Life on the Ledge

Life on the Ledge. The Niagara Escarpment. Welcome to Peninsula State Park, a diverse and dramatic place. Two features dominate this landscape: rock and water. , At Peninsula, rocky bluffs ascend over 150 feet. They are part of the Niagara Escarpment, a 650-mile geologic formation. This fossil-rich sedimentary rock began to form 420 million years ago at the outer rim of a shallow sea. Today the escarpment is the "backbone" of Peninsula State Park. This varied terrain provides critical habitat for 500-year-old cedar trees, delicate ferns, and rare land snails. , Peninsula also harbors eight miles of shoreline. Wave-splashed and ice-pushed, it is ever changing. Walk the coast to see windrows of rounded cobbles. Watch for boulders strewn near the water's edge. Brachiopod and coral fossils, evidence of ancient Silurian Sea, may be embedded in the rock. , Look along the rocky shore for brachiopod fossils. These two-shelled ocean animals lived here millions of years ago. , Cedar trees are cliff survivors. They sink their roots into rock cervices that catch bits of soil and moisture, then are helped along by rock-bound algae and fungi. At least a few of Peninsula's ledge-loving cedars are over 500 years old.