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 Devil's Hole State Park - Niagara Falls, NY Posted by:  Rayman
N 43° 08.000 W 079° 02.833
17T E 658825 N 4777472
Devil's Hole State Park is a small state park midway between Niagara Falls and Lewiston, NY.
Waymark Code: WM1NZC
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 06/12/2007
Views: 77
The following is an excerpt from New York: A Guide to the Empire State in Tour 26:
DEVIL'S HOLE STATE PARK, encompasses the area adjoining the Niagara Gorge and the cavern gouged in the soft layers of rock at the water level of the river. The State has constructed picnic sites and lookout spots, which offer views of the lower rapids and of the gorge up the river toward the Whirlpool and down towards Queenston Heights.
One Indian legend has it that the cavern was the home of the Evil Spirit. According to another legend, the French explorer La Salle entered the cavern in 1679 and heard a mysterious Indian voice prophesy his death years later on the Mississippi. On September 14, 1763, John Stedman, the keeper of the portage, with 24 men and a wagon train was ambushed at Devil's Hole by a band of Seneca Indians. From the massacre which followed, only Stedman and one or two of his men escaped. Two companies of British soldiers stationed at Lewiston hastened to Stedman's relief only to fall into another ambush. Sixty-five soldiers were killed and eight or nine wounded.
The park's picnic facilities aren't the best around, and are limited. There is a pretty nice trail that runs along the rim of the gorge accessible from this park, but only offers views in a few areas. There is also a set of 410 stone steps that will take you down 300' into the gorge to a trail along the river's edge. It's quite the workout going down, and even more coming back up.
Book: New York
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 652
Year Originally Published: 1940
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