The wonderful Bruce Trail has helped make the Niagara Escarpment famous. Its free footpath follows the Niagara Escarpment from Queenston, Ont. north to Tobermory, and is about 885 km long. But the Niagara Escarpment covers much more territory than this!
The Niagara Escarpment is actually an international landform that starts in western New York State, goes from the Niagara Falls area up to the northernmost tip of the Bruce Peninsula, continues underwater, perhaps underground, and surfaces at Manitoulin Island. The curving south shore of the island is part of the Niagara Escarpment, as are smaller islands west of Manitoulin.
It’s not finished yet! The Niagara Escarpment passes through the edge of Michigan, then curves south into Wisconsin, where it stops, or starts, depending on your perspective. I’ve seen it referred to as The Great Arc, which is what it really looks like, according to this map on Wikipedia.
This aspect of the Niagara Escarpment is why our friends at the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy are working at preserving land on Manitoulin Island. And why we’ve met some of the people behind the Wisconsin-based Niagara Escarpment Resource Network. And why Meldrum Bay Inn has their ad on our website, in the upper right corner. Meldrum Bay is on the western tip of Manitoulin Island, very much in the Niagara Escarpment. The Bruce Trail covers less than half of the whole Niagara Escarpment, meaning that there is much more to explore than their trail alone, as fantastic as that is.
From time to time we’ll post more interesting info about the Niagara Escarpment here. Do you have any knowledge to share? Or a question you’d like us to look into? Let us know. Leave a comment here.
