It’s possible for two people to see or experience something and come away with totally different yet perfectly valid opinions.

When it comes to Niagara Falls I very much enjoy the peace and serenity of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and the adjacent state park. The view might not be as sweeping as that from the Canadian side, but it does afford the best opportunity to get close to the waters of the mighty Niagara as they tumble over the rapids and plunge over the edge into the gorge below. Others prefer the Canadian side with its sweeping views of the Horseshoe and American Falls.

The two Niagara Falls are very different. Centered on Clifton Hill Niagara Falls, Ontario focuses more on entertainment with attractions that include Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, Dinosaur Adventure Golf, Wizards Mini Golf, Movie Land Wax Museum, Ghost Blasters, Niagara Speedway (go-karts). Then there is the Niagara SkyWheel, The Great Canadian Midway and Strike Game Zone. Some with little charity describe Clifton Hill as honky-tonk while others with more charity likely would describe it as Disney-esque or Vegas-like.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, does offer attractions more closely related to the falls than Clifton Hill offers. These include Niagara City Cruises (boat tours), Journey Behind the Falls, and an attraction designed for daredevils called the WildPlay Zipline to the Falls for up-close thrills, plus views from Table Rock Centre and the Skylon Tower.

Attractions in Niagara Falls, USA, are centered around the Niagara Falls State Park, which is the oldest state park in the nation. During the 19th century the lands surrounding the falls were lined with factories and businesses utilizing the waters of the Niagara River while threatening its natural beauty. Public access was limited with some property owners charging the public for access to views of the falls. This situation led to a conservation movement known as the “Free Niagara” movement that advocated for public access and the preservation of the falls and its environment.

In 1883 landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and others formed the Niagara Falls Association with the intent of lobbying New York to acquire land and to protect the falls from private exploitation. This effort resulted on April 30th, 1883, in passage of a bill authorizing the “selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls for a state reservation.” In 1885 the Niagara Falls Reservation was established.

The Niagara Reservation was designed by Olmsted and partner Calvert Vaux who had designed New York’s Central Park and also America’s first major park and parkway system in Buffalo.  At Niagara Falls their design completed in 1887 focused on improving public access while preserving the landscape’s natural and scenic elements, to the exclusion of commercial and resort style attractions.

Attractions in the park include the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of the Horseshoe Falls. The original Maid of the Mist was a steam powered vessel launched in 1846 to carry passengers, horses and cargo across the river. The Maid of the Mist Company now operates two electrically powered boats.

I first rode the Maid of the Mist in the early 1950s. At that time Maid of the Mist vessels operated on both the U.S. and Canadian shores, and we boarded on the Canadian side. I don’t remember much about the boat trip but remembered the decent to the gorge on the incline railroad.

My wife and I take the Maid of the Mist every few years. I always try to ride in the bow of the boat where you are sure to get wet but it’s well worth the view you get of the falls. Back when I first rode back in the 1950s you were issued rain gear that kept you dry but these days you are issued light weight plastic raincoats that don’t keep you as dry but which you can take home as a souvenir.

My favorite attraction is the Cave of the Winds. The cave behind the Bridal Veil Falls was discovered in 1834 with tours beginning in 1841. A rockfall in 1920 forced a route change and today walkways reconstructed every spring allow you to approach the base of the American and the Bridal Veil falls. For the brave or for those who don’t mind getting soaked there is the Hurricane Deck where you can experience the full power of the Bridal Veil falls. I have little experience of storms at sea but I suspect like being on the open bridge of a destroyer in a typhoon.

Out on Goat Island a project has been carried out removing non-native plants and replacing them with native species that evolved in and are adapted to the specific Niagara ecosystem. They form the foundation of local food webs and support native wildlife.

I prefer the tranquility of the American side and the state park. On Goat Island with the sunlight filtered by the trees, the roar of the falls in the background and no humans in sight it is sometimes easy to imagine what the falls were like when no white man had yet viewed them. Some say that the American side needs more love and a few more Disney like attractions, but I love the American side of Niagara as it is and I hope it will remain that way for my grandchildren and their children.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com