Vacation/Travel Supplement

Raw power and beauty: Trip to Niagara Falls is one-of-a-kind vacation

The raw power and beauty of Niagara Falls draws more than 11 million visitors each year to the natural wonder that bridges Canada and the United States. (Submitted photos/courtesy Niagara Falls Tourism)

By John Shaughnessy

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.—Try to picture this: a 63-year-old school teacher approaching Niagara Falls, carrying a barrel that she is determined to ride over the edge.

Imagine Annie Taylor looking at the height of the falls—about 170 feet high, which is also about the average depth of the river below the falls.

Now watch as she gets into the barrel and floats toward the raging waters. With frightening speed, the barrel and Taylor plummet over the edge of the falls and crash into the river. Three hours later, rescuers find Taylor.

Amazingly, she is alive, the first daredevil to ever go over the falls in a barrel.

The year is 1901.

While daredevils are mainly a part of the colorful past of Niagara Falls, people from around the world are still drawn by the breathtaking beauty and awe-inspiring fury of this natural wonder that spans one part of the border of Canada and the state of New York.

Last summer, my wife, Mary, and my daughter, Kathleen, and I joined the more than 11 million people from around the world who visit the Canadian side of Niagara Falls every year.

We arrived on a July morning when heavy gray clouds unleashed a relentless downpour on the area. We thought about leaving, continuing our journey toward Ottawa, Canada, but we decided to give the day a chance.

We were glad that we did, especially when the rain passed and we boarded the Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes its 600 passengers into the mouth of the falls. If there’s a must way to experience Niagara Falls, this ride is definitely it.

The boat ride starts calmly, offering nice views of the Rainbow Bridge, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls before turning toward the thunderous Horseshoe Falls.

Closer and closer, the boat slowly cuts through the water toward the fury inside the curve of the falls on the Canadian side. As passengers look up in awe at the raw power of Horseshoe Falls, the water crashing into the river covers the boat in a thick spray which overwhelms the thin royal-blue poncho that each passenger is given before getting on the boat.

It creates a feeling of being drenched in exhilaration, a feeling that especially rushes through the passengers who stand huddled together in the front of the boat.

While the Maid of the Mist is the best way to experience the falls, there are alternatives.

There’s a “Journey Behind the Falls” where people can descend 100 feet in elevators to walk through tunnels that show views of the falls or to stand on an open landing that provides the perfect setting for getting soaked, if that’s the goal.

Then there’s the “White Water Walk,” a land path that enables people to get close to the falls and the raging waters that come from four of the five Great Lakes: Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior. The walk also features a photo gallery of daredevils, including Annie Taylor.

Another interesting view comes from the Rainbow Bridge, one of the bridges in the area that connect the United States and Canada. People can drive, walk or bike across the bridge, and the bikers and walkers sometimes pause for photos by a marker that shows one of the borders of the two countries.

Then there’s the view from Skylon Tower. Rising 520 feet above the falls, the tower has places to eat and an observation desk that supposedly offers a view of 80 miles on a clear day.

Botanical gardens and a butterfly conservatory are other nature-related attractions in the area. So is the Bird Kingdom, which features more than 400 birds flying through a rainforest setting that has a 40-foot waterfall.

Then there are the rainbows. When we visited Niagara Falls, a day that began with seemingly no chance of sunshine in the early morning was brightened by the sun and blue skies within several hours, creating rainbow after rainbow in the mist of the 12,000-year-old falls.

While the power and beauty of nature lure tourists to Niagara Falls, the area also reflects the commercialism that naturally comes when 11 million people a year need a place to stay, something to eat or other ways to be entertained after admiring one of the wonders of the world.

Indoor water parks, a haunted house, a casino, dinner theaters, souvenir shops, an IMAX theater and other attractions—including Guinness World Records and Ripley’s Believe It or Not—are part of the landscape of Niagara Falls.

So are the efforts to keep the falls a tourist attraction late into the night. Throughout the year, the falls are illuminated in different colors every evening after sunset. From mid-May to late August, there are also concerts and fireworks displays on the nights of every Friday, Sunday and holiday.

On the day we visited, the nightly illumination of the falls was a major disappointment. Yet it didn’t matter. Nearly a year later, the power and the beauty of the falls still linger in the mind.

It’s one of those places—one of those adventures—that should be experienced.

American travelers heading to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls should be aware of the identification requirements for entering Canada.

If you are an American citizen, you do not need a passport to enter Canada when you are driving there. You do need a photo ID and some proof of your citizenship, such as a birth certificate or a certificate of citizenship or naturalization.

Valid identification is also needed for the children riding in your car. And if you are traveling with children who aren’t part of your family, you need a signed consent form from their parent or guardian stating that you have the permission to do so.

A passport is required if you are an American citizen entering Canada by air.

(For more information about Niagara Falls, log on to the Web site at niagarafallstourism.com.) †