Niagara Falls

There are a number of seminal places in the history of the American environmental conservation movement. On the east coast, the Adirondack Mountains of New York, the Everglades in Florida, and Niagara Falls, on the border between western New York and Canada, loom large. Yellowstone and Yosemite in the west are two of the other obvious high temples of the EC movement.

Niagara Falls was the first major natural attraction in the U.S., the place most likely to be known and visited by foreign tourists. As discussed in the Catalogue and associated EC History chapter, James T. Gardner's seminal Special Report of the New York State Survey on the Preservation of the Scenery of Niagara Falls (1880 - Government Publications), written with the aid and contribution of Frederick Law Olmsted, resulted in the creation of the first State Park in the US and changed the visitor experience from tacky exploitation to a focus on appreciation of the natural grandeur of the cataract.

I am a lifelong New Yorker, having lived outside the state only for grad school and a few extended trips abroad. Nevertheless, I had only visited the Falls as a young child, so young that no memory persists. Earlier this month, on an impromptu road trip, my wife Maria and I visited the Falls, viewing it from the Canadian side. Notwithstanding the Fall's fame and my knowledge of its place in the history of the conservation movement, I had fairly low expectations. I was blown away, as was Maria.

I shan't attempt to describe the experience in words - instead I have some photos. But I will just say that a visit is worth the time. We did none of the typical tourist add-ons like the boat to the base or the walk behind the Falls (it was too early in the season even had we been inclined, which we were not). We did not miss them. We just enjoyed marveling at the power and implacability of nature. Very happy we went.