Western New York Tour

Explore the entire Niagara Frontier. There's much to see in addition to Niagara Falls itself. Prepare your family for a weekend of adventure, with a variety of activities.

In Arcade, board one of the vintage coaches of the Arcade and Attica Railroad (800/841-2418, 716/492-3100). Take a one-and-one-half-hour Victorian steam train ride through western New York. You will pass Gray Mare Swamp, Monkey Run, farmland and woodlands. Curriers is your turn-around point, where you can delight in a 100-year-old Curriers Station and mini-museum. Call ahead for special weekend presentations on such topics as country clogging, folk music or colonial crafting.

It is a short, 30-mile drive along Route 39 from Arcade to Letchworth State Park, with its 17-mile, 600-foot- deep Genesee River Gorge, often called the "Grand Canyon of the East." Here seek out three waterfalls or take a scenic walk on a fitness trail or marked trails in the gorge itself. The middle falls, the most spectacular, is illuminated at night. This is the perfect place to enjoy the scenery or stay overnight at a campsite or family cabin or at the Glen Iris Inn (716/493-2622). Be sure to call in advance for reservations. Take a dip in one of three swimming pools, or go canoeing down the gorge.

Adventure Calls (716/343-4710) provides a rafting trip through the Genesee River Gorge in Letchworth State Park in spring and summer.