# What Is the Niagara Escarpment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567 "2003-07-15T03:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/1 "2003-07-15T03:58:06Z")
Just wondering if someone can explain what is the Niagara Escarpment, how far does it run, and does it include the hill known as Clifton Hill in Niagara, Ont? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/2 "2003-07-15T05:10:50Z")
[Google is](http://www.greycounty.on.ca/tourism/niagaraescarpment.html) [your friend](http://www.escarpment.org/Travel/travel_area_search.htm) In summary it is a massive limestone escarpment running from Lake Huron to Niagara Falls. It’s a UN designated Biosphere, and since [Clifton Hill](http://www.cliftonhill.com/) is right in Niagra chance are you’ll see the escarpment when you look at the falls. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/3 "2003-07-15T05:39:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grey \* > \*\*Google is your friend… In summary it is a massive limestone escarpment running from Lake Huron to Niagara Falls. It’s a UN designated Biosphere, and since [Clifton Hill](http://www.cliftonhill.com/) is right in Niagra chance are you’ll see the escarpment when you look at the falls. 🙂 \*\* Yes, I googled, but I don’t get it. Isn’t an escarpment a wall, but it appears it is not the Niagara River’s gorge. If it does include Clifton Hill, then it appears to me to be nothing more than a steep hill rising above the Niagara River’s gorge. We’ve just came back from there (4th trip), but one book even describes LaSalle’s exploration of the area and the area known as “crawl on all fours” by the Seneca Indians refers to three peaks comprising the escarpment near Lake Ontario, I presume from the description…and not near the Falls as IMAX Niagara would lead you to believe. Perhaps, there are better places where the escarpment is more obvious? Perhaps, at Niagara Falls, it is lost to the view and surroundings? - Jinx 😕 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/4 "2003-07-15T05:50:19Z")
Actually, the Falls are the result of the Niagara River eating away at the Escarpment for a few years and the actual Escarpment is several miles down river (north) of the Falls, just south of Lewiston, NY and a bit east of St. Davids, ON. Since Clifton Hill is _in_ Niagara City, it is not part of the Escarpment and the only way that it would “overlook” the Escarpment would be to consider the entire course of the Niagara Gorge from the Escarpment back to the Falls as a “peninsula” or “bay” of the Escarpment. (You are free to do so, of course.) (The Escarpment also continues across the Canada/U.S. border, extending into upstate New York for a ways past Rochester. (At Lockport, it caused the old Erie Canal to have five adjacent/successive locks to overcome the change in altitude.) ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/5 "2003-07-15T05:52:51Z")
Its the leading edge of a big (I mean really big) piece of rock. The falls _ **fall** _ over it into Lake Ontario. [Check here](http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/publications/niagara/study_area.asp) > [@](#): > > The Niagara Escarpment is the steep face of a 650-mile sickle-shaped cuesta (bedrock ridge) that runs from the northeastern United States south of Rochester, New York, across portions of southeastern Canada, and then southward north and west of Lake Michigan to southeastern Wisconsin (Map 3). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/6 "2003-07-15T06:03:08Z")
If you want to _see_ the Escarpment, drive up the QEW toward Hamilton. As soon as you are past the walls and houses in Niagara Falls (or, at least, once you’re past St. Catherines), you begin to see it rise up on the south (although it feels like the west since you’re going “north” to Hamilton and Toronto). It parallels the QEW for most of the trip to Hamilton. (I don’t remember whether it is obvious when you go _down_ the Escarpment on the QEW. One thing to remember is that the land adjacent to it rises and falls with erosion and deposition, so sometimes it stands out as a towering wall, and sometimes it appears to be little more than a slight hill in the distance. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/7 "2003-07-15T07:23:20Z")
If you want to experience the Niagara Escarpment hike the [Bruce trail](http://www.brucecounty.on.ca/tourism/brucetrail.htm), 773 km long which follows the escarpment. **tomndebb’s** description is exactly how I remember it when I lived in it’s shadow for the first 30 years of my life.(BTW, citizens of St Catharines are sensitive to foreigners who continually mispell the name) Some interesting points. 1. I’ve always noticed that in the winter there seemed to be a lot more snow above the escarpment than below. 2. From my high school geography I learned that as a result of a railroad constructed with an elevated ballast running below and parallel to the escarpment and the QEW highway,(St Catharines to Hamilton) many many years ago, the land use of the area between the escarpment and the railroad changed forever. Apparently cold air that would descend down the escarpment would be trapped by the elevated railroad, resulting in much longer frost periods than before. IIRC whereas fruit trees predominate north of the railroad, grapes predominate south of the railroad. ---
