Stop At: Niagara Falls Visitor Center Parking Lot 1, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
Welcome to the mighty Niagara Falls! Let’s dive right into this awe-inspiring natural wonder! Our tour begins at the parking lot by the Visitor Center. When you’re ready to begin, start walking into the park, following the blue route line on your map.
NOTE: This 3.5-mile-long tour covers the essentials of Niagara Falls in 1-2 hours.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Niagara Civil War Monument, Unnamed Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
This is the Niagara Civil War Monument. Being so far north, you might expect that the Civil War had relatively little impact here in Niagara Falls. But you’d be wrong. In fact, Niagara Falls was actually a crucial stop on the Underground Railroad prior to the war! Formerly enslaved people fleeing toward freedom would come here as their final stop before escaping across the border into the safety of Canada.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Niagara Falls Observation Tower, 333 Prospect St, Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls, New York 14303
We’re walking on the Niagara Falls Observation Tower, standing 282 feet above the ground. If you purchased tickets for the Maid of the Mist, the elevators in this building will go down to where the boats dock. Before you jump on the boat, check out the main observation deck, ahead, through the enclosed area.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Prospect Point, Prospect Point, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
Here we are at Niagara Falls’ most iconic vantage points: Prospect Point. Don’t be afraid to go up to the railing for a closer look! On July 28, 1954, a British newsreel captured a terrific natural phenomenon at this location, known as the Prospect Point Rockfall. The day before this event, a nine-year-old boy spotted cracks along the ground and raised the alarm about the stability of the point.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Hells Half Acre, Hells Half Acre, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
We’re crossing rapids known as Hell’s Half Acre. Spooky! This is the site of one of the most infamous tragedies of Niagara Falls. On the evening of July 18, 1853, three men who’d been drinking were rowing from Goat Island to the mainland. Unfortunately for them, their boat capsized and the river sent them tumbling downstream.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Luna Island, Goat Island Rd, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
While this island is small and uninhabited, it is situated neatly between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, making it the perfect place to get a close, intimate look at Bridal Veil Falls. It’s like you’re standing right on top of them, just on the brim of the river. It can be a little scary if you’re not one for heights!
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Nikola Tesla Monument, Niagara Falls State Park- Goat Island, Niagara Falls, New York 14303
See the statue of the man who appears to be reading a large map of some kind? That’s Nikola Tesla. If you look closely, you can see he is wearing rubber overalls, a typical garment worn by engineers in the twentieth century to protect them from electric shock. Look even closer and you may realize that the large paper is not a map; it’s blueprints! This statue was created to honor Nikola Tesla’s impact on the hydroelectric efforts at Niagara Falls.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Cave of the Winds Lookout, Goat Island, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
Cave of the Winds Lookout offers incredible views of the Bridal Veil Falls. Well, views is an understatement. At the lookout, you’ll be able to taste, smell, hear, and be drenched by the waterfall, even if you’re trying your best to stay dry. That’s because, though visitors are given an iconic yellow poncho referred to as the yellow sou'wester, the lookout is so close to the falls that hardly anyone is spared the chilling spray of water misting up from where the falls crash onto the rocks below.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Terrapin Point, Terrapin Point, Niagara Falls, New York
Welcome to Terrapin Point. It’s the closest American lookout to the Horseshoe Falls. If you look straight across to the observation point on the other side, you may notice folks on the Canadian side marveling at the same wonder as you. It’s kind of like a reflection!
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Three Sisters Islands, Three Sisters Islands, Niagara Falls, NY 14303, USA
Through the dense greenery to our right, you may be able to catch a glimpse of Three Sisters Islands. Before European settlement, these islands held great significance for the Indigenous peoples of the region, particularly the Iroquois Confederacy. They considered the falls and the surrounding area a sacred place, and the islands played an important role in their ceremonies and rituals.
Duration: 10 minutes
