The American and Bridal Veil Falls and the edge of the Horseshoe Falls, seen from America's oldest state park
At the southern end of the Niagara Gorge the river drops in three falls: the broad American Falls and the narrow Bridal Veil Falls, both inside the United States, and the great curve of the Horseshoe Falls, which straddles the Canadian border. The Horseshoe Falls drops about 57 metres, and on average some 2,400 cubic metres of water pour over the falls every second.
On the New York side, Niagara Falls State Park is laid out so that visitors can stand almost on the edge. Prospect Point overlooks the American Falls; Luna Island sits between the American and Bridal Veil Falls; Terrapin Point on Goat Island looks over the Horseshoe Falls; and wooden walkways lead out to the Three Sisters Islands in the rapids just upstream. Below the falls, boats and walkways take visitors right into the spray.
According to the park, water began plunging over the escarpment about 12,000 years ago as the glaciers retreated. The French priest Louis Hennepin described the falls during an expedition in 1678, and in 1804 Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother, honeymooned here, beginning a tradition that local lore credits him with. In the 1800s the railways brought visitors in large numbers, and the Maid of the Mist boats have carried passengers below the falls since 1846.
Frederick Law Olmsted helped lead a movement to preserve the falls, and on 30 April 1885 Governor David B. Hill signed the law creating the Niagara Reservation, New York's first state park. The falls also became a cradle of hydroelectric power: the world's first large-scale hydroelectric generating station opened here in 1895, and in 1896 Nikola Tesla's alternating current carried electricity from Niagara to Buffalo.
The falls have drawn honeymooners and day-trippers for two centuries, and the state park is the centre of life in the city of Niagara Falls, New York. Top of the Falls Restaurant on Goat Island looks out over the river, and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center sells Cave of the Winds tickets. The river is also an international border, with the Canadian city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, facing the American side across the gorge.
Most visitors walk the overlooks first, then head down into the gorge. The Maid of the Mist leaves from the Observation Tower: passengers are handed a souvenir rain poncho and the double-deck boat passes the base of the American Falls into the whitewater of the Horseshoe Falls basin. At Cave of the Winds, on Goat Island, visitors go down into the gorge and out onto the Hurricane Deck close to the falling water. The Niagara Scenic Trolley links the main points of the park, trails follow the gorge at Whirlpool and Devil's Hole, and the park's events calendar includes illuminations and fireworks.
The park is open 365 days a year, but the Maid of the Mist runs only from spring, once the ice on Lake Erie allows, until early November. Summer and early autumn give the full range of attractions, and in winter Cave of the Winds stays open.
Checked against the sources on 29 October 2026. Opening times and fees can change — confirm before you go.
General guidance from our specialists, not official information.
Goat Island, Luna Island and the Three Sisters Islands are all within the park, and the gorge trails at Whirlpool and Devil's Hole lie downstream. The city of Buffalo is on the Niagara River to the south, and the Canadian side of the falls faces the park across the gorge. New York City is at the opposite end of the state.
The largest city in the United States, spread across five boroughs on the islands and shores of New York Harbor. Manhattan holds the famous skyline, Broadway and Central Park, while Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island add their own neighbourhoods, beaches and food.
ExploreThe capital of Massachusetts, founded by Puritan settlers in 1630 and a centre of the events that led to the American Revolution. The Freedom Trail links 16 historic sites over about 2.5 miles, from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.
ExploreManhattan's great public park, about four kilometres long and 800 metres wide, laid out from 1858 to the Greensward Plan of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Its lawns, woodlands, lakes and bridges draw tens of millions of visits a year.
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United States · 9 nights4★ HotelUnited States · 8 nights3★ LodgeThis guide was researched from the sources below and reviewed by our team on 29 October 2026. Facts under “Verified information” link to the page they were checked on; travel tips are general guidance. Photos are credited on each image. The ambient recording’s author and licence are shown in the sound player.
