Opened in 1849, the Forest Lawn Cemetery is a 267-acre (108 hectares) property that serves as the gravesite of some of the city's most important citizens. Buried here are former U.S. President Millard Fillmore, Indian Chief Red Jacket, from whom the land to create the city of Buffalo was purchased and Pony Express pioneer William Fargo, to name a few. You can stop at the office inside the main entrance for a self-guiding map. Bird watching and Sunday hayride-style tours of the beautiful grounds are also available.
The Darwin D. Martin House Complex is one of the several historic buildings built by Frank Lloyd Wright in and around Buffalo. Located near Delaware Park, the building is a good example of Wright's Prairie style. Other structures on the complex include the Barton House, with original interior wood and art glass, a covered walkway connecting the main house with the conservatory and a gardener's cottage.
Considered among the best in the city when it comes to modern and contemporary 20th-century art, this gallery has a rich selection of works by artists like Sol Lewitt, René Magritte, and Mark Rothko. The Delaware Park gallery also features outstanding work from the 17th-19th Centuries. In addition to the gallery, the center also includes a gift shop and the Garden Restaurant for a bite to eat after all that culture.
Located three miles from downtown Buffalo on the Lake Erie shoreline, this unique urban nature reserve offers 264-acre (106 hectares) of trails, anachronistic boardwalks and a marsh. This preserve is the environmental education site for the Buffalo Museum of Science and it's perfect for bird-watching, hiking, and family picnics—not to mention snowshoeing and cross-country skiing during the cold winters. In the 1950s, the site was used as a refuse dump, but thankfully it was converted to a nature preserve in the 1980s. Admission is free but donations are requested.
The jewel of Buffalo's park system, this public space was one of six designed by famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th Century. The Delaware Park's 376 acres (152 hectares) include one of Buffalo's three public golf courses (Delaware Park Golf Course), plus tennis courts, baseball diamonds, the Buffalo Zoological Gardens and it hosts the popular Shakespeare in the Park Festival every summer. The Rose Garden makes a perfect setting for a romantic walk when Spring arrives and in the winter, bring your skis and do some cross-country skiing over the demarcated trails.
Located in an 1890s tri-domed Victorian glass conservatory on the grounds of South Park and created by NY Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted, these gardens feature exotic flowers and plants from around the world. The gardens are operated by the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Highlights include an orchid and bromeliad house, herb collection, and waterfall. There are also seasonal shows such as Spring Flowers, All-American Annuals in summer, and December Poinsettias.
Casting conductors in period clothing, this tour takes you back to the days of the Underground Railroad through passageways, tunnels and cellars. You get a feel for what runaway slaves went through to escape into Canada. The journey begins at the Michigan Street Baptist Church, home to parishioner William Wells Brown, the first African-American to publish a novel. It then moves Broderick Park, where Web DuBois crossed into Canada. The tour ends at Murphy's Orchards where you will be part of a live Underground Railroad re-enactment.
What started as a devotional center for Our Lady of Fatima in 1954 has blossomed into a 20-acre outdoor shrine, with over 125 life-sized statues, a glass-domed basilica, and a rosary shaped pond. Located in Lewiston, the center was the creation of the Barnabite Fathers, an Italian order hoping to spread the message of Fatima to North America. The center features a 13-foot granite statue of the Virgin Mary atop the Dome Church as well as Carrara marble statues of Jesus and a replica of the original Chapel of Apparitions.
Opened in 1849, the Forest Lawn Cemetery is a 267-acre (108 hectares) property that serves as the gravesite of some of the city's most important citizens. Buried here are former U.S. President Millard Fillmore, Indian Chief Red Jacket, from whom the land to create the city of Buffalo was purchased and Pony Express pioneer William Fargo, to name a few. You can stop at the office inside the main entrance for a self-guiding map. Bird watching and Sunday hayride-style tours of the beautiful grounds are also available.
From its distinctively shaped recess on the border between Ontario and New York, the Horseshoe Falls tumble down to meet the Niagara River with a fierce intensity. Together with the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls, the Horseshoe Falls form the collective attraction of Niagara Falls, set on the mighty river. Also known as the Canadian Falls, this colossal cascade began its descent 11 kilometers (6.83 miles) downstream from where it is today several millennia ago, arriving at its current spot as a result of rigorous erosion. Today, studies show that erosion has greatly reduced, and Horseshoe Falls are deemed to be one of the primary sources of hydraulic power in the region.
Holding the distinction of being the oldest state park in the nation, this 221-acre preserve (89.4 hectares) as its name suggests also contains what has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World: Niagara Falls, its undoubted centerpiece. Also home to the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls, the state park is a land of cascading natural wonders. Studded with a complex set of trails that lead to the spectacular beauty of the Three Sisters Islands, followed by Goat Island, which is the park's most highly-regarded picnic spot. The Cave of the Winds excursion is the nature reserve's most frequented expedition tour. The site's visitor's center features interactive displays, a movie theater for the Niagara Wonders big screen film and a virtual reality helicopter ride above the Falls.
What do Teddy Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe and Diana, Princess of Wales, have in common? You guessed it. They've all taken rides on the Maid of the Mist—or rather one of seven Maids, which first launched its boats in 1846. This world-famous boat takes its passengers right into the heart of the Falls. You can catch the boat on either the American or Canadian side, with boardings every 15 minutes between April and the end of October.