Niagara Falls: Summer Break Camping in Canada
So my husband is a van guy. He LOVES his red, 15-passenger, used-to-be-a-church-van beast of a vehicle. Before his current van, he had a slightly smaller also red 1987 Dodge. Do I think it’s a little weird? Sometimes. And I hate that it’s an earth-killing machine. But I love it because he loves it. And I make sure he always gets the kind with windows, even if it makes him a nerd in the van community.
Anyway, we took this van love of his from our former home in south central Pennsylvania on a summertime camping trip through New York to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. And goodness was that a beautiful experience. It took us 7 days to make our giant loop, but we easily could have doubled that time. So today I’m going to break down exactly how you can replicate this trip - where to stop, where to sleep, and what to see!
Stop 1: Watkins Glen State Park
At the very southern end of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in New York, there is a town called Watkins Glen. I could spend a week in Watkins Glen on its own! It was such a cute town, plus they had a Ben & Jerry’s. We stayed at Watkins Glen State Park Six Nations Campground, which was just up the hill.
While you’re here, make sure to see Seneca Lake and the waterfalls at Watkins Glen State Park. If you’re into shopping, there are several cute stores along the main street in town.
There are a ton of places to stay and eat in Watkin’s Glen if you prefer to sleep in a bed and eat food without campfire taste, but since we were camping we cooked all our own food this time around. Except for the ice cream. We definitely had to stop for some ice cream.
Stop 2: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Kingston had our favorite campground of the three. We stayed at Rideau Acres Campground and it was the perfect mix of inhabited (for me) and wilderness (for Husband). Our campsite was SUPER deep, and backed up to a big lake. We pulled the van in and parked between a mini-forest of trees, so when we were at our site we couldn’t see any neighbors. But a quick walk out to the main road connected us to many other campers.
We mostly stayed at the campground this time since there was plenty to do and see there. We brought our bikes and rode those around for a while, we explored the rocks and beachy areas by the water, and saw all kinds of wildlife! We even had a beaver friend swim right by us and start munching on a tree outside our van window. Not gonna lie…we thought it was a water snake at first.
As far as food goes, we actually stopped in an Irish Pub called Tir Nan Og on the way into town. I’d definitely recommend walking around Kingston for a bit and grabbing a bite there.
Stop 3: Niagara Falls
Well, Niagara Falls was exactly what I expected in the best of ways. It was busy and touristy and gigantic. There are a few things I’d recommend doing while you’re there:
Read about all of the people who have attempted to jump off the Falls as a stunt. It’s pretty interesting, especially because my husband didn’t believe me when I told him people actually survived!
Ride bikes. Honestly, I don’t LOVE bike riding. But having ours on this trip made a ton of things way more accessible than if we were walking or driving. We were able to get into the town from our campsite without having to worry about where we would park or whether we would hit traffic. We were able to explore beyond the Falls along the river and into neighboring areas much farther than we could just by walking. And because we were bike riding, we found the #3 suggestion which is:
Hike to the whirlpool. Follow the river for a while and you’ll find a trailhead. This is a pretty short (quarter to half a mile maybe?) hike down to the whirlpool, a part of the river that swirls around as the river turns and changes direction. So, we shouldered our bikes and started walking down. Yup. I married a man who thinks I’m super strong and independent and didn’t think twice about whether I would actually want to walk down a mountain with a bicycle. Spoiler alert: I REALLY didn’t want to. But gosh, it was worth it to put our feet in the water and see the river from down below instead of above. Which he made sure to remind me of before we had to hike back up.
Eat jerk chicken at Shooks A Taste of Jamaica. We’re not familiar with the area, so it felt like we were biking to a super random place away from the big, main attractions, but head over there if you get a chance! I don’t eat meat, but they had a really yummy veggie option and Husband hasn’t stopped craving jerk chicken since we’ve been back!
We camped at the Niagara Falls KOA campground. If you haven’t been to a KOA, it’s one of those campgrounds that doesn’t really feel like camping. They tend to be super family friendly with lots to do and space for big groups. It has rows upon rows of RV and tent sites, a pool, cabins, and lots of people in very close proximity. But the bathrooms! These were hands down the NICEST camping bathrooms I have EVER seen. The campground “restaurant” though…I’d recommend avoiding it.
What I read:
Unpack Your Impact by Naomi O’Brien and Lanesha Tabb. One of my favorite books about teaching strategies and subjects. I read this book so quickly but come back to it again and again for tips on teaching social studies, writing, and really just how to make sure that our students end up growing into decent citizens. 5 out of 5 stars for this one.
Classroom Impact:
There are a few ways this trip has influenced my classroom, but I’ll start with the academic stuff.
I mentioned the history of people jumping off of Niagara Falls. This could be used for history or physics lessons.
The wildlife and landscapes that we saw inspire conversations about conservation and caring for the environment. I’d love to plan a project asking students to create a park or other natural area and explain the ecosystems (biology), cost to maintain (math and economics), activities and reactions of visitors (psychology and sociology), how they would make the park accessible for as many people as possible (social studies), and the list goes on!
Emotionally, trips like this are so good for my soul. Disconnecting with my regularly scheduled routine and reconnecting with sunrises over the lakes mentally prepares me to return to my classroom refreshed and relaxed. It allows me to relate to students who enjoy being outside, practice mindfulness, and bring new elements of visualization and imagination into teacher-student interactions. I’ve even seen so many camping-themed classrooms or reading nooks, it was hard not to want to decorate like that when we got back!
How would you create a lesson around camping? On a non-teaching note, do you find camping enjoyable, or are hotels more your style? Let me know in the comments!
