Lower Falls is an 85-foot block waterfall on the Genesee River in Rochester, New York, the last of the river's falls in the city. It drops into a deep gorge beside a working hydroelectric plant, and it can be seen from a city park, a road bridge and a fishing access trail at river level.
The falls
The river pours over a single vertical ledge about 250 feet wide, split midway down by a stone pillar. The World Waterfall Database measured just over 90 feet from lidar, about 85 feet of it natural and the rest a small dam at the brink that diverts water to the adjacent generating station; older measurements gave 110 feet. Because of the diversion, the flow over the falls is regulated.
Getting there
Park at the Maplewood Park lot off Driving Park Avenue. Paved paths lead down into Lower Falls Park, on Hastings Street beside the river, to two overlooks; the overlook walk is 0.7 mile round trip with 108 feet of gain, rated easy. The Driving Park Bridge above the gorge gives a direct view of the falls. For the river-level view, the DEC fishing access off Seth Green Boulevard follows a paved access road less than half a mile down into the gorge and under the bridge, ending at the power plant's outlet. Admission is free, and the site is open year-round. The city's Genesee Riverway Trail passes through the area.
When to go
Late spring through winter is the recommended season for the falls; April through November is recommended for the overlook route. Snowmelt and heavy rain can flood the gorge below the falls.
On site
The bridge view is behind a chain-link fence about 10 feet tall, which gets in the way of photos. Gorge access is prohibited at night and when the river is high. In August 2014 a 28-year-old man hiking with friends near Lower Falls fell into the river and drowned; stay well back from the edge and out of the water.
History and name
In the 1820s the gorge filled with the mills of McCrackenville, which made flour, paper, carpets and furniture until the last one burned in 1964; Lower Falls Park is built on their foundations. Rochester Gas and Electric obtained rights to the falls in 1917, and its Station 5 powerhouse still stands on the east side. The Driving Park Bridge is the fourth bridge at the site; the first, a wooden arch from 1819, fell within about fifteen months. Genesee comes from a Haudenosaunee name meaning pleasant banks.
Nearby
High Falls, upstream in downtown Rochester, is about 1.5 miles away. Bullock's Woods Falls is about 3.1 miles away and Densmore Falls about 4 miles. Middle Falls, now a hydroelectric dam, sits between Lower Falls and High Falls and has its own overlook.
Distances are straight-line.