Genesee River

Letchworth State Park - Middle Falls on the Genesee River

Map of the Genesee River

Genesee River

High Falls in Rochester

It empties into Lake Ontario near Rochester. The river has been designated by the Seneca, a formerly living in the area Indian tribe, as a "river of many cases." Its current name comes from the Iroquois word meaning " beautiful valley ."

The middle section of the river traverses in a up to 200 m deep canyon to Letchworth State Park. In its southern part, which is also called the "Grand Canyon of the East", there are three waterfalls, the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls. In Rochester, formerly of the Erie Canal crossed the Genesee River by means of an aqueduct. Today, this part of the channel is shut down. The recent New York State Barge Canal now crosses the river south of Rochester. From Rochester to Lake Ontario, the Genesee River has a gradient of about 100 m. Here is the remarkable 29 -meter-high High Falls waterfall, and 1.5 km downstream of the 20 m high Lower Falls.