"Anybody who's ever visited the building will say this place is haunted for sure," Morgan Hellquist, executive director of the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, told the Livingston County News last fall. She was describing the former Mount Morris Tuberculosis Sanitorium on Murray Hill, which is also GVCA's headquarters. That building opens again for Halloween in a little under two weeks. Down the hill, the north end of the Letchworth gorge is winding down for the season one weekend at a time.
Mount Morris's October works as a handoff. In the daytime the action is in the gorge and inside the dam. After dark it moves up to Murray Hill. The two schedules overlap for only about ten days, from Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 25. Anyone planning a full October here should plan around that window.
The Leaf Shuttle Runs Somewhere Else
The most publicized October perk in Letchworth State Park is the free leaf shuttle run by the Regional Transit Service. It runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on three weekends: Oct. 3 and 4, Oct. 10 and 11, and Oct. 17 and 18. State Parks says the service is ADA-accessible. Letchworth State Park, the Glen Iris Inn and Letchworth Concessions LLC pay for it.
The stops are Lower Falls and the Lower Falls Restaurant, the Trailside and Nature Center area, Inspiration Point, the Glen Iris Inn, and Middle and Upper Falls. Highbanks and the Mount Morris entrance are not on that list. The Humphrey Nature Center, open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., sits on the Castile side of the park.
State Parks lists the Mount Morris entrance as the north access to the G.W. Harvey Swimming Pool and the Highbanks Recreation Area. The Mount Morris Dam has its own separate entrance. The park is open year-round from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. On the shuttle weekends, the north end runs on its own schedule.
The park's October calendar has several Finger Lakes Trail treks, on Oct. 8, 15, 22, 28 and 30. The Oct. 30 trek covers the Highbanks Canyon section, close to the village. The State Parks listing for the series describes three-mile outings that meet at the junction of Oakland and River Roads. It recommends carpooling, sturdy footwear, and bringing lunch and a drink. The Oct. 8 Dishmill section runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free. The Highbanks Canyon trek has its own event page on the State Parks calendar, which is the place to confirm that day's time and meeting spot before you go.
Inside the Dam, Through the 25th
The Mount Morris Dam usually reads as scenery from the overlooks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls it the largest concrete dry-bed dam east of the Mississippi. It is 250 feet tall and 1,028 feet across, and it can hold nearly 302,000 acre-feet of water behind it. The Corps credits it with an estimated $4.6 billion in flood damage prevented, and 2026 is its 74th year in service.
The William B. Hoyt II Visitor Center opened for the season on May 1. It is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and park rangers lead walking tours inside the dam every day. Tours are free. Recreation.gov charges a $1 nonrefundable fee per ticket for online reservations, which open up to seven days ahead. You can also sign up in person at the visitor center, but walk-up spots are not guaranteed. "Our tours offer a rare opportunity to go inside a working flood risk management project, and one with such historic significance," said Steve Winslow, the recreation area's manager. "It's an immersive experience."
The deadline is the important part. A local calendar entry that lists a Corps contact shows daily tours through Sunday, Oct. 25. The Corps gives the visitor center's season as May through October but has not announced a closing day. That leaves three weekends of tours. With the seven-day booking window, the Oct. 24 and 25 slots open on Oct. 17 and 18.
The recreation grounds stay open year-round from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The playground there just got an upgrade. Volunteers and Corps staff spread 4,000 pounds of rubber playground mulch for safety, finishing on Sept. 26 for National Public Lands Day. That makes the grounds a good stop with kids after the tour season ends.
Murray Hill After Dark
The Murray Hill campus was a tuberculosis hospital from 1936 to 1971. The building now houses GVCA's offices and a rare collection of New Deal-era artwork made through the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. The offices themselves were once apartments for the hospital's doctors.
The haunted house started in 2025. GVCA built it as part of its Keep the Arts Alive campaign after federal funding cuts. Staff and volunteers began collecting props from thrift stores and donation bins that March. GVCA program manager Natalie Marino explained how the idea came about:
"Back in February, we started reimagining what our programming might look like after we saw some federal funding cuts. We wanted to create something sustainable and community-driven, and turning our historic building into a haunted house just made sense."
Marino also called it the first haunted house of its kind in Livingston County in years. Last year's story followed a doctor losing his mind in the old hospital wing. This year's second edition, "Survive the Sanatorium: The Blood Ward," changes the plot. Visitors arrive as new recruits at the Murray Project, a classified facility that studies vampire blood. A containment breach separates them from their guides, and they have to make their way through the labs and restricted areas to get out.
It runs on six nights: Oct. 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31, all Fridays and Saturdays, from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The address is 4 Murray Hill Drive, and presale details are on the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts site. The proceeds go back into GVCA's arts programming.
The first weekend, Oct. 16 and 17, falls on the last weekend of the leaf shuttle. The second, Oct. 23 and 24, falls on the last weekend of dam tours. So a Saturday on either of those weekends can include the gorge in daylight and Murray Hill after dark.
Main Street Fills the Gap Between Them
The haunted house opens at 7 p.m., and two Main Street spots cover the hours before that. Questa Lasagna, at 55 Main Street, is open Thursday through Monday from 5 to 9 p.m. and closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Visit Livingston County called it a recently reopened local favorite in its October 2025 roundup of new places to eat. Every haunted house night is a Friday or Saturday, so Questa is open before each one.
Letchworth Waffles, at 40 Main Street, opened in spring 2025 with bubble waffles, waffle balls, Dubai chocolate, coffee and bubble tea. Livingston County's economic development office profiled it in April 2026 and describes it as a seasonal business. Its website address no longer works, so check its hours another way before planning a late-October stop around it. A September 2026 local dining guide also names Leaning Tower Pizzeria on Main Street and Highbanks Tavern among the village's restaurants.
Mount Morris's Market on Main runs Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Old Firehall, 119 Main Street. The listings disagree on when it ends. Visit Livingston County gives Friday, Oct. 9 as the last day. Visit Mount Morris says it runs through October. Oct. 9 is listed in both, so that Friday is the safest bet. Check before counting on a later week.
The North End, Date by Date
Here is the rest of the month for the north end, in order.
- Thursday, Oct. 8. Finger Lakes Trail trek, Dishmill section, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free.
- Friday, Oct. 9. Last date that both listings agree on for Market on Main at the Old Firehall.
- Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10 and 11. Second leaf-shuttle weekend in the park.
- Friday, Oct. 16. First night of "The Blood Ward" on Murray Hill.
- Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18. Last leaf-shuttle weekend. The haunted house is open Saturday night. Booking opens for the final weekend of dam tours.
- Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24. Haunted house both nights. Dam tours still running.
- Sunday, Oct. 25. Last scheduled ranger-led dam tour.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Finger Lakes Trail trek, Highbanks Canyon section, plus the haunted house that night.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. Last night of the haunted house.
After Oct. 25 the dam tours are done, and the north end's last two dates are the Highbanks Canyon trek and the final two nights on Murray Hill.
Griffith Realty Group has spent more than 40 years working across the Finger Lakes, including the Genesee Valley towns around Letchworth. If you live in Mount Morris and have questions about property near the north end of the gorge, Contact Us for a Confidential Consultation.
