CHAUTAUQUA GORGE STATE FOREST–It’s one thing to see the Chautauqua Gorge in the summertime.

It’s another thing entirely to see it in the wintertime.

If you haven’t seen it in the wintertime, you might consider putting it on your list.

It’s spectacular. Just spectacular.

High walls along the deeper parts of the gorge surround snow-covered pines and hardwoods. In the middle of a sunny afternoon, the blue sky is overhead. Later, as the sun sets, the sky turns dark blue and the brightest stars begin to fill the sky. More stars join them as the sky turns dark blue, then black.

All the while, all you hear is the silence.

The silence itself is beautiful.

Admission to the state forest is free.

* * *

According to the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau’s website, “the 538-acre Chautauqua Gorge State Forest … is part of the Chautauqua Gorge watershed area, and part of the reason for the property … is … watershed protection.”

* * *

Please recall: Now the Chadakoin River is the outlet of Chautauqua Lake. Water flows from Chautauqua Lake, to the Chadakoin River, to the Allegheny River, to the Ohio River, to the Mississippi River, and into the Gulf.

Many have never given a thought to anything else.

But 10,000 years ago, Chautauqua Lake, rather than flowing from northwest to southeast, flowed the other way.

Then, water flowed from Chautauqua Lake, through what is now the gorge, to Lake Erie, to the Niagara River, to Lake Ontario, to the St. Lawrence River, and into the Atlantic Ocean.

* * *

Across the town of Chautauqua from the gorge is the village of Mayville, home of the annual Mayville Winterfest, which runs from Feb. 13 to 15, 2026.

The centerpiece of the winterfest is the ice castle, built for each winterfest, weather permitting.

And, oh, has the weather permitted it this year.

So permitting has the weather been that the ice blocks that ice-castle builders have cut out of the lake are noticeably thicker than in most recent years.

Builders harvest the ice blocks a short distance from shore. They’ve cut their customary channel through the near-shore ice to get the ice blocks to shore.

* * *

Their work calls to mind ice harvesting that was common in years before electric refrigeration. Ice blocks were harvested during winter months, stored in ice houses, and delivered to homes throughout the year. Residents used ice blocks to keep food cold in their ice boxes. When their ice melted, they got new ice.

Just as they gathered more wood when their woodpiles diminished, or ordered more coal when their coal bin was empty.

Now when we want our homes warmer or cooler, most of us just adjust the thermostat.

* * *

But back to the ice castle.

This year’s ice castle itself is downright ornate, far more ornate than any snow fort you ever built as a child.

Regardless of whether you’ve seen the ice castle in recent years, you might want to put the 2026 winterfest on your calendar.

As usual, it’s at Lakeside Park in Mayville.

According to the visitors bureau’s website, the winterfest begins at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 with the opening ceremony, including the lighting of the castle. The festival also runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Feb. 14, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 15, and features bonfires, live music, food trucks, a beer and wine tent, horse-drawn wagon rides, snowmobile rides, face painting, a craft show, a 5K run, a flare parade and fireworks, and winter games.

Admission is free, yet there are some paid activities, and parking fees apply at some locations. A shuttle, sponsored by New York Bus Sales, Inc., will be available from some parking lots on Feb. 14 and 15.

* * *

It’s tempting to venture out onto the Chautauqua Lake ice.

But that may well be best left to ice-castle builders and experienced ice fishermen.

To borrow the words of one longtime Chautauqua County sheriff, “the ice is never safe.”

Those are especially good words to teach to the younger among us.

* * *

Randy Elf takes the words of the longtime sheriff to heart and hopes you will too.

COPYRIGHT © 2026 BY RANDY ELF