I’m sure there’s irony in the fact that two places synonymous with congestion — the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Tuesday in the Park stage at Artpark — are linked by one of the most surprisingly peaceful and picturesque trails in Niagara County.

Under the direction of one of my favorite Lewistonians, Marlene D’Aloise — she randomly picked this hike off the Niagara Gorge Trails System map — I headed up the parkway to Lewiston to take in the sights and sounds of the Artpark River’s Edge Trail, the first in a series of eight tours of the enchanting gorge.

Two things before you hit the trail:

• Make sure to take the back entrance off Portage. Coming down Fourth Street makes for a hike before the hike. No fun.

• Take note at how quiet the outdoor bandshell is on an off night. Downright eerie if you’ve battled through hundreds to get a cold one while America graced the stage (or my personal favorite, the Sam Roberts Band, who’ll be at the park on July 30).

But as for the series of hikes, it didn’t take long to mess up my grand plan. Artpark has two trails, one I planned to tackle for this piece, and another I was saving for the end of the series. Instead, a sign at the trailhead informed me the Artpark Gorge Trail is closed “due to dangerous conditions.” We’ll figure out a Plan B. And as for dangerous, those two 12 year olds coming back from the trip weren’t showing too much fear.

As for the River’s Edge, it’s interesting how quickly you disappear into the deep stuff. It’s as if the world disappears behind you, with plenty of wildlife thrashing about in the trees, and the hum of the river down below.

Peaceful stuff. Until the deafening roar of a Whirlpool Jet Boat rushes by! Wow!

Now, I don’t mean to begrudge the Jet Boat owners their fair economic shake, but holy cow, when I walked this path on Thursday it seemed you couldn’t go five minutes without the buzz.

But enough about capitalism.

The trail jumps down quickly, first passing over a nice runoff bridge, then down to two sets of wooden stairs that take you to the river’s edge. Hence the name.

The water is really something at this level — you forget how powerful the river is until you’ve got your foot in it. The first set of stairs is better than the second, and it was sad to see how overgrown the weeds were on the latter. It’s certainly not inaccessible, but looks in serious disrepair.

Here’s where my second issue comes in — there’s no marking after the original trailhead. I came back up from the second set of stairs and headed north toward the bridge, unsure of where I was heading. The trail flattens out and more than once I startled a group of what I assume were huge egrets.

But then, when I got directly underneath the Queenston-Lewiston, there’s a set of large rocks, and a smaller trail heads up away from the river.

Was I supposed to keep going? I was having a great time, and the more I walked, the better the views became.

Part of the charm of being in the thick of nature is getting away from it all.

But there’s something to be said for getting back.