Entry No. 15 — the Buffalo file — filed under: sculpture-park
Griffis Sculpture Park
Larry Griffis Jr. came back from Italy in the 1960s convinced that art should be something you wander through, and in 1966 he started planting sculpture across the hills of Ashford Hollow. Today the Ashford Hollow Foundation runs more than 250 large-scale works by over 100 artists — towering aluminum figures, oversized insects, castles, even a submarine — across 400-plus acres split between the Mill Valley Road and Rohr Hill Road sites, threaded by about ten miles of trails. Admission is $5 on the honor system, paid by QR code at the gate. Roughly 35,000 people come each year, and the acreage swallows them so completely that on a weekday you may share a whole meadow with no one.
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The story
Larry Griffis Jr. grew up in Buffalo, served in the Second World War, ran a hosiery business, and then went to Italy to learn bronze casting. The idea that became the park arrived at Hadrian's Villa outside Rome, where he watched his own children scramble over ancient ruins and concluded that sculpture belonged outdoors, in a landscape, at a scale you could climb. He came home and in 1966 started planting work on 125 acres of Ashford Hollow farmland given to him by his mother, Ruth. It is generally credited as the first sculpture park in the United States.
Sixty years on it covers more than 400 acres in two sections about two miles apart: the Mill Valley Road site at 6902 Mill Valley Road in East Otto, which has the picnic tables and most of the trail network, and the Rohr Hill Road site in Ashford Hollow, where the towering pieces stand in open fields you can partly take in from the car. More than 250 large-scale works by over 100 artists are spread across roughly ten miles of trail — bronze, welded steel, aluminum, and wood, sorted loosely into a dozen thematic groups that include oversized animals and insects, life-size nudes, castles, and a submarine. Some of the sculptures are climbable on purpose.
The Ashford Hollow Foundation for the Visual and Performing Arts runs the place. Larry's son Simon directed it until his death in June 2010; his granddaughter Nila Griffis Lampman has the job now. Around 35,000 people come each year, which sounds like a lot until you divide it across 400 acres and find yourself alone in a meadow with a twenty-foot figure. Admission is a $5 suggested donation, on trust.
What it's like
There is no gate, no booth, and nobody to take your money — you pull into a gravel lot, find the QR code, and pay yourself in. Then you walk. The Mill Valley side opens with a smooth level stretch before the trails climb into woods and meadows, and the sculptures arrive without labels, warning, or much apparent logic: a rusted insect on a ridgeline, a rank of aluminum figures catching low sun, a castle you can go inside. Nothing herds you, so people drift. Restrooms are port-o-potties, there are no trash cans at all, and the pack-in/pack-out rule is enforced entirely by conscience. Aim for the last two hours before sundown, when the metal does its best work — then be off the property, because that is the rule.
The move: Leave Buffalo by 4, pay your $10 at the Mill Valley Road entrance, and spend the last two hours before dusk in the meadows — golden hour on twenty-foot aluminum figures is the whole point. Picnicking is allowed, so bring dinner and eat it under something enormous.
📍 Before you go Open May 1 through October 31, dawn to dusk — closed all winter. $5 per person suggested, honor system via QR code (PayPal/Venmo), so a charged phone stands in for cash. Two separate entrances (Mill Valley Road is the main one; Rohr Hill Road is the other) and real hiking terrain in spots, so wear actual shoes. No pets. The park also runs an after-dark illumination event (NIGHT LIGHTS) — check the calendar before you go.
- 📍 East Otto
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 6902 Mill Valley Road, East Otto, NY 14729
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Eternal Flame Falls — Both sit off the Route 219 corridor south of the city, so do the falls in the morning while the light is useless for sculpture and save the park for the golden hour on the way home.
- Lily Dale Assembly — The other southern-tier day trip built entirely on one man's conviction — mediums and a message service at a tree stump, forty-odd minutes southwest, and a fair counterweight to 250 aluminum strangers in a field.
- Original American Kazoo Company Museum & Factory — A modest detour on the drive down, and the timing works: the Eden factory closes at 5 pm, the park does not close until sundown.
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Good to know
What does it cost and how do I pay with no one there?
A $5 donation per adult, $3 for seniors and children 5 to 12. Pay online through the park's site, by Venmo to @griffissculpturepark, or in cash at the gift shop, which is open 11 am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays in season. A charged phone is effectively the ticket booth.
Which entrance should I use?
Mill Valley Road, 6902 Mill Valley Road in East Otto, is the main one — picnic tables, the level walking area, and most of the ten miles of trail. The Rohr Hill Road section in Ashford Hollow is about two miles away and shows off its tall pieces in open fields, a good deal of which you can see from the road if legs are a limiting factor.
When is it open?
The official season runs May 1 through October 31, sunrise to sunset, and everyone must be off the property by sundown. The park sometimes opens outside those dates depending on weather, but do not count on it, and there is no winter access to plan around.
Can I bring a dog, or a picnic?
The park's rules page welcomes well-behaved dogs on leash provided you clean up after them, and there are picnic tables at the Mill Valley site. There are no garbage cans anywhere on the property, so everything you bring leaves with you. No camping and no fires.
What is NIGHT LIGHTS?
An after-dark event at the Mill Valley site where a roughly 0.7-mile trail is lit theatrically and local musicians, poets, and storytellers perform among illuminated works like the Praying Mantis and The Bathers. In 2026 it runs Sept 18–19, Sept 24–26, Oct 1–3, Oct 8–11, and Oct 15–17; $15 adults, $9 for ages 7–12, free under 7. Bring a flashlight, and note that heavy rain closes it.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia · Roadside America
last checked: 2026-08-25