//
Photo: Stilfehler 17:56, 27 August 2007 (CEST), CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Communities along the Genesee River suffered under periodic flooding throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Great Flood of 1865, for instance, devastated Rochester, and a repeat was seen as increasingly inevitable. Around 1950, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the massive Mount Morris Dam, using the deep valley to the south as a reservoir, allowing the regulation of northward flow. At 230 feet (70 m) high and over 1000 feet (300 m) long, the dam is an impressive sight. A Visitors Center was created in 1999 on the east side of the river; it contains exhibits on the Dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and earth science. Free walking tours that go inside the dam structure depart once or twice daily. The grounds have picnic areas, playgrounds, and trails.
The Mount Morris Dam is a concrete gravity dry dam on the Genesee River. It is located at the northern end of Letchworth State Park, south of Rochester, New York in the towns of Leicester and Mount Morris in Livingston County, New York. It is the largest dam of its type east of the Mississippi River and its purpose is to mitigate downstream flooding between Mount Morris and Lake Ontario.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The main attraction at this recreation area is the swimming pool, which is open when school is out. There's a diving pool and bathhouse adjacent, and ample parking. Other than that, there are a couple of shelters, an information center, some picnic tables, and easy access to the Highbanks camping area. If you came into the park from the north, and don't want to drive all the way to the south end to see the falls, this is probably as far into the park as you'll go; there's not much else to see for another 10 miles at least.
white-water rafting
Five-mile white-water rafting trips through the gorge, starting just below the Lower Falls.
Open year-round, the Humphrey Nature Center has exhibits, many of them interactive, illustrating the geology and biology of the park.
Letchworth took a keen interest in the Native American history of the Genesee Valley, and when he heard that the old 1765 Seneca Council House in nearby Caneadea was in danger, he had the whole thing taken apart and reassembled on his estate grounds. Later, at the request of relatives, he relocated the grave of Mary Jemison, the "White Woman of the Genesee", from the endangered Buffalo Creek Reservation near Buffalo to the new Council Grounds at Glen Iris. A cabin, built by Jemison for one of her daughters and formerly located on her property downstream at the Gardeau Flats, was also relocated. Today, the two buildings and the gravesite (marked by an iconic statue) continue to be carefully preserved.
In 1898, Mr. Letchworth himself erected a "Genesee Valley Museum" building on his estate grounds. He used it to exhibit his collection of Native American artifacts and geological specimens—including a mastodon skull! Though the collection has been expanded and moved to a bigger building since that time, it still maintains his original focus on the human and geological history of the Genesee Valley. The museum also memorializes Letchworth himself, housing his personal library and other documents and artifacts from his life. And the original mastodon skull still astounds visitors today.
There are concession buildings with restrooms and guides in several places in the park, but the main visitors center is along the park road between the Middle and Lower Falls, not far from Inspiration Point, north of the Glen Iris area.