Niagara Falls - May 12, 2024

Our road trip across Ontario is coming to a close and we are ending it with perhaps one of the most spectacular places you can find in North America: Niagara Falls. Since we are in Canada, specifically Toronto, we are visiting the Canadian side of the falls where Horseshoe Falls, the largest by far, resides.

We can feel a bit of mist already coming off Horseshoe Falls just downstream of where we are. If it was windier it could easily get nasty quickly.

—May 12, 2024 at 10:08 AM.

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Once we parked (and learned of the CAN$35 parking fee) we easily found our way to the Niagara River. Just follow the sound of thousands of tons of water plunging 54 to 58 meters down Horseshoe Falls (I suppose the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls add some rumble but they’re farther away and only account for about 1/10th of the volume of the water flow that pours over the falls). As we approached the visitor center where tours like the Journey Behind the Falls start we passed through our first bit of Niagara mist. Drenching chilly droplets of water hit us with gentle force. If you stood there for a few minutes you would get quite wet. Horseshoe Falls is nearby.

We started with a journey behind the falls. After receiving our bright yellow plastic ponchos (to be recycled later) we boarded an elevator to descend about 20 meters to tunnels that lead to portals. The portals, or openings, are behind Horseshoe Falls and in another direction to lower and upper observation decks where you can see the Falls up close. Here you get your money’s worth out of the bright yellow plastic poncho which are given to every visitor. The portals let you peer through an opening that is perhaps 6 feet wide and probably no more than 10 feet high. Considering that the crest-line of Horseshoe Falls is about 2,200 feet (670m) each portal is giving you a pretty tiny glimpse of the water pouring by just a few yards from where we are standing. Even these tiny glimpses from both portals is impressive. The second portal is about a third of a way around Horseshoe Falls and seems to have a more impressive flow of water pouring by.

This is Great Portal, the second portal behind Horseshoe Falls. It sits about 200 meters around the Horseshoe: just under one third of the way round. During peak tourist season about 2,800 cubic meters of water flows over Horseshoe Falls every second. If we are generous and call this portal 1.5 meters wide that suggests about 6.2 cms water (6,200 liters per second) is passing by each second (about 45 bathtubs filled with water).

--May 12, 2024 at 10:38 AM.

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Judy is getting wet from the spray from Horseshoe Falls as she stands on the upper observation deck. Photo by Jonathan.

—May 12, 2024 at 10:47 AM.

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On the upper deck with Horseshoe Falls thundering behind me. Photo by Jonathan.

—May 12, 2024 at 10:52 AM.

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We were told that this is not a busy day and if that is so I am glad we were not here on a busy day. THe tunnel was full enough as it was and there were plenty of people on the observation decks experiencing the power of Horseshoe Falls up close (though not too close) and personal. We could gaze up to the top of the falls and down into the pool at their base where a Maid of the Mist was just motoring in to give her passengers a drenching and spectacular view.

This appears to be the Hornblower which is the boat that runs from the Canadian side.

—May 12, 2024 at 10:44 AM.

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After leaving the tunnels we continued to walk along the paved promenade to where the City Cruise (Hornblower) is docked. I think this boat is smaller than the Maid of the Mists boats. LIke them it runs frequently throughout the day. A boat tour lasts about 20 minutes which is just enough time to carry passengers to within a few hundred feet of the base of Horseshoe Falls to see them in their full power and glory and get well soaked at the same time. We would get to have that experience in short order. It really is a remarkable experience that is hard to properly express. I am glad it wasn’t chilly and windy out because the cold large drops of water that splashed us were chilly enough.

A good view of Horseshoe Falls which is over twice as tall as the other two falls and considerably wider

—May 12, 2024 at 11:32 AM.

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Horseshoe Falls thunders down behind Dad. Photo by Judy

--May 12, 2024 at 11:35 AM.

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Large cold drops of water are drenching us as we stand on the upper deck at the bow of the boat. I think we are within 500 feet of the cascade that is the 670 meters wide and 54-58 meters tall Horseshoe Falls. It’s impressive.

—May 12, 2024 at 12:45 PM.

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We’ve been soaked by Horseshoe Falls and are cruising past the falls on the American side on our way back to the dock.

--May 12, 2024 at 12:50 PM.

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On the left is the American Falls and next to it is Bridal Veil Falls. These two falls account for just a small fraction of the water volume that pours over the three waterfalls that comprise Niagara Falls.

--May 12, 2024 at 1:34 PM.

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One thing that surprised us as we walked along the river was the relative lack of even small eateries or food trucks. We think Niagara Parks is trying to limit the touristy aspects of the place as much as they can. However, it begs the question of where do the thousands of people who surely visit each day go when they want a bite to eat. There were a couple cafeteria-like places and perhaps a bar and grill by the boat tours dock but not much else. While we did not see places for people to eat we did see numerous large hotels strung out for a very long ways along the river. The city has a bus service,WEGO, that runs between the hotels and various points of interest but we did not take advantage of it. Perhaps visitors are all eating meals in their hotels. We do know that Niagara-on-the-Lake , a small bustling town some 20 to 30 minutes away (depending on traffic), has quite a few restaurants. We pretty much settled on the first place we came to , an Irish pub, and lunch was decent if not memorable. Perhaps we should have stood in the lengthy line that curled around the block to an ice cream parlor instead.