By Barbara Arnstein
Little Rock City in Little Valley is easily confused with Rock City in nearby Olean because they are very similar, but there are some major differences. The Western New York attractions both have enormous fractured rock formations with narrow openings, in some big enough to walk through. Both have lots of trees, and long, tenacious tree roots growing along the rocks. But one significant difference is that exploring Little Rock City is free, while Rock City charges admission. Admission for adults there is eight dollars, and seven dollars for seniors (beginning at 62).
Rock City has many unusual formations, but Little Rock City is just as surreal. The trail is like a maze with fascinating surprises at every turn. Follow it and you will see its fractured rock formations in every direction, high and low, and every massive rock delicately fringed with ferns and moss. You will pass under gigantic boulders cantilevered above your head. The only flowers capable of growing in the dark forest there are ghost pipes, pure white flowers that thrive without sunlight, which poet Emily Dickinson called “almost supernatural”. (They live by absorbing nutrients from fungi under the soil.) You can view sections of the trail in canyons below, like streets, from house-high boulders framing them, which is why it (and every other rock city) is called a city. Some of the canyon slots are so narrow you can easily step across them. The quiet of Little Rock City lends it yet another layer of otherworldliness.
“Little Rock City is a high ridge of conglomerate rock. The caves, crevices and channels that run through the rocks are the result of many years of freezing and thawing, and erosion”, explained David Lawrence Reade, author of the bestseller “Beyond Buffalo: A Photographic Journey and Guide to the Secret Natural Wonders of Our Region”. “The ridge split, and continues to split, under pressure from the elements and its own weight, and the resulting boulders are slowly being pulled downhill by gravity”, he added. For more information about his nature books, filled with his color photos and descriptions, including “Western New York Wild: Celebrating Our Rich Natural Heritage” and “The Four Seasons of Letchworth: A Celebration of the Grand Canyon of the East”, email: dlreade@dawnsearlylightphoto.com.
Little Rock City is located on Little Rock City Road in Little Valley, NY. For more information about it, go to: enchanted mountains.com.
Rock City Park is located at 505 Route 16 South Rock City Road in Olean, NY. On October 3rd and 4th, it will have its 18th Annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show. Fun fact: This year, it is newly owned by Nate and Theresa Smith, the son and daughter-in-law of Dale and Cindy Smith, who owned it for the previous 25 years. For more info, call 1 (866) 404-7625.