The Niagara Escarpment is a UNESCO World Heritage Biosphere Reserve that has hundreds of waterfalls and a 750-kilometre ridge of fossil-filled rock dating back 450 million years.
The Niagara Escarpment has the oldest forest ecosystem and the most ancient old-growth forests found in eastern North America.
This area has the highest plant biodiversity in Canada and is renowned for its hidden waterfalls, caves, rare orchids and wind currents that allow raptors to glide effortlessly on its currents for hours at a time.
In First Nations languages, it is often referred to as “the place where the land meets the sky” and it has been a sacred place of pilgrimage for 1000s of years as it was the first habitable land to reappear after the last ice age roughly 10,000 years ago.
Ontario is an Iroquoian word meaning “land of shining waters” and Niagara means “thundering waters”.
I have found the best most accessible hiking along the Niagara Escarpment is at the two ends of the Bruce Trail along the Niagara River Gorge and Short Hill Provincial Park to the south and the Bruce Peninsula to the north.
The Natural Wonders of the Niagara Escarpment
Here are the 7 natural wonders along Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment:
1. Niagara Falls
2. Nassageweya Canyon
3. Short Hills Provincial Park
4. The Grotto
5. The Blue Mountains
6. The Lions Head
7. Flowerpot Island
These are the must-see natural wonders found on the Niagara Escarpment. There is so much more to see than just Niagara Falls!
