Flat Man

Opened in 2019, this 20-acre (8-ha) park right at the center of the Outer Harbor action is the destination of choice on the Buffalo waterfront for the more active visitor. The Lakeside Complex features a grassy lawn perfect for a pickup soccer or baseball match, a pleasant bike-ped trail along its outer perimeter, and — the pièce de résistance — an exciting mountain-bike obstacle course with loops, a pump track, and rock and tube hazards for the kind of experience you definitely won't find on the Shoreline Trail or any of the on-street bikeways around town.

Though an outing with Buffalo CycleBoats is really more of a "booze cruise" than a sightseeing tour like those that populate the rest of this section, it's also a unique and fun way to get out on the water among the imposing monoliths of Elevator Alley. These 15-seat, pedal-powered craft offer two-hour jaunts along the Buffalo River, past Canalside, and through other area waterways, with an onboard bar (BYOB) and lively music to help the good times roll. And there's a "cheater motor" on the boat to do the work for you if you get tired. Reservations are strongly recommended: they're fully refundable if cancelled 10 days or more in advance, or you'll get a voucher for a future cruise if you cancel three to nine days in advance (or if they cancel on you due to inclement weather).

The Grand Lady is an 80-foot cruise ship that's been offering scheduled cruises and private charters since 1998, first on the upper Niagara River from their former home at Rich Marina in Black Rock, and since 2017 of Elevator Alley from RiverWorks. Passengers on the Grand Lady have their choice of itineraries: the Buffalo River and adjacent areas of Lake Erie are the focus of 90-minute narrated afternoon sightseeing cruises (some departures include a three-course plated lunch; see schedule); dinner cruises are a longer (2½-hour) more elaborate affair with live entertainment, a cash bar, and an elegant three-course meal; craft beer-themed cruises and evening casual cruises are also offered. The schedule is variable, but in general it features one to two of both types of cruise weekly; it's recommended you reserve as early as possible. The Grand Lady sails rain or shine.

Elevator Alley Kayak is not only easily the most reasonably priced of the myriad new kayak rental outfits that have popped up in Buffalo, but their staff is also a strong contender for the most helpful — they're as adept at advising visitors on the practical side of kayaking as they are at pointing out the landmarks along the Buffalo River — and Mutual Park presents a much less daunting scenario for the novice kayaker, with only a small step down from the launch into the boat. Once on board, you're free to paddle around the river and harbor at your leisure for however long you're reserved the boat (but do make sure not to overstay your reservation; they tend to get prickly otherwise). However, if you prefer, you can also opt for a slate of scheduled guided tours that focus on either Buffalo's industrial history or the natural environment that's beginning to reclaim a place along area waterways, presented by the staff in conjunction with Explore Buffalo or the Audubon Society and the Western New York Land Conservancy, respectively. And if you leave your Elevator Alley Kayak session hooked on this hot new pastime, you can check out their retail shop in the historic Barrel Factory two blocks away on Vandalia Street.

The 118-foot (36-m) Edward M. Cotter is the oldest fireboat in the world still on active duty, and is inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark. Launched in 1900, the boat was originally named the William Grattan after Buffalo's fire commissioner at the time. After it suffered a devastating explosion in 1928 (flying sparks from a burning oil barge entered its fuel tank), it was rebuilt from the burned-out shell of its hull at a cost of nearly $100,000. With a maximum speed of about 15 miles per hour (24 km/h), the Cotter is the slowest piece of firefighting machinery the Buffalo Fire Department owns, but it's indispensable for its ability to reach places on the waterfront inaccessible to ordinary fire trucks, and it has ten times the water-pumping capacity of the average fire truck. Over the years, the Cotter has seen action such as going across the lake to Port Colborne in 1960 to help fight a fire at a grain elevator complex; helping keep afloat the Buffalo Naval and Military Park's USS Little Rock after it began taking on water in 1978, and towing the Polish ship Zawisza Czarny off of a sandbar when it came to Buffalo Harbor for a visit in 1983. During the quiet winter months, the Cotter serves double duty as an icebreaker on the Buffalo River; during the summer, it can frequently be seen at local waterfront festivals and boat shows, where tours are also offered.

Opened in May 2013, Wilkeson Pointe is 22 acres (9 ha) of waterfront green space named for Samuel Wilkeson, the former War of 1812 hero, State Senator and Buffalo mayor who vigorously oversaw the dredging and improvement of Buffalo Harbor, which was the deciding factor in the location of the end of the Erie Canal there rather than in Black Rock. Today, Wilkeson Pointe's location between two slips at the former site of Seaway Piers makes for excellent water access: public docking is available, and the park packs in a ton of amenities befitting its status as a focal point of the Outer Harbor: more than just the great views over Lake Erie, Elevator Alley, and downtown that you can get anywhere on the lake shore, Wilkeson Pointe has a large playground for kids, volleyball courts, rain gardens, a beach, a concession stand run by Consumers' Beverages selling beer and light snacks, and its signature feature — a pair of lovely, pinwheel-like rotating wind sculptures. The Shoreline Trail also passes directly through the park: the chunks of marble you see alongside it near the wind sculptures were once part of St. Joseph's New Cathedral on Delaware Avenue, dumped here after its demolition in the 1970s when this was still a derelict industrial site. You can still see architectural details in the stone, such as Ionic volutes, fluting, and dentils.