Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls State Park, in the city of Niagara Falls, New York, covers the American side of the three waterfalls on the US–Canada border: American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and the edge of Horseshoe Falls. Entry is free and the park never closes; half a day suits most visitors, and a full day leaves room for the boat and Cave of the Winds.

The falls lie on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, about 27 kilometres northwest of Buffalo. They formed at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, when meltwater began to pour over the Niagara Escarpment. Erosion has since pushed the edge about 11 kilometres upstream, leaving the Niagara Gorge below.

By the mid-1800s mills and souvenir stands lined the banks. The Free Niagara movement, backed by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, led New York to create the Niagara Reservation in 1885, now Niagara Falls State Park and the state's first state park. Ontario created Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park on its side the same year. Power stations upstream divert a large share of the river, and a 1950 treaty sets minimum flows over the falls, with more water allowed through the turbines at night and outside the tourist season.

Horseshoe Falls, mostly on the Canadian side, is about 57 metres high and 790 metres wide and carries about 90 percent of the water. American Falls is around 320 metres wide and drops 21 to 30 metres onto a pile of fallen rock. Bridal Veil Falls, the smallest, is separated from it by Luna Island, while Goat Island divides the American side from the Horseshoe. In 1969 engineers shut off the American Falls for several months to study the rock face.

On the American side, Prospect Point gives a view along the brink of the American Falls, and Goat Island leads to Terrapin Point on the edge of the Horseshoe. The Maid of the Mist boats sail into the spray at the foot of the Horseshoe Falls. The Cave of the Winds tour takes visitors by lift down into the gorge to wooden decks beside Bridal Veil Falls, where the water hits close enough to soak everyone.

The state park is free to enter and open around the clock, while parking, the boat ride and the Cave of the Winds are paid and mostly seasonal, from spring to autumn. Early morning gives the quietest walks, and the falls are lit in colour every evening. Bring a passport if you plan to walk across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side. Half a day covers the American viewpoints.

From Buffalo, I-190 north and the Robert Moses Parkway reach the park in about 30 minutes, with paid lots on Goat Island and near Prospect Point. Amtrak trains from New York City and Toronto stop at Niagara Falls station, 3.5 km from the falls, and NFTA buses run from Buffalo and its airport to downtown. Main paths, the observation tower, the visitor centre and the Maid of the Mist are wheelchair accessible, while some island trails and the Cave of the Winds have steps and wet surfaces.