Free with fantastic views of the falls, down river and across to Canada…read more We came here after being ripped off for a view at the lower falls down the way. This was far superior at no cost, redeeming my reputation with family.

The Prospect Point Observation Tower (also known as Niagara Falls Observation Tower) is a great…read moreway to admire the full grandeur of the falls from Niagara Falls, NY. Although it is set a short distance away from the edge of the falls, it is close enough to the falls to occasionally enjoy a refreshing spray. From here, you can get a clear view of all three falls, including American Falls, as well as the mesmerizing rapids. The boarding area for the Maid of the Mist tours is located at the base of the tower, accessed by a high-speed elevator from the observation deck. The base of the tower also provides access to the Crow's Nest, a smaller observation area located much closer to the falls. You do not need to go on a Maid of the Mist tour to go to the lower level, but there is a small fee for the deck and elevator.

Cave of the Winds is the must do while visiting the Niagara Falls American side! You will leave…read moreimpressed with the pure power of water!! Make no mistake, you will get wet here! You must purchased timed tickets, grab a souvenir poncho, ride an elevator, and take a short walk to get to the Cave of the Winds. All to get 175ft down into the heart of the Niagara Gorge! There are several wooden pathways and stairs which take you feet within the roaring Bridal Veil Falls edges. But, the highlight is the Hurricane Deck! You will feel the falls pelting you and be completely soaked!!

I rarely give out 5 stars but this was awesome! My whole life I have been impressed by the power of…read morewater. At Cave of the Winds, you FEEL that power on the Hurricane Deck. Although I didn't have the guts to get all the way back to that rail where the falls come crashing down behind you, I got close enough to feel the wind pushing me over. The deck vibrates as the water pounds the supports. Make no mistake, you will get wet here, especially if you venture onto the Hurricane Deck. We really didn't get too wet because we wore our rain coats and put the provided poncho overtop which protected everything except our faces and feet. DO THIS. My friend told me she wasn't interested in getting soaked but I convinced her to come and she thanked me afterwards. AWESOME!!! You can also choose to stay down on the lower deck where you don't get wet at all. My husband did that. I am going to drag him up on the Hurricane Deck next trip...

This remains a great bridge if you need to get to Canada or coming home from Canada. You need the…read moreNexus card, but then it's always fast and easy. I'm definitely a fan of this bridge. There's also a lot of nice public mural art near nearby.

I had just come from the boat ride at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and gone past the massive…read moretraffic queue for the Rainbow Bridge, so I was very curious as to why there's absolutely NO ONE waiting to cross over on the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. Standing there and wondering, one of the Canadian customs officers asked if I needed any help so I asked why there's no queue here. He very politely (aren't all Canadians polite?) explained that not only is this bridge for non-commercial traffic, it is also limited to only NEXUS card holders. So if that's you and you've seen the massive wait for the Rainbow Bridge, come on down to the Whirlpool Bridge for a very quick crossing! [Review 1504 of 2024 - 427 in New York - 22527 overall]

Good quick pitstop (about 5-10 minutes) on the way back from Niagara Falls. It's an old stone…read morechimney, with some signage about the history of the chimney and some surrounding green space. There's a small parking lot with spots for a few cars.

Restored and Relocated 3x [Niagara Falls NY]…read more I know it isn't much when you look at it... an old brick chimney, but when I read the history behind it I found it interesting. At first we couldn't find the chimney. The directions from Yelp took us to a different place. We finally found it when hubby saw photos posted on Yelp and it had the lake in the background. There were two interpretive signs next to it... one of them explained why the chimney had been moved 3 times in the past! The sign said that the chimney was moved when it was "threatened by development." The Old Stone Chimney is a historical landmark. The effort to preserve it is more than 250 years old. There is a small parking area nearby and also benches by the chimney to relax. No picnic tables nearby but you can probably throw a blanket on the grassy area and have a picnic by the lake. Review #3021

A great addition for the fee to go up to the viewing vista (that high platform where you get the…read moreview above the water)! Yes, the $2.50 (Canadian) you're paying for indeed include this. It's the line on the furthest right hand side when you approach the vista viewing entrance -- vista being on the left side. On certain days / hours with the wind blowing just right, you can walk the Crows Nest path up to the water fall and get soaking wet. And I do mean soaking wet. The folks working down there kindly gave us the Maid of the Mist ponchos. Yay! This was a great experience and value for your buck. You can get a mini feel of the power of the Niagara. There's another attraction where you can also get close up to the water fall and also feel the mist, but that's a separate attraction at a higher cost. I highly recommend Crows Nest!

I have crossed this bridge by foot and by car and it is a great experience both ways!…read moreCrossing by foot is really fun. Even as an adult it is fun to step over the official border line and joke about being in two places at once. You also get some incredibly amazing views. You will need your passport and still do need to go through customs (for some reason some people think that you walk you won't have to). Driving can often have waits, but they seem to not be as bad as some of the other bridges are. Probably because this is more of a tourist bridge than commuter (since the others attach directly to the highways). If you are traveling to Canada and want some great falls views, this is a great bridge.

Rainbow Bridge is a scenic and historic crossing between the Falls on both sides…read more It's a big, beautiful bridge! It does its job!

