Great Lakes Seaway Trail - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 910

13. Lewiston
Heading south on the Robert Moses Parkway, the drive eases into Lewiston, which was
the site of Niagara Falls some 12,000 years ago. With continuous erosion, it has since re-
ceded seven miles to the south, leaving a spectacular gorge in its wake. Passing its brief
course, the Niagara River descends more than 300 feet in elevation, making it one of the
best sources of hydroelectric power in North America. Much of New York State's power
needs are met by the dynamos that hum eight miles upriver at the Niagara Power Project.
Its visitor center, complete with an observation deck and displays, also features a mural
painted by Thomas Hart Benton that depicts one of the falls' European discoverers, Fath-
er Hennepin, and his first sighting of the Niagara Gorge in 1678. Awed by the falls, “it is
without parallel in the Universe!” he reportedly exclaimed.
Nearby is the terraced woodland of Artpark, a 200-acre state park where visiting artists
of all kinds polish their skills, compare notes, arrange exhibits, and stage musical and the-
atrical events.
14. Niagara Falls
Farther south on the Robert Moses Parkway, past industrial plants and tourist shops, is the
celebrated trio of cataracts known as Niagara Falls. The American Falls are the highest at
184 feet, while the broad sweep of Horseshoe Falls (176 feet high) creates an amphitheat-
er of white water, mist, and thunder that is simply breathtaking. Between them, in the gap
between Goat and Luna islands, the slender Bridal Veil Falls adds its own blend of grace
notes to the deafening din. Together the three waterfalls spill some three-quarters of a mil-
lion gallons of water each second into the gorge below.
ThemainentrypointforviewsofthefallsontheAmericansideisNiagaraReservation
Park, drawing visitors since 1803, when Napoleon's brother brought his American bride
here.Togetneartheedgeofthefalls,walkoverthepedestrianbridgetoGoatIsland,where
you can look straight down into the cacophonous gorge as tons of white water plunge in
shrouds onto huge dark boulders that appear and disappear in the mist. For a closer en-
counter,taketheelevatortotherock-hewntunnelsthatleadtotheCaveoftheWindsatthe
falls' base. Here, you can look straight out at the thundering wall of water.
For an aerial perspective on the scene, ride the elevator to the top of the Prospect Point
observation tower. Then descend to streamside, where a fleet of sightseeing boats that all
bear the same name, Maid of the Mist, has been taking visitors into the maw of the falls for
more than a century.