thought I would. I learned that there were trails I never even knew whistled. It was a great exploration.

And this year my wife wanted to take on the Mammoth March, a 20 mile hike around. Letchworth State Park. The event itself did not go as we had hoped with my wife having to stop at mile 9 and me continuing to finish solo. But I had a good time explorations a lot of the park on trails I had not ever been on even after. A47 mile journey the previous year.

The Mammoth March focused on the southern end of the park while Many on the Genny focused on the Northern end of the park. I got views of the gorge from places I hade never been, Made climbs on trails I didn’t know existed. Climbed stairs past giant waterfalls that I never had a desire to climb before, because I mean the waterfall its right there why would I climb all those steps now?

So many beautiful trails and trees. There is so much nature in this park. And now I am pretty content to say that I have seen as much of the trails as I need to to feel like eI have fully explored this park and can go back to my normal focus on waterfalls and overlooks.

But, my wife wants to go back so she can get a full 20 mile hike in so I think we will be back from at least one more long adventure. And I also might have another Many on the Genny in me.