Frommer's Niagara Region by Barbara Ramsay Orr

Author:Barbara Ramsay Orr
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2011-12-29T00:00:00+00:00

Parks & Gardens

Niagara Parks Commission

While the area around the Falls and Clifton Hill is always busy and full of activity, Niagara Falls offers a number of quiet oases. In the heart of Niagara Falls is the Queen Victoria Park, which features half a million daffodils in the spring. Oakes Garden Theatre marks the entrance to Queen Victoria Park, which extends south along the Niagara Parkway to the Horseshoe Falls. Many open-air concerts are held here throughout the summer season. The Niagara Parks Greenhouse (7145 Niagara Pkwy., Niagara Falls, ON; www.infoniagara.com/attractions/green.html) is a 1,025-sq.-m (11,033-sq.-ft.) greenhouse and surrounding gardens, located just a short distance south of the Horseshoe Falls on the Niagara Parkway. Themed horticulture events occur throughout the summer.

Those who like to dine alfresco have a number of spots to choose from. Originally formed by a glacier drift, today a labyrinth of trails and several bridges make Dufferin Islands a great place to picnic and explore for the day (7400 Portage Rd., Niagara Parks Commission, Niagara Falls, ON; 877/642-7275). These eight islands, connected by bridges, take about 15 minutes to walk, or less to bike; it’s a quiet area of about 16.2 hectares (28 acres), with 2km (1.2 miles) of walking trails. Kings Bridge Park (7870 Niagara River Pkwy.; 877/NIA-PARK [642-7275]), just south of the Falls near Chippawa, is another ideal picnic spot, with its picnic pavilion, picnic tables, restrooms, and playground and splash pad for children. On summer weekends and holidays, there is a parking fee of C$10.

Perhaps the quietest retreat in the area is Navy Island ( 905/356-1338; www.niagaraparks.com/nature/zh/navyisland.php), which is accessible only via boat. More than 10,000 years ago, natives used the island for fishing and canoe building. Today, you can find solace and wild raspberries, grapes, pawpaw, hickory, oak, and blue beech. Camping fees are C$8 adult, C$4 between 12 and 17 years old, and free for children 11 and under.

One not-so-quiet stop that is visited by tour bus after tour bus is the Floral Clock (14004 Niagara River Pkwy., Niagara Falls, ON). The design is changed twice a year, with violas providing color in spring, followed in late May by a labor-intensive operation to install 16,000 carpet bedding plants to form the 12m-diameter (40-ft.) clock face. Spring is the best time to see the clock, with the intense smell of more than 1,200 mature lilac trees representing 225 varieties. I’ve never seen the appeal of the Floral Clock myself, and I’m an avid gardener, but people seem to be perennially interested in visiting this fixture, which has been drawing visitors since 1950. There must be a million pictures of people from around the world standing in front of this floral display.

Peek Inside the Clock

If you walk behind the Floral Clock (most people are much too occupied taking pictures of their family and friends standing in front of the clock to ever do this), you may be able to peek inside; the door is often open to allow visitors to see the drive mechanism of the clock.

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