Valentine Flats in the beautiful Zoar valley 30 miles south of Buffalo in Gowanda, New York provides a unique opportunity for a spiritual connection on a high plateau overlooking the Cattaraugus Creek below. The plateau is covered with numerous fields of consciousness and other divine aspects.

Because Valentine Flats is a popular destination you would think that this might diminish the vibe, it has not. The whole terrace area has a positive geographic samskara with a good feel to it.

Experiencing Valentine Flats

What is special about Valentine Flats is that the short trail leading you to the lookout point passes over numerous fields of consciousness, providing you a unique opportunity for a contemplative walk. Fields of consciousness emanate God’s highest aspiration for humanity and meditating in them will raise your consciousness.

Stay to your left leaving the parking lot area. After a few hundred feet a trail will branch off to the right that takes you to the valley and river below. Continue bearing left. Shortly you will pass a stand of hemlock trees; on the left side of it is a grassy area that contains a single field of consciousness. As you continue walking you will come upon a second hemlock stand that contains a stacked (2—two fields upon each other) field of consciousness. Spend some time in this stand of pines.

As you continue walking the trail will begin to rise ever so slightly. Halfway up the rise on the right hand side is a stacked (3) field of consciousness. It is close to the cliff overlooking the stream below. There is a less well traveled herd path that passes over the area. I would spend some time meditating here. When meditating close to the cliff be careful not to sit on un-secure overhangs created by trees that give you a false sense of security.

I recommend meditating on stacked fields of consciousness because when you have several fields stacked upon each other the consciousness and energy emanating from a stacked field is much more powerful than a single field. In the heart of Mother Earth's soul, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica corridor, what has been called America’s Psychic Highway there are places that have as many as 7 fields stacked upon each other. Three fields so far from the heart of Mother Earth’s soul is very good.

Trail to the River Below

The trail going to the river bed below is a mixed bag. There are a few places that do have a very bad vibe, but nothing outrageous, or nothing that you would not traverse through in a normal day. The vibe or geographic samskara below is okay to good. I found no fields of consciousness in the river bed, although I did not look too hard and forgot to look at the area directly below the stacked (3) field on the plateau. Beware that the river can run fast and strong in the spring or after rain fall.

I did find a natural vortex of prana (chi, life force) heading upstream. Natural vortexes (NV) are energy vortexes that are created by the flow of prana in the air and do not have energy lines associated with them. They can form for a variety of factors from the geography to the prayers and intentions of the people that have habited the area. A positive natural vortex (NV) like this is generally a sign that the area is in balance or has a positive or spiritual air about it.

You can find the NV by going upstream. Do not cross the stream. The vortex is at the end of a shale cliff where the river turns sharply at a 90’ angle. It is about 5-7 feet behind the large stone in the photo below. It appears that this natural vortex was formed by the sharp turn in the stream creating a positive clockwise motion in the flow of prana.

People get all excited about natural vortexes and they are good places to go to absorb prana. But the benefits of NV’s pale in comparison to fields of consciousness that can raise your consciousness and help you develop spiritual gifts. Read the review of Swami Vivekananda’s cottage in the Thousand Islands and the profound transformation he had there attaining the highest level of Samadhi and a trove spiritual gifts such as the ability to read people’s past and future lives and transform people’s lives with his touch. This will not necessarily happen to you but shows the good things that can and will happen to you by meditating in fields of consciousness.

The river bed offers some wonderful views of the shale cliffs and waterfalls.

If you go

Make sure to bring a sportsman’s cushion to sit on for your meditations. There are no facilities at Valentine Flats, so plan accordingly. If you plan on walking down to the river bed wear boots as places are soggy and bring along some water shoes to walk along the river with.

Getting to Valentine Flats.

Take Broadway Rd (Route 4) going south out of Gowanda, NY. Turn left onto Pt. Peter Rd. Follow it for about a mile and make a left on Valentine Flats Rd. by the paint-peeling farmhouse with a large flag pole in the yard. Valentine Flats Road dead-ends at the trail head parking area.

Some Helpful links

Zoar Valley Nature Conservancy
Falz Guy on Waterfalls in Zoar
Zoar Valley Photos
NY DEC webpage on Zoar Valley

Peace,
In emailing me make sure to change (at) to @ in the address header: madis senner

Madis Senner

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