Five miles from Niagara Falls lies the largest old-growth, urban forest north of the Mason-Dixon Line: Ontario's Niagara Glen. The oldest and tallest trees in the 50-acre forest are tulip trees, which are more than 200 years old and up to 130 feet tall. The trees lie within a rock-strewn section of the Niagara Gorge. Cedars – some 400 to 600 years old – line the gorge, making this an ideal spot for hiking and exploration.
Not far away, along the north shore of Lake Erie, explorers can visit a 380-million-year-old fossil coral reef. Stretching west from the Niagara River, the fossil reef is most easily accessed at the fossil quarry in Port Colborne, Ontario. Trilobites, brachiopods and corals are among the more common fossils found. The quarry is part of the Wainfleet Wetlands Conservation Area, owned by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
Niagara Parks Commission, along the Niagara Parkway from Table Rock House at Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, Ontario, to Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont., 877/642-7275.
Fossil Quarry, Quarrie Road, west side, between Highway 3 and Lakeshore Road, Port Colborne.
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, 250 Thorold Rd. W., 3rd floor, Welland, Ont., 905/788-3135.