Please do yourself a favor whether you're staying on the U.S. side of the falls of the Canadian…read moreside, book a tour with Motherland Connextions! I found this company on Viator. I found the Underground Railroad tour in Buffalo and immediately booked. Why did I book? For starts, it's a 3 hour tour learning about one of the most historic and unknown aspects of American history. It is extremely well priced for the convenience and intimacy of the tour. You're picked up at the Underground Railroad Historic Museum (free parking is a bonus) and you're met by Kevin (dressed in period clothing including a dope top hat). He drives you to the key areas of Buffalo that were critical to the Underground Railroad. We had a very diverse tour group and Kevin made us feel comfortable to ask questions and to interact with our group. One of the best parts of the tour was going to an actual "station" on the Underground Railroad. It's a 300 year-old barn organically owned by McClew family who were "conductors" on the Underground Railroad. You get to experience the barn where many people were housed, fed, and clothed on their journey to Canada. After this experience 've become a Motherland C groupie! Kevin (the owner) could be a history professor (watch out, Dr. Gates!) with his knowledge and passion of American history and the history of Western New York (he's a Buffalo native). Kevin even gave great recommendations for shops, food and hotels for the Toronto leg of our trip. They offer a variety of tours so make sure to check out their website to get their schedule.

We booked a guided tour of the history of the Underground Railroad here in Niagara Falls for this…read moreafternoon. Turns out we were the only ones on the tour today, so it was a wonderful, personal experience with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide named Kevin Cottrell. He was a great storyteller and a beautiful human being. We visited many historic places and heard many disturbing and heartbreaking stories. This was definitely one of the best guided tours of its kind I have ever been on. Highly recommend.

When we first visited this site, we thought it was simply the remains of an old power plant. We…read morewere attracted to it by a call of a peregrine falcon. He was next to the building, past a fenced area, calling to other peregrines. We looked around and left. The next day we returned to look around more, and we saw a group of fishermen disappear inside. Intriguing! We followed them in. Inside was an elevator - with directions - that took us down to a shoreline. The fishermen who rode down with us told us they would walk along it to find a spot to fish. But they weren't going to keep the fish. Said they weren't good for eating. They would release whatever they caught. We saw along the wall of the base of the power plant huge panels of information about it. We also saw part of the American Falls when we walked down to the water. When we went back up, we saw a plaque in front of the building, praising those whose efforts led to hydro-electric power. Glad we stopped both days.

This is a historic site often barely mentioned in passing in guidebooks and brochures for Niagara…read moreFalls, and apparently off the beaten path but not entirely hidden, it's well worth a visit (and free of charge!). Parking is not a concern since the power plant site is adjacent to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Centre/Niagara Gorge Trailhead Building and the parking lot for it. Entering the stone structure, there's a big lift ahead, which will take you right down to the ground level where you're free to explore whatever is left of the once-active power station. Walk a little further down and you'll also get a wide angle view of the Rainbow Bridge and, of course, the grand Niagara River. There are brochures, maps, coupons, and guidebooks for nearby attractions and businesses once you're back up on the upper ground level where you took the lift, and the booklet with black and white pictures about the history of the site and the disaster in 1956 is another treat.

While in Niagra State park we took a quick photo after finishing Cave of the Winds. We learned…read moreTesla played a major role in utilizing the falls to energize the surrounding cities. We took a quick photo of the statue and selfie.

The inclement weather kept most visitors away for.viewing any part of Niagara Falls. On the way…read moreout of the park we stopped to see the Upper Rapids. It was very impressive to view the strength of the water rushing towards Niagara Falls. It was also cold and we were prepared with our hooded jackets and wintery clothes. Even the Canadian geese did not seem bothered by the weather. Free parking lot.

There would be no Niagara Falls without the Niagara River. Seems self evident, but still worth a…read moremoment of thought. What is often overlooked is that four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie all drain to the east, meaning that all the water flowing west to east ultimately travels through the Niagara River, over the Falls and into Lake Ontario before moving into the St. Lawrence River on the way to the Atlantic Ocean. That is a whole lot of water, and it explains while the only 36 mile long river carries more water, sediment and dissolved minerals than any other watercourse its size on Earth. That its course is north is explained by looking at a map of the Lakes. The eastern end of Lake Erie is actually southeast of the western end of Lake Ontario, and the channel connecting them (Niagara River) must navigate almost due north to link these huge fresh water bodies together. There is only a 9 foot decline from Erie to the head of the Falls, but this gravitational pull is enough rush that watercourse to the edge of the three falls in rapids that spill over the dolomite capstones and crash down the final 190 feet to account for the final verticality between the two lakes. Below this precipitous drop the River becomes a gorge as it races the narrow banks past a hydroelectric dam siphoning off power to generate electricity for more than 1 million people living on both sides of the border, yet leaving sufficient volume to continue to fill Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence beyond. In earlier times, a portion of the War of 1812 was fought in and around this area for control of these assets and for the Americans, to finally evict Great Britain from North America. Although the overall war was won by the United States, the piece that occurred in and around Canada and these borderlands, was actually lost, which is why England remained in Canada; and Canada, a part of the British Empire, and thereafter, the Commonwealth, for nearly a century thereafter. All is peaceful today, and the Niagara River and Falls can be enjoyed on both sides of the border created by the River, although from this perspective, Canada has the better views.