Niagara Falls, NY (8/8 - 8/11/25)

On this stop, we took a break from the bikes and visited another bucket list item I have not seen since the late 60s (at least that's what my Mom told me). Michelle also doesn't recall being here either, so we made this a stop on our tour of the Northeast. We stayed at the Niagara Falls / Grand Island KOA Holiday.

While here, we decided to take organized tours from both countries to get views from each side.

Our first day, we toured the falls from the American side. This is a view of the American falls on the left and Canadian falls on the back right from the observation tower just above the Maid of the Mist docking point.

A closer look at the American falls.

Our tour included a ride on the Maid of the Mist that takes you by both falls. This is the view of the American falls from the boat.

Another stop on the American side was to Cave of the Winds on Goat Island inside Niagara Falls State Park. This takes you on a walk to the bottom of the American falls. Rainbows are plentiful in many places around the falls on a sunny day.

The walk gets you pretty close to the water and you will get wet from the mist/splash. Taking pictures was a challenge in several places near the falls from the mist (basically rainfall) getting your camera or phone wet while taking pics.

On day 2, our tour from the Canadian side let us see the falls from a higher vantage point from the Skylon Tower. This is the American falls with the Maid of the Mist below.

This is the Canadian falls from the tower. When we got near the Canadian falls on the Maid of the Mist you are getting very wet and would be soaked if you did not use the provided ponchos to try to keep dry. We were on the top of the boat and in the front row, hardly being able to see. Picture taking down there at this point on the boat ride is fruitless.

We also took a tour of the Niagara Falls Power Station. This decommissioned power plant shows how they generated electricity from the water and how this area was one of the pioneers in electricity generation in the world. There are many exhibits of how Nicolas Tesla made this an important part in history. This 2,200' tunnel takes you to a great ground view of the Canadian falls.

Even from here the mist made picture taking a challenge, but this was the third time we donned ponchos to try and keep dry. Thankfully it was in the 80s this day!

Another view of the falls from the tunnel.

Looking back at the tunnel exit.

Another interesting aspect of the falls were the crazies who attempted to ride over the falls and either died or survived in these contraptions. We also learned that this place is popular for people wanting to end it all on purpose where it was reported there have been over 5,000 bodies found downstream of the falls since 1850.

One last view of the falls from the tower.

From here we move across NY to the border with VT where we will ride another HoF Rail Trail near Burlington, VT. Check my next blog post for that visit.