Wow, just WOW!

Written while sitting in a dive bar in Middleport, New York

Niagara Falls has been on the list of one of the many places we wanted to visit while on this year long adventure. However, we would not say that it was on the top of our list. To be honest, we had fairly low expectations. We expected to see a million tourists, the viewpoints and parking to be incredibly expensive, and thought it would be be significantly less fun than a trip to the Columbia Gorge waterfalls. We were so definitely wrong!

Our first stop was the Visitor Center (this is our first stop in many towns, states, national parks, etc.). We asked if we could walk the park, take the dogs and park anywhere for free. Turns out, we could do all of these things! What a nice surprise! She kindly highlighted the free parking, walking paths and main attractions.

Our first reaction was WOW! The water flows at incredible speeds, and the rapids are huge (and we are not even talking about the falls yet). It was impressive until we laid our eyes on American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls (aka “the little ones”).  We had heard the Canada side gets a better view of the falls, but it is worth standing at the top of the falls to experience the feeling of their massive presence.

Our next stop was Horseshoe Falls (aka “the big one”) and yes, it was HUGE! 2,500ft and a flow of 675,000 gallons/second (seriously 600K GALLONs per second!!). What a site! The feel of the mist, the intensity of the water and the crazy blowing of the wind. How in the world have people managed to go over the falls in barrels???

Overall, Niagara Falls is totally and completely worth it! I am not sure we have seen something so spectacular and at a cost of nothing!