The noise reaches you first, a deep, continuous roar, and then a column of mist rising above the trees. Riding up the Niagara Parkway from the south, the Horseshoe Falls appear suddenly: a vast curved wall of water, about fifty metres high, pouring over the edge of the escarpment into the gorge below. From the railing at Table Rock you stand almost at the lip, close enough to feel the spray on your face.
The falls formed after the last ice age, when the waters of Lake Erie began to spill over the Niagara Escarpment on their way to Lake Ontario. Since then, the falls have eroded their way upstream by several kilometres, carving the gorge you see below. Today a large part of the river is diverted through tunnels to hydroelectric stations, a process that started more than a century ago and still powers much of Ontario and New York state. At night, and especially in the evenings, the flow over the falls is reduced, and the water is lit in coloured lights.
The city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, with more than eighty thousand people, has grown around the tourist trade, with a strip of casinos, wax museums, haunted houses and towers on Clifton Hill that is loud, bright and absurd. It is easy to avoid if that is not your thing. Every service is available, from fuel to motorcycle repairs, and you will find restaurants and lodging at every price. Expect heavy traffic and high parking prices near the falls in summer.
North of the falls, the parkway becomes much more peaceful. It follows the edge of the gorge past the Whirlpool, where the river turns sharply and spins in a great pool, and past the Niagara Glen, where trails drop down to the rapids. The floral clock and the Botanical Gardens are along the way. At Queenston Heights, Brock's Monument stands on the escarpment, honouring the British general killed there in 1812, and the road then descends toward Niagara-on-the-Lake through orchards and vineyards. This section is a gentle, scenic ride, best early in the morning or late in the day when the tour buses have gone.