**Author:** ![NoGoodNamesLeft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8797f3/32.png) [@NoGoodNamesLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoGoodNamesLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/8 "2003-07-15T11:31:08Z")
I lived on it! No, it’s not related to Clifton Hill. Clifton Hill is more or less a semi-steep hill with lots of stores on it. The Escarpment is a 300+ foot ‘mountain’ that traces the ‘golden horseshoe’ (the horseshoe shaped area at the foot of Lake Ontario). The escarpment cuts right thru several cities. These cities have development on it and on the flatland below it. Locally, the upper city is called “the mountain”. It’s also home to many nice waterfalls and wildlife. Here’s some good links: [This](http://www.raven1.net/hike2.jpg) is a picture looking from the escarpment down over the lower city. That road running in front is one of many that takes you from the lower city to the upper and back. [http://www.raven1.net/hike36.jpg](http://www.raven1.net/hike36.jpg)]This is a view from the escarpment again but this time looking down on the downtown core. [This](http://www.raven1.net/430cumb.jpg) is the best pic I could find of the actual facade of the mountain. It’s the big cliff behind the apartment building. [This](http://www.watleo.uwaterloo.ca/~piwowar/geog376/Info/Hamilton.jpg) is a satellite photo of the golden horseshoe area. That dark red ‘vein’ that runs along the bottom is the escarpment edge. The green parts are the city lights of the upper & lower city in Hamilton. ---
**Author:** ![pegleg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@pegleg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pegleg)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/9 "2003-07-15T11:51:46Z")
The best way to experience the escarpment without getting out of your car (I know about hiking the Bruce Trail) is to drive Hwy 403 from Burlington to Mohawk Rd. in Hamilton. Then turn around and check the view going downhill. Particularly nice with autumn colours. BTW, in Portugese, “escarpado” means steep. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/10 "2003-07-15T12:58:03Z")
Here are a couple of geologic maps (with write-ups) that both show the extent of the escarpment and explain its origin and the concept of “differential erosion”: [http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/geolwisc/niagesc.htm](http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/geolwisc/niagesc.htm) [http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/niagara.html](http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/niagara.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/11 "2003-07-15T13:04:12Z")
Heh! I’m on the Niagara Escarpment _right now_! I work at Niagara University (home of the Purple Eagles), and perched at the northern end of the American side of the Escarpment. Good things about working on the Niagara Escarpment: 1. You can see across to Canada. 2. Every day, you can see The Falls (or at least the mist rising from it). Bad things about working on the Niagara Escarpment: 1. It is windy. 2. It is cold in the winter. 3. Good thing you didn’t ask this in the winter, I would have frozen to death. Anyway…I think there’s bit of confusion here. As \*_tomndebb_ correctly points out, the Escarpment proper is the approximately six-mile long wall on both sides of the Niagara River, carved by The Falls as they have inched back since the Ice Age. It’s about 100 feet high. The American north end is about a mile north of Niagara Uni, and the Canadian end is a mile south of Queenston. The best viewing points (IMHO) of the escarpment are here at the New York State Power Vista (500 yards north of here) and from various points on the Niagara Parkway (Canadian side). Well worth a visit, Dopers! ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/12 "2003-07-15T13:35:03Z")
Now you’ve got me wanting to hike the Bruce Trail. ``` Bruce ``` ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/13 "2003-07-15T14:47:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\* > Anyway…I think there’s bit of confusion here. As \*_tomndebb_ correctly points out, the Escarpment proper is the approximately six-mile long wall on both sides of the Niagara River, \*\* Well Canadians and the State of Wisconsin disagree. The escarpment actually continues north beyond the Bruce Peninsula, traversing the Manitoulin Islands in Georgian Bay. Beyond this point, I can’t recall it’s exact course, but it continues on into and through [Wisconsin](http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/publications/niagara/). > [@](#): > > This report presents the results of a study conducted during 1999-2001 to collect and compile information about the biodiversity of the Niagara Escarpment throughout its course in Wisconsin, and to identify elements of biodiversity that are most closely associated with the Escarpment ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/14 "2003-07-15T15:25:11Z")
Feh. Cheese-heads trying to steal our thunder, that is. All moaning aside, it does seem a bit rich to identify a geological formation as “the Niagara Escarpment” when it was neither created by the Niagara River nor within shouting distance of anything else called “Niagara.” Couldn’t they have called it, say, “the Green Bay Escarpment”? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-niagara-escarpment/188567/15 "2003-07-15T15:38:43Z")
Oh good, then they’d turn it around and call it Paker Park, Farve Falls, Appleton Ascension or Tailgate trail. Lets just keep it this way. 🙂