Niagara Falls

Second to the Grand Canyon, the Niagara Falls are the second most beautiful natural wonder I have ever seen. I went to see the falls with my Mom, Dad, and my brother before the semester started. Honestly, the falls were never high on my bucket list, but after seeing them in person, I realized that I severely misjudged them.

The family and I flew into Buffalo, New York and rented a car to get to our hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. As we approached the city, I noticed a mist above the skyline. It didn’t take long to register in my brain that the mist was being produced by the falls. I wasn’t surprised by the amount of mist being produced, but I was surprised about how close the falls were to the heart of the city.

Thinking back on it, I am reminded of two of the class readings. One was the song “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell. This is a prime example of people “paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.” The area immediately surrounding the falls is a park, but there are several parking lots and basically a major city on each side of the falls. The second is the excerpt from Edward Abbey when he states that we need to take cars out of National Parks. I don’t fully agree that we need to ban cars from National Parks, but there was an overwhelming amount of traffic right by the falls, and the parking was right on the edge of the falls, so it took away from the natural beauty.

Nestled right on the American-Canadian border, Niagara Falls is one of the most visited tourist destinations in North America. I heard before going to the falls that the best views are from the Canadian side, and this statement held true. As urbanized as the falls have become, they are still well-preserved and breathtakingly beautiful. The horseshoe-shaped arch was the prettiest of the three falls that make up the Niagara Falls. It looped around and make a sort of semi-circle waterfall that was clearly visible from both sides, but the best view was from the Canadian side.

I wish I had taken this course before going to Niagara Falls, because I feel like I would have appreciated the natural beauty more than I did at the time, and I would have felt the irony of holding a Tim Horton’s iced coffee while I stood on the edge of the falls.