It’s like trying to slay a dragon with a toothpick. The blue plastic raincoat, thin as a trash bag and cuffed by the wind, is no defense against the deluge of Niagara Falls.
This 30-minute boat ride that has been bringing tourists to the base of the falls since 1848 culminates in a spray-soaked assault on all five senses:
Lift your head toward the top of the falls more than 150 feet above, and you’re blinded by sunlight reflecting off its fog.
Strain to hear the spiel that crackles over the boat’s speakers, and you’re soon deafened by Niagara’s roar.
Raise your camera from beneath the raincoat to shoot some pictures, and you’re drenched to the armpits in seconds.
Breathe, and a sandy river-smell fills your nostrils. Gasp, and it splashes your tongue.
Whether you’ve been here or not, Niagara Falls is part of your travel heritage. The Iroquois called the place Onguiaahra, what has come down to us as Niagara. It figured in the comings and goings of groups as diverse as French missionaries in the 1670s, frontiersmen in the 1700s and soldiers in the War of 1812.
Pleasure travelers have been writing to their diaries about the place since at least the 1820s. In those days, when “travel” was synonymous with the Grand Tour of Europe, Niagara Falls was “something uniquely American, something even Europe could not rival,” writes Cindy S. Aron in “Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the United States” (Oxford University Press, $35).
Niagara helped a new nation define its own notions of what travel ought to be: not just a bounce from one big city to the next, one man-made marvel after another, but a journey to a place where nature prevails. Niagara Falls had the strength to pull that off decades before John Wesley Powell entered the Grand Canyon or Thomas Moran painted Yellowstone. It’s a powerful place, still.
What people come here for is to see 212,200 cubic feet per second of the Niagara River cascade over the 3,600-foot-long dolomite and shale brink of the Niagara Escarpment. What they leave with is a reminder — no, make that a reassurance — that even in our techno-logged times, a river will have its way.
Niagara is actually three falls divided from one another by islands — and unified by the tourist trade on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. The American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are measured together: a brink of 1,000 feet interrupted by tiny Luna Island. They start 182 feet above the lower river, but because chunks of the brink break off periodically and accumulate at the base, these falls technically drop only 70 feet. That much water splashing on that many rocks begets a heavy mist liberally sprinkled with rainbows.
Those two falls are to one side of Goat Island, so named because that’s where an ill-fated herd of the animals froze to death in 1780. On the opposite side of Goat Island is the third and largest of Niagara’s falls.
The Canadian Falls, also called Horseshoe Falls because of the curvature of the rim, has a 2,600-foot-long brink and drops 173 feet to the river below. The plunge sends up a plume of vapor so thick and high, you can see it from miles away — the first throb of excitement that the falls are really there, though you might easily mistake the vapor plume for the intermittent factory smoke that’s common along the 45-minute drive from the far side of Buffalo.
The last leg of that drive brings you into Niagara Reservation State Park and along the Niagara River, past stretches of fierce rapids that, over their course, drop 50 feet before reaching the falls.
The park, Great Lakes Gardens on the American side, is laced with flower beds and footpaths, shaded by ancient trees; and in summer, the scent of cut grass and the growl of lawnmowers follow your explorations. Landscaping on the Canadian side mirrors them.
Above the falls, the rushing river is so clear you can count the quarters people have tossed into the water. Below the falls, the river becomes an opaque green, carrying clots of dingy foam downstream. And in between, Niagara Falls.
You can observe the falls by foot, tram, tower, tunnel, cave, boat or helicopter. From the American side or the Canadian. You can view them at night, when they’re lit up. Or in winter, for the river flows year round.
But the boat ride on the Maid of the Mist — actually there’s more than one — makes Niagara personal, hands you the blue plastic raincoat you can keep and bears you upon waters freshly fallen from the brink, past American Falls to the churning base of Canadian Falls.
Before the spray from Niagara makes it impossible, you’ll look up to the crest and see a thin line of smooth water, the turning point that converts a river to a waterfall. You’ll feel the wind generated by the downpour, then the water itself. The deck beneath your feet bobs to the power of its turbulence.
Niagara Falls has become stronger with age. It has had to. These days, its competition is no longer just the Grand Tour of Europe but the whole rest of world — and a prejudice that an American clich for daredevils and honeymooners couldn’t possibly be worth a visit.
But just as surely as its plume of vapor ascends over the countryside, Niagara Falls rises above the nudge of tourist traps on the American bank and hulking casinos on the Canadian.
