Niagara Falls in the Winter

This weekend I took a trip to visit Niagara Falls. Only two hours from Toronto, visiting the falls is definitely worth going out of your way. If you are coming from the U.S. side, make sure to bring your passport! The best views are in Canada. I thought it was interesting to see the falls in the winter, when many of the attractions shut down. More of the water is also diverted to the hydroelectric plants upstream. While there isn't as much to do and the falls are smaller, the lack of crowds more than made up for it. There were no lines anywhere, and there was plenty of room to take pictures. Here are a few I took that I thought were interesting:

The weather was nice, so we decided to park at Dufferin Islands and walk along the river to the falls. Parking near the falls can be expensive, so I would recommend parking further away and walking or taking the free bus. On our way to the falls we saw a boat that had been stranded in the river for nearly 100 years! An inscription in the park describes the accident:

"On August 6, 1918, this dumping scow broke loose from its towing tug about 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) upriver, with Gustav F. Loftberg and James N. Harris aboard. The men opened the bottom dumping doors and the scow grounded in the shallow rapids. They were rescued the next day by breeches buoy, on a line shot out from the roof of the adjacent powerhouse."

As we got close to the falls, I spotted a rainbow in the mist. A photo doesn't do justice to how swiftly the water was moving.

There are a lot of tourist activities around the falls. Many were closed for the winter, but the elevator down to the base of the falls was still open. The mist and wind were incredible. I had a hard time getting a picture without getting any water droplets on my lense. You can see the bottom observation deck was closed due to being covered in snow and ice.

As part of the elevator ride down to the base of the falls, you can also walk through a tunnel that goes behind the falls. The roar was incredible. Not much to see though, as there was water spraying everywhere.

I thought it would be interesting to include a photo of all the hotels overlooking the falls. I saw people from all over the world who had come to see the falls. In my opinion, one day is all you need to see everything in Niagara. We spent the rest of the trip in Toronto, where there is more to do.

I saw this contraption by the old power station. Does anyone know what it was for? I have no idea myself.

If you ever are in the area, I recommend going out of your way to see the falls. This ranks as one of the greatest natural wonders I have ever seen.