Two Destinations: Stumbling Upon The Best of 2013

Sometimes…the best things happen by accident.

Last spring, I was killing some time in Barnes & Noble, waiting to meet someone for lunch.  I wandered over to the Local Interest section, which I tend to do sometimes, but not always, and in that section, there was a book of photography of Western New York (I don’t remember the title). I picked it up and started to flip through it, basically curious to see how many places in the book were places I’ve been to, and to “compare” photos in the book with some of the scenes I had taken in. What I didn’t expect to find were two places that I hadn’t been to.

The first place, represented by a photo of a waterfall, was listed as being named Grimes Glen, in the Village of Naples. What took me by surprise about the first place is that I had already found many waterfalls in Western New York, within a two-hour radius of Rochester. I had also been to Naples several times; sometimes for its Grape Festival in the fall, and other times as a pass-through on my road trips to the wine region or to the actual Finger Lakes region. In all my travels to and through Naples (maybe 40 or so), I was not aware that there was a relatively decent waterfall there - there is barely a creek that runs through town. The second place was listed as being named Griffis Sculpture Park, in the hamlet of Ashford Hollow. The photo itself was intriguing enough.  So, I added a note in cell phone of the two places, and decided to try to find them on my own.

My first “stop”:  Google maps. I discovered that the “barely a creek” that runs through Naples was in fact called Grimes Creek…so that seemed simple enough. I discovered that Ashford Hollow is located a ways south of Buffalo, and in fact I had been through there a small handful of times. I also discovered that Griffis Sculpture Park has a website. In both cases, I decided that two road trips were a must:  Grimes Glen could be done somewhat spontaneously, since Naples is only 45 minutes away, but Griffis Sculpture Park would take a little bit of planning, since that is about two hours away.

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, I decided to go find Grimes Glen. I packed my hiking gear, which included my hiking boots and water shoes, extra socks, and a towel, and set off for Naples. Once I arrived in the village, I found the creek, and looked for a sign or something that might point to Grimes Glen – but there was nothing to find.  So, I basically followed the streets that paralleled the creek, and one of the streets dead-ended in a gravel parking. Fortunately, there were several other cars there, and what looked like a trail, so I parked, gathered my stuff, and headed for the trail. At the beginning of the trail was a New York State Historical Marker, which confirmed that I did indeed find Grimes Glen.

The trail crossed the creek on a bridge, and then went up the left side of the creek. Back about ½ mile was the first falls, which to me was pretty impressive for a small creek.  Now, I mentioned what I packed for a reason: that book noted that there were two falls, but the trail disappeared at the foot of the first falls.  So…being in the exploring mood that I was in, I changed out of my hiking boots and into my water shoes, and decided to walk upstream in the creek, which was never more than knee deep. Around a bend and a quarter-mile further back was the second falls, which to me was more impressive than the first. What was even more impressive to me was this:  all of the other falls I’ve been to in Western New York are in State Parks…easily accessible, and therefore, rare to find in a state of solitude. Here, I had the whole scene to myself…deep in the woods, water roaring, and not a soul around. And…all as an almost accidental result of randomly picking up a book in Barnes & Noble and flipping through the pages.
 

BUT…if this first discovery impressed me for the one hour I was there, the second discovery topped that and then some. I waited until the fall, on a Saturday in early October, which was forecasted to be mainly sunny – which is hard to find in Western New York. I left at 7:45AM and decided not to take the New York Thruway there, instead taking US Route 20A through the towns of Warsaw and Orchard Park.  I turned onto US Route 219, which is one of the freeways coming out of the Buffalo area, which eventually ended and turned into a two-land road headed up and down a couple of mountains. The turn-off for Griffis Sculpture Park was barely marked – I passed it and had to turn around. That road went further up a steeper hill, which led to a second narrower road, and then I arrived at the park. The entrance to the park was a one lane gravel driveway which led to a small parking lot and a small shack.

I parked, grabbed my photography gear, put in my $5 admission into a cash box at the shack (admission collected on the honor system), and headed to the trail headed into the park.

According to the website:

Since the early 60′s, the steel sculptures of Larry Griffis, Jr. and other international artists have been residing in the woods, fields, and even ponds of Griffis Sculpture Park. The 450 acre Ashford Hollow park, located eight miles outside of Ellicottville, is not only a tremendous regional attraction, but holds the distinction of being one of America’s largest and oldest sculpture parks.

The park features over 250 large scale sculptures dispersed through miles of hiking trails. Each sculpture was placed with the natural setting in mind, creating a truly unique experience between art and nature.

The description doesn’t do this park justice. The park is situated on the side of a large hill. There are two main trails that go up the hill, and there are a couple of clearings along the way, plus a clearing at the top of the hill, all with various sculptures scattered throughout. I’ll let my photos speak for themselves, but I ended up spending 4 hours there THAT DAY…

…and I say THAT day, because around the time I went, they were advertising a “Night Lights” event, where the park would be open at night, with some of the sculptures lit up. So…I took yet another road trip, this time in early November, to check out the park at night. I made this trip an all-day event as well. Since the night event wasn’t starting until 6:30, I decided to head to Niagara Falls first, if for nothing else, because I hadn’t been there in a while. I then drove from Niagara Falls through Buffalo and south, past the turnoff to the park, 20 minutes further into the Village of Ellicottville, home of the Holiday Valley ski resort. Ellicottville has a nice downtown with shops and restaurants, so I grabbed dinner at one of the pubs, and then headed back to the park.

If I was prepared for the conditions at Grimes Glen, I was unprepared for the conditions at the “Night Lights” event at Griffis Sculpture Park. For one, I forgot a flashlight – which was recommended on the website. Second, the rain that was supposed to hold off until after 10PM started at 6PM and it rained pretty heavily.  I wasn’t wearing my hiking boots, but instead a hiker-sneaker hybrid, which I basically ruined that night, as I was stumbling around in the dark in mud and water that was ankle-deep and at times deeper. BUT…the experience was still amazing, and I wouldn’t change any part of it. AND, I’ll let those photos speak for themselves as well.

So, as I said:  sometimes…the best things happen by accident. Picking up a random book led to three of my most memorable road trips of 2013.

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My photo gallery - Grimes Glen (part of my Finger Lakes): Finger Lakes: Wineries, Waterfalls, & Lakes 
My photo Gallery  Griffis Sculpture Park: Griffis Sculpture Park 

Griffis Sculpture Park homepage: Griffis Sculpture Park (home page)