What a beautiful day we had to explore Niagara Falls and the Niagara River gorge area! We took advantage of having our bikes to cover a lot of ground and view the Falls from many different angles. First off, having our bikes saved us about $15 worth of parking since we were able to park the truck in a neighborhood many blocks away from the tourist area and ride back to the Falls! We rode through Niagara Falls State Park to all the lookout points along the American side of the Falls. Being right at the edge of the Falls doesn't give a dramatic view of the expanse of the Falls, but feeling the mist of rushing water on your face while standing a few feet from where hundreds of thousands of gallons of water gush over the edge of the Falls every second is dramatic in its own right. The American Falls crash down on huge piles of rock at the base of those Falls, while the Horseshoe Falls drop 167ft down into the Niagara River below. Goat Island is accessible to tourists and sits between the American and Horseshoe Falls. On the far side of Goat Island are 3 small islands (also accessible to pedestrians and bikers) where you can see the rapids approaching the Falls from eye level. Turns out there is a Junior Ranger program for the Niagara Falls area (despite not being a National Park location) and the kids earned a pretty tough badge over the course of the day!
We made our first International Bike Ride in crossing the Rainbow Bridge over to Canada to view the Falls from a distance....well worth the bike ride and going through Customs as we entered Canada and re-entered the US. The dramatic views from the Canadian side and the chance to stop on the bridge for a photo op was unique. We didn't spend a ton of time on the Canadian side, but long enough for Carlos to find a $2 coin (Canadian dollars) and buy everyone a chocolate sample! We got a good tip about visiting the Power Vista power plant a bit north of the Falls. We got there in time to learn some more about hydro-power and how some water is diverted up river from Niagara Falls to go through turbines down river from the Falls....pretty cool way to preserve the Falls while still generating electricity! We topped off the day with a visit to Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario....and more importantly at the time - pizza! We were hungry by the end of the day, but Carlos, Michael and Mariana still had energy to chase the seagulls off the shore of Lake Ontario while everyone else skipped some rocks into the lake that really does look like an ocean!