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Exploring Niagara County Beyond the Falls
They roar, they splash, they overwhelm people who come to see them from around the world. Walk the stairs beside the falls at the Cave of the Winds attraction, or ride the famous Maid of the Mist boat, and you’ll experience how wet they are.
But there’s more to Niagara County, New York, than the famous waterfalls. And while you need to spend plenty of time oohing and ahhing over them while you visit the area, don’t miss out on other fun things.
Learn about the Underground Railroad
Niagara Falls has been in the tourism business since the 1820s. Well-to-do Southerners enjoyed the trip to see the falls and would bring their slaves along to tend to their needs. Being across the river from Canada, the town became an Underground Railroad hotspot. This network included both Black and white people who helped enslaved people become free.
The Cataract Hotel was the epicenter of the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls. Many a Southern slave owner was bewildered and/or outraged when his “property” went missing at this establishment. Black waiters who worked in the hotel were responsible for this slick rescue operation, helping enslaved people slip out of the hotel and into boats waiting to ferry them across to Canada.
At the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, you can learn all about how people risked their own lives and safety to help others escape from slavery. I took a one-on-one guided tour billed as a conversation. You can also browse the exhibits and learn on your own.
See the Daredevils’ Final Resting Place
Most of the people who have jumped into Niagara Falls over the years are suicides—estimates run to about 5,000 total since the 1830s. But a smaller number of these are daredevils who intentionally pit themselves against the powerful falls. Some of these now rest in Oakwood Cemetery.
Annette Baumgarden, president of Oakwood Cemetery Heritage Foundation, gave me the daredevil tour during my visit. An exuberant former art teacher, Baumgarden tells the daredevils’ stories as though they’re neighbors she’s gossiping about.
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“Right here, we are coming upon Strangers Rest,” she points out as we walk down one of the original paths from when Oakwood was laid out in 1852. “Here is where we would put you if you either weren’t from here, you had no family here, you had an accident, there’s only a piece of you or something.” Uh, only a piece? “Like if there’s only an arm. No offense. Because you know, the falls are really no joke.”
We see the final resting place of Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to survive a trip over the falls. The 63-year-old schoolteacher made her triumphant plummet in 1901.
Maud Willard tried navigating the infamous Whirlpool Rapids the same year with poor results. She asphyxiated when her barrel got stuck in a whirlpool. However, the little terrier she brought along for the ride survived by sticking his snout in the air hole and sucking up all the air.
Daredevils is just one of the tours available to cemetery visitors. Baumgarden has also led tours on phenomenal females buried at Oakwood, and on the many Armenian residents.
Kayak the Niagara River
While we don’t recommend that readers go over the falls in a barrel, a calmer stretch of the Lower Niagara River is suitable for kayaking. You can rent a kayak or join a guided tour with Niagara Outfitters. During my visit, owner Libby Broderick met me at the boat launch in Lewiston, six miles north of Niagara Falls.
Broderick explained the currents, eddies, and wind effects to me before we launched our kayaks and started the six-mile paddle north to Youngstown. “We’re going to be with the current, which is awesome because we can really paddle as much or as little as you want,” she told me. Because of the current, it’s a one-way journey with a shuttle back to the start.
The river is about a third of a mile wide here and separates the US from Canada. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and to check out the settlements on the Canadian side.
Biking and Ebiking
While the Canadian side of Niagara Falls has many casinos and neon, the New York side features a state park. This means way more natural areas for folks who’d prefer hiking and biking to gambling.
You can take a self-guided journey around the town of Niagara Falls and its environs with the Reddy Bikeshare program. You must be over 18 and set up an online account to participate.
If you prefer riding in the countryside, sign up for one of Niagara Outfitters’ group ebike tours. Folks visiting in autumn can join the tour focusing on fall foliage.
Eat Indian Food
Niagara Falls attracts a huge number of Indian and Indian American tourists. I’m very grateful to them because that means lots of Indian restaurants. From dosa carts to high-end establishments, finding a good meal is easy.
On my first night, I went to the South Indian restaurant Banana Leaf Grand, where I ate a massive masala dosa washed down with a fresh lime soda. The second night, I ate two doors down at a Nepali place called Good Luck Restaurant. There, I had excellent chana masala and roti, only slightly diminished by trying not to stare at the sassy taxidermied red fox posed in the front window.
In Niagara Falls, you could eat at a different Indian restaurant every day for more than a week. Good news for vegetarians and vegans.
Visit a Carousel Museum
At the Herschell Carrousel Museum in North Tonawanda, you can ride a restored 1916 carousel—a restoration job that took a whopping 34 years—built on the premises. What was once a carousel factory is now a museum with a few rides.
If you appreciate obscure museums, you’ll love perusing the still-operational equipment demonstrating how Wurlitzer music rolls were produced. This is the signature music of carousels everywhere. You can also watch artists create carousel animals on the carving floor and even sign up for a class.
Meditate at a Shrine
Need a little quiet time? Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Youngstown offers 15 acres of gardens and a glass-domed basilica. People of all denominations are welcome to enjoy the peace or take a self-guided tour of the site, which features many monuments and mini-shrines. The annual Festival of Lights is a bright and happy Christmastime event from late November through early January.
If You Go
Niagara County is beautiful year-round. But expect hard going in the snowy winter and big crowds in summer. Spring and fall are a good compromise—the temperatures might be on the cool side, but things will be less crowded. I visited in September and was lucky to have beautiful weather.
The 1929 art deco Giacomo Hotel blends history and comfort and is only a few blocks from the state park. From its 19th-floor Skyview Lounge, you can watch the nightly fireworks display.
Bring dollar bills with you if you walk across to the Canadian side. Or, better yet, quarters. You’ll need them to get through a turnstile back to the US side. Credit cards won’t cut it. Thanks to the woman who gave me four quarters when I was stuck in Canada.
Visit the official Niagara Falls USA site for more information, or visit in person at 10 Rainbow Boulevard. At the visitor center, you can get a fun photo of yourself going over the falls in a barrel—for free. Cave of the Winds tried to charge me 40 bucks for a similar photo.
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Author Bio: Teresa Bergen is a Portland, Oregon-based writer who specializes in outdoors, eco, vegan and sober travel. She’s on a mission to paddle in every US state and Canadian province. Teresa is the author of Easy Portland Outdoors and Sober Travel Handbook, and co-author of Historic Cemeteries of Portland, Oregon.
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