Royalton Ravine County Park, Gasport, NY

Visited June 26, 2021

Gasport Road, Gasport, NY 14067  (Niagara County)

I used "Royalton Ravine Park" as my Google Maps point and that brought me to a gravel parking area that will hold 30+ vehicles.

78 degrees Fahrenheit, muggy with a breeze at 12:42 PM, 80 degrees Fahrenheit at 2:15 PM 

Toilets available a short walk between parking and the pond.

Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails. 

I had on bug spray, long pants, t-shirt, and hat; the weather was perfect for mosquitos and they enjoyed my visit.

No poison ivy that I saw.

No cost to access this park or the trails.  

To walk the 1.5 round trip on the red trail from the road entrance to the falls and back took me 1.5 hours with a nice rest at a bench by the pond to watch the Canada Goose family and savor the thrill of completing the 20th hike for the Summer 2021 WNY Hiking Challenge. I saw a few abandoned beverage containers and wrappers on this walk. During the entire hike, I passed two families with their dogs, a man and his daughter, and a few friends with their dogs.

The trail surface was natural. Most of the trail was bone dry, but there were a few easily avoidable muddy spots. This trail was single-file is most places but some sections were wide enough to walk side by side.  There were a few inclines, steps built in, a bouncy bridge, and a rough "rooty" section of trail.  Near the falls, the trail branches right and there is a recent ruin and further on an older ruin.  A garter snake was disappearing into the foundation of the more recent ruin as arrived.  The falls would probably be easier to find when there has been rain but my ears were not helpful in detecting it.  Instead, I followed two families and explored a trail that broke to the left shortly after the ruin.  With so little rain in the past month, there was not much to see but it was still a beautiful and serene place; apparently it is popular with the snakes as a little girl excitedly informed me when I arrived.  That aided me in keeping my visit brief in addition to not wanting to hog the spot for the others who had come to see the falls.

My visit started with a robin singing a welcome from the fragrant, flowering trees near the entrance.  Then I saw two Canada geese with their three fuzzy goslings.  I saw a small garter snake in the raspberry bushes. When I was at the ruin, I heard and saw a catbird singing (or yelling at me to leave--I do not speak catbird). There are many varieties of trees including maple, cherry, and staghorn sumac.  I saw grapevine, Virginia creeper, lilies of the valley, mayapple, ferns, goldenrod, cat tails, milkweed, jewel weed, and ripe red raspberries. 

This hike is part of the Summer 2021 WNY Hiking Challenge.  For more information:

https://outsidechronicles.com/challenges

For more information and a map of the site:

https://www.niagaracounty.com/parks/Royalton-Ravine-Park

"Nearby":

Forty-five minutes away in East Aurora is 41 North Brewing Company.  

They do a bustling business and were full at 3:20 PM on a Saturday

They also provide a booklet for anyone looking for a new hiking challenge.  I just asked the cashier at the door and she very pleasantly handed me the booklet and my change for a purchase from the cooler that is right inside the doorway.  Their Asylum porter is very nice.