Genesee Valley Park — Attraction in City of Rochester

It's a beautiful place. Unfortunately they put 390 on one side, Elmwood is on the other meaning traffic can be heard. I have found it to be a refuge. Typically the park is less crowded. Also, I have not found a tick on my dogs or myself. We go through some heavy underbrush, tall grass and on the secret paths frequently. By comparison to Mendon Ponds where I found four ticks on my dogs and myself after one visit, I definitely prefer Genesee Valley Park.

There are many features to the park. Several pavilions can be rented for parties. There is a fantastic brand-new playground at the corner of Genesee and Scottsville/Elmwood in the north west corner of the park. A second playground is on the east side and accessible by using the park drive off Elmwood. There are multiple baseball diamonds, a place for cricket and lit tennis courts. Also, the boathouse has kayaks and canoes for rental.

The canal trail bike trail and Genesee bike trail intersect in the park, as such there is a fair amount of bikers. It is a great place to ride. Off-road on the paved path is very relaxing compared to on street riding. It's a great way to get comfortable with longer rides without the distraction of car traffic.

Good birding, at least according to this non-expert. Many cranes, duck varieties, herons, blackbirds, etc inhabit the space. Canoeing/kayaking the river is a great way to see the lush life on the river. In the winter I enjoy following the animal tracks and guessing based on the size of the track. Squirrel, rabbit, raccoon and coyote have been my guesses. The park is home to innumerable ground hogs as well. Little in the way of deer. Rarely are their deer droppings except in the south east corner of the park where someone puts out bread for...

Genesee Valley Park is a peaceful, beautiful, spacious Olmsted-designed park in the City of Rochester (Frederick Law Olmsted is the most famous of American landscape architects/designers--his most famous project was New York's City's Central Park). The Park's setting is unique--the Genesee River and Erie Canal meet at the park to form a fascinating, four-way water intersection. The main pieces of Greater Rochester's top-notch recreational trail network traverse and intersect the Park--the Erie Canalway Trail, the Genesee Riverway Trail, and the Genesee Valley Greenway. The Park includes playing fields as well as good old fashioned "passive" natural spaces--fields, forests, wetlands, riverside. The River and Erie Canal are navigable by canoe and kayak in the Park (but don't go too far downstream on the River--there's a 100-foot waterfall downtown!) and you can rent canoes at the Genesee Waterways Center just across the River from Genesee Valley Park. Within walking distance of the Park is the University of Rochester campus--a little further beyond (north) is the funky South Wedge neighborhood and downtown Rochester. Genesee Valley Park is just one of several spectacular Olmsted-designed urban parks in the City...

Never had an issue with the park until my sons birthday/graduation party. I rented a shelter, this year, which was not clean and had the smell of urine/raw fish during the entire time of the party. I continuously asked the park attendants for assistance and they came over and sprinkled Ajax where the stench was coming from. My family even purchased bleach to try to mask the odor, which did help. I contacted the park office for a refund and was refused because according to them we used the shelter for majority of the duration. My family intended on staying longer but several people left do to the awful smell. I will never book this park again for any event. I am not sure why I have to give this one star in order to post my review, because in my opinion one star...