Hiking NY 2021: Letchworth in the Winter (Trail #1 and 5)

Week before last we finally got some decent snow in central NY, so I took that opportunity to try out my new winter hiking boots! I went to one of my favorite local places to hike, Letchworth State Park.

It is free to enter during the off season, but several entrances and roads are closed for the winter so you definitely have to read their website and plan accordingly.

We parked at Lower Falls and hiked the gorge trail (#1) past Lower Falls, Middle Falls, and Upper Falls to where the trail is closed at the stairs by the train bridge.

There was about 6" of snow on the ground with more falling softly. The temp was 15 degrees with a windchill of 3! Very chilly, but I warmed up as I hiked.

I hiked with a new friend I met online in other hiking groups. His name is Ken and is great company.

He showed me how to put on my microspikes (also my first time using them!) and they worked great. They are Unigear brand. My new boots are XPETI brand from Amazon, and I was very happy with them as well. Despite the frigid cold, my feet stayed toasty warm!

Letchworth was beautiful as always! I'm happy I got to see the gorge and falls in the winter with snow for my first time.

After hiking 5 miles on trail #1, Ken and I decided to try out a new trial that was close by we had never been on. It is trail #5 and goes from the lower falls parking lot down to the water. Evidently it is where you can take a kayak/raft down to the river. We hiked an additional 2 miles out and back on that one.