What 12 million people a year still come here for is communion with nature on a grand scale.
Niagara Falls, wet and roaring, communes right back.
IF YOU GO
THE DETAILS
Niagara Falls is on the U.S.-Canadian border, 15 miles northwest of Buffalo, N.Y., or 85 miles south of Toronto, ’round the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Two towns take their names from the falls: Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ontario.
GETTING THERE
By car: Buffalo is in western New York state at the eastern tip of Lake Erie, 535 miles northeast of Chicago on Interstate Highway 90.
By train: on the U.S. side, daily service Chicago-Buffalo on Amtrak’s Lakeshore Limited, then change to the Maple Leaf route for Buffalo-Niagara Falls; on the Canada side, daily service on VIA Rail.
By plane: you’d fly into Buffalo Niagara International Airport, served by AirTran, American Airlines, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United and USAirways. Flying time is about an hour and 20 minutes.
Buffalo to Niagara Falls: To drive to the falls from the airport, take I-90/I-290 though Amherst and Tonawanda to I-190. Exit Robert Moses Parkway continuing west to Niagara Reservation State Park.
By tour bus: Gray Line of Niagara Falls/Buffalo. (800-695-1603)
PRICE LIST
Niagara Falls is “open” 24 hours a day, year-round. However, many of the more inventive ways to see it operate seasonally, usually May-October. (All prices in U.S. dollars, subject to increase.)
Parking (U.S.): year-round in either of two lots in the state park. Free off-season, $5 in season.
Viewmobile tram (U.S.): seasonal; $4.50 adults, $3.50 children.
Cave of the Winds (U.S.): seasonal; $6 adults, $5.50 children 6-12.
Maid of the Mist (U.S. and Canada): seasonal; $8.50 adults, $4.80 children 6-12, free to children under 5. Elevator to boat on Canadian side is included in Canadian ticket. Elevator to boat on U.S. side is in the Observation Tower, with separate and additional admission of 50 cents. (716-284-8897)
Observation Tower (U.S.): year-round; 50 cents.
Master Pass (U.S.): seasonal; covers Cave of the Winds, Maid of the Mist, Observation Tower, Aquarium of Niagara and Viewmobile tram: $21 adults, $16 children 6-12.
International border crossing: year-round via the Rainbow Bridge. By car, $2.50 per vehicle one-way, return at no additional charge. By foot, 25 cents each way, adults and children. (Be prepared to show proof of citizenship.)
Parking (Canada): year-round in various locations. Price varies by season, vehicle type and parking lot.
People Movers (Canada): year-round; $3.50 adults, $1.75 children; includes parking in designated lots.
Skylon Tower (Canada): year-round; 775-foot high tower with observation deck and revolving restaurant. Observation deck is $5.50 adults, $2.75 children. (888-366-9297)
Journey Behind the Falls (Canada): year-round; $4.50 adults, $2.25 children 6-12, free to children under 6.
Incline Railway (Canada): seasonal; 70 cents each way, adults; 35 cents each way, children.
NEARBY ATTRACTIONS
Old Ft. Niagara (U.S.): year-round in Youngstown. Costumed historians populate original pre-Revolutionary stone buildings and ancient fortifications. $6.75 adults, $ 4.50 ages 6-12.
Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises (U.S.): seasonal in Lockport. Pass through five of the original 1825 locks on the canal. $10 adults, $7 ages 4-12.
Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum (U.S.): seasonal in North Tonawanda. $3 adults, $1.50 ages 2-12.
Niagara Power Project (U.S.): year-round. One of the world’s largest hydro-electric plants. Free.
LODGING
If its rooms and suites are as comforting as its meals, the Tudor-inspired Red Coach Inn would be an excellent place to overnight. Lodging rates run $79-$319 depending on season and appointments such as fireplaces, whirlpool tubs and kitchens. Steak and fish figure prominently on the dinner menu. For lunch, I savored the grilled chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers on foccacia bread ($6.95) baked fresh in the restaurant. It was accompanied by homemade sweet-potato chips and preceded by a basket of sourdough bread and just-whipped strawberry butter. (800-282-1459) Or contact Western New York Bed & Breakfast Association. (800-510-4626)
INFORMATION
Buffalo, N.Y.: (800-BUFFALO)
Niagara Falls, N.Y.: (800-338-7890)
Niagara Reservation State Park, N.Y.: (716-278-1796)
Niagara Park, Canada: (877-NIA-PARK)
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Toni Stroud’s e-mail address is tstroud@tribune.com.
