Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge is an gorge carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–US border in New York and Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends at the Niagara escarpment near Queenston, Ontario, where the falls originated about 12,500 years ago. The river has formed the gorge, and the Falls has receded upstream and south toward Lake Erie, by slow erosion of hard Lockport dolomite (a dolomitic limestone or dolostone) which is the surface rock of the escarpment combined with rapid erosion of relatively soft layers beneath it. The force of the river current in the gorge is one of the most powerful in the world. Because of the dangers this presents, kayaking the gorge has generally been prohibited. However, on isolated occasions, world class experts have been permitted to navigate the stretch. Tourists can bounce and splash through the rapids of the Niagara Gorge in rugged jetboats, which are based at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, at Lewiston, New York, and in midsummer at Niagara Glen Nature Center on the Niagara Parkway in Ontario. File:Niagara Falls Whirlpool aerial view.jpg|The Niagara River whirlpool basin in Niagara Gorge. File:Niagara Gorge jet boat.jpg|A jetboat powers through the treacherous Niagara Gorge rapids. File:Niagara Gorge Trail.jpg|Niagara Gorge trail near the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.