One of the parks that are operated by the New York State Parks is Devil’s Hole State Park, which is located in Niagara Falls, New York. This historical park overlooks the Niagara River Gorge, as well as the Whirlpool Rapids, and offers visitors the opportunity to picnic, ski, hike, and fish.
Devil’s Hole State Park is located on Robert Moses Parkway, just north of the Niagara Falls, and east of Niagara University. The view and scenery are astounding.
Those who visit Devil’s Hole State Park of can follow one of the trails along the Niagara River approximately 300 feet to the wooded gorge. This allows visitors to view the Gorge Rapids up close, and it is a very popular fishing spot.
Devil’s Hole State Park is also famous for the 1763 battle between the Seneca Indians and the British, which is known as the Devil’s Hole Massacre. During this battle, eighty British soldiers were killed, when their wagon train was rolled into the Gorge. The area was not established as a state park until 1927, even though preservation efforts began as far back as 1887.
Devil’s Hole is not only historic, it can be downright spooky! There is a cave, known as Limestone Cave, located in Devil’s Hole State Park. It was called the Cave of the Evil Spirit by the Indians, and it was predicted that anyone who entered the cave would invite disaster. After this prediction, in 1679, LaSalle entered the cave, and in the following two years had a series of misfortunes and was murdered.
If you are superstitious, of course, you may want to avoid Devil’s Hole. You may want to note that in 1901, just hours after viewing Devil’s Hole from the Trolley, President McKinley was assassinated. In 1917, one of the cars from the Trolley mysteriously flew from the tracks, killing approximately fifty people. There have been many ‘strange’ and ‘mysterious’ accidents around this area over time, although many have been explained away as accidental falls, suicide, and murder.
Devil’s Hole is a result of waters that drained from Lake Tonawanda as the Niagara River eroded. A ravine was created by the falls, which runs perpendicular to the wall of the Gorge. There has been a great deal of exploration concerning the perfectly round ‘hole’ in the waters of the Devil’s Hole Rapids, but to date, nobody really knows why it exists. The area is indeed mysterious!
This area receives some of the heaviest snowfall in the United States, and makes it ideal for cross country skiing and snow-shoeing. In the summer, the average temperature is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and the area receives about 40 inches of rain and snowmelt each year.
The area is rich with beauty, serenity, and of course, a not-so-serene history. To date, there is a petition to remove the section, or at least some of the lanes, of the Robert Moses Parkway that runs through Devil’s State Park. This petition calls for a restoration of the natural beauty of the